The Algerian foreign minister, Noureddine Yazid Zarhouni, threatened on Tuesday to start reciprocating the treatment of Algerians at US and French airports if his country is not taken off the list of 14 states - all of which are either Arab or Muslim except for Cuba - whose citizens, the US recently decided, are subjected to rigorous search procedures, reported Abdelbari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of the pan-Arab newspaper Al Quds al Arabi.
Washington's decision has given US airport officials the right to inspect the bodies of travellers, men and women, to make sure they are hiding no explosive devices. To that end, US customs has put in place new scanners that show the nude body. Other measures include watching people throughout the flight and allowing them to use the bathroom only one hour before landing.
"The Algerian move is a bit too late perhaps, and it may not achieve its goal because it wasn't made within the framework of a unified front composed of the listed states, like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Iran and Iraq," the editor wrote.
Funny thing is, Arab and Muslim citizens have been subjected to humiliating search procedures at airports since September 11, and for nine years not a single bullet or a knife has been found in so much luggage searched, the article concluded.
Whenever an important figure of the Lebanese or Palestinian resistance is assassinated, the Israeli media launch a propaganda campaign depicting Israeli intelligence as a mighty force capable of performing James Bond-like feats and driving wedges into the ranks of the resistance, wrote Mazen Hammad in the Qatari newspaper Al Watan.
This happened after the attempted assassination of the Hamas leader Khaled Mishal in Amman in 1997, and more recently after the assassination of the senior Hizbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus in 2008. The Israeli press trumpeted the sophisticated schemes that the Israeli intelligence employs in its operations. And now again a media campaign has been launched after the assassination of the Hamas senior official Mahmoud al Mabhouh in Dubai last month.
The Israeli daily newspaper Jerusalem Post reported that the assassination of al Mabhouh has pushed Hamas to an internal investigation to ascertain whether Israeli secret services have infiltrated the higher ranks of the organisation, quoting an anonymous source from Hamas, which was most certainly fabricated.
For its part, Haaretz said Hamas may suspect Fatah. All this media manoeuvring is meant to disconcert the Palestinian resistance and disseminate impressions of a super-Mossad working in the shadow, the writer concluded.
In most Arab and Muslim countries, the laws and constitutions, and even the traditions and mores, work together to legitimise state authority while not protecting the citizens, wrote Mohammed Abdullah al Mutawa, a professor of political sociology, in the Dubai-based newspaper Al Bayan.
The state's failure to commit to social unity in the backdrop of political and economic struggles, offers the "sectarian devil" a propitious environment. Think about Iraq currently, and Lebanon not too long ago, when a civil war fuelled by sectarian sentiments erupted.
The common belief was that a higher education rate in the Arab world would significantly help bridge the divide between the various social groups and classes, but what is currently happening on the ground refutes that, the writer said. Indeed, the Arab middle class is unmistakably shrinking in a way reminiscent of medieval Europe, when society was made of two classes, the nobles and the peasants.
This growing absence of social nuance has, over the past three decades, exacerbated the social disorder, and, coupled with the contraction of social groups into fanatical, defensive cells, contributed to the emergence of political Islam.
"It is high time religion was separated from state. State institutions must abandon the rule of whim and start enforcing the rule of law," the writer concluded.
Until recently, it was widely thought that decision-making based on double standards was a speciality of the United Nations and its affiliated agencies, but this has changed, claimed Mohammed al Assoumi in the Emirati newspaper Al Ittihad.
Double standards are now characteristic of international rating agencies as well. With the financial downturn, many bank rating agencies have abandoned their principles of neutrality and professional ethics by giving poor ratings to local banks and other financial institutions in the UAE for no reason. That is, their ratings have not been based on objective considerations such as credit status or financial factors, and this has cost them credibility in the region.
True, some local companies and banks have suffered from the economic crisis, but it remains just as true that other local and regional financial institutions have fared better than their counterparts in the US and Europe.
Regardless, many international rating agencies have kept high ratings for western companies and institutions, even those who declared bankruptcy and were rescued by government support, and lowered the ratings of Emirati and Gulf corporations that have maintained a good credit status and weathered the global downturn with the least damage.
* Digest compiled by Achraf El Bahi
@Email:aelbahi@thenational.ae
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
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MATCH INFO
Burnley 1 (Brady 89')
Manchester City 4 (Jesus 24', 50', Rodri 68', Mahrez 87')
Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
Kashima Antlers 3 (Nagaki 49’, Serginho 69’, Abe 84’)
Guadalajara 2 (Zaldivar 03’, Pulido 90')
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
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Company%20Profile
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The biog
Name: Capt Shadia Khasif
Position: Head of the Criminal Registration Department at Hatta police
Family: Five sons and three daughters
The first female investigator in Hatta.
Role Model: Father
She believes that there is a solution to every problem
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Company%20Profile
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Netherlands v UAE, Twenty20 International series
Saturday, August 3 - First T20i, Amstelveen
Monday, August 5 – Second T20i, Amstelveen
Tuesday, August 6 – Third T20i, Voorburg
Thursday, August 8 – Fourth T20i, Vooryburg
The Programme
Saturday, October 26: ‘The Time That Remains’ (2009) by Elia Suleiman
Saturday, November 2: ‘Beginners’ (2010) by Mike Mills
Saturday, November 16: ‘Finding Vivian Maier’ (2013) by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
Tuesday, November 26: ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976) by Alan J Pakula
Saturday, December 7: ‘Timbuktu’ (2014) by Abderrahmane Sissako
Saturday, December 21: ‘Rams’ (2015) by Grimur Hakonarson
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth
Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
Investors: Undisclosed
Company profile
Name: One Good Thing
Founders: Bridgett Lau and Micheal Cooke
Based in: Dubai
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 5 employees
Stage: Looking for seed funding
Investors: Self-funded and seeking external investors
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Mountain%20Boy
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Key features of new policy
Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6
Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge
A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools
Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability
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