Kuwait: when a leash on media is apropos
The Kuwaiti cabinet has lately approved sanctions against media outlets accused of stoking sectarian sentiment, wrote Abdul Rahman al Rashed, a columnist with the London-based newspaper Asharq al Awsat. If found guilty, media executives would face up to seven years in jail and confiscation of media equipment.
"As a journalist I hold freedom of expression to be sacred, and I reject any form of media clampdown or censorship. Yet, despite this deep-seated conviction, I find myself forced to tolerate putting a leash on sectarian media and criminalising any form of sectarian incitement such as we have seen rise to the surface recently between Sunnis and Shiites or between Muslims and Copts."
Of course, in time of stability, faith-related debates are part of freedom of speech, but in time of trouble, as is the case these days, religious polemics are just a shortcut to bloodshed.
"I realise it's despicable censorship and a worrying entryway to muzzle freedom of speech, but how can you stop the looming war between the Sunnis and the Shiites that is primarily inflamed by none other than the media, unfortunately?"
If Kuwait succeeds in containing the crime of "sectarian sedition" in this way, its decision will be a model for other states (Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen, etc.) that are also sitting on the crater of a Shiite-Sunni volcano.
Will the PA honour September promise?
A poll conducted by a Palestinian news agency found that 88 per cent of Palestinian respondents expect an unstable political situation and confrontations with the Israeli occupation before September, wrote Amjad Arar, a columnist with the Emirati newspaper Al Khalee.
The Palestinian Authority had announced that in September it will formally demand full membership of the Palestinian Territories in the United Nations based on the 1967 borders. In its decision, the PA relied on a "vague" statement by the US president, Barack Obama, in which he set the month of September as a deadline for a settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The Palestinians' pessimistic prediction stems from a long and bitter experience with unkept promises and flouted timetables. After their first intifada in 1987, the Palestinians heard from their leadership that statehood was "a stone's throw away".
"They had to fight Israeli bullets with stones for the following seven years, until the Oslo Accords were signed." However, the timelines stipulated in these Oslo Accords for "final status" negotiations were not respected. And the list of binned timetables goes on, true to Yitzhak Rabin's quote: "There are no sacred dates".
"We're not asking the PA to refrain from knocking on the UN's doors, we're simply hoping that it will not raise people's expectations so high."
More logical roles for Arab-Israeli conflict
An old dream is on the verge of materialising, observed Satea Noureddin, a columnist with the Lebanese daily Assafir. This would put a new spin on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Syria becomes a front for resistance while Lebanon converts itself into a platform for objection. Thus, the distribution of roles returns to its normal logic based on the elements and balances of power.
This was the first impression from the Naksa Day popular march in Syria towards the Israeli front line in the Golan Heights. This ended with a new massacre that produced 23 Syrian and Palestinian martyrs. All the while, the Lebanese southern front line witnessed an unprecedented calm that could be described as historical.
"What makes this swap in roles especially important is that it wasn't agreed upon in advance. In fact, it was almost a historical departure on how to manage the conflict with the enemy."
Some could allege that the Palestinians are exploiting the internal turmoil in Syria, which allows them to march toward the borders to face the Israelis. Others suspect that Damascus has been enticing crowds to provoke the Israelis. But, in either case, the outcome is that that front, calm since the October war in 1973, is no longer tranquil.
"It is a fair distribution of roles that rectifies the mistake of the '70s about Lebanon."
Immediate measures to prevent panic
The world is in a state of terror caused by the E.coli threat, which brings to mind the swine flu epidemic that terrorised the world in 2009, commented the Emirati daily Al Bayan in its editorial.
"The world no longer cares for the western media's focus on the dangers of epidemics, as the pattern shows that their objectives are for the most part commercial. However, this doesn't exempt the World Health Organisation, despite its loss of credibility following the 2009 events, from summoning a meeting to determine the truth of the matter.
"It is also of the essence that concerned ministers in the Arab world convene to clearly instruct people on whether to worry or not. People shouldn't fall prey to media exaggerations."
The ball is now in the court of the ministries of health and environment. Measures should be expeditious, especially since the people of the Arab world have lost confidence in the reports of European and global health organisations.
"We ask the relevant officials at the GCC and the Arab League to conduct laboratory analyses as soon as possible to guide people on how to deal with this new threat."
* Digest compiled by The Translation Desk
translation@thenational.ae
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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
The%20specs
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Real Sociedad v Leganes (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Real Valladolid (4pm)
Valencia v Granada (7pm)
Eibar v Real Madrid (9.30pm)
Barcelona v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Sunday
Real Mallorca v Villarreal (3pm)
Athletic Bilbao v Levante (5pm)
Atletico Madrid v Espanyol (7pm)
Getafe v Osasuna (9.30pm)
Real Betis v Sevilla (midnight)
Gulf rugby
Who’s won what so far in 2018/19
Western Clubs Champions League: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens: Dubai Hurricanes
West Asia Premiership: Bahrain
What’s left
UAE Conference
March 22, play-offs:
Dubai Hurricanes II v Al Ain Amblers, Jebel Ali Dragons II v Dubai Tigers
March 29, final
UAE Premiership
March 22, play-offs:
Dubai Exiles v Jebel Ali Dragons, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Dubai Hurricanes
March 29, final
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.