An abandoned dog that was beaten, starved and abused is now in the care of Sheikha Latifa bint Ahmed Al Maktoum.
Midnight, a black mixed-breed dog, was saved by Bubbles Pet Rescue after being spotted on the streets in Sharjah with her puppies.
According to the group, she was dumped by her owner after she was overbred to make money from selling her offspring.
Tossed into the street, Midnight stayed outside of what was her home for nearly two years. She was never allowed to return to the house and only survived by hiding under trees and being fed by kind-hearted passers-by and local residents.
She also faced abuse from others who threw rocks and sticks at her and her puppies. After being rescued, Midnight's babies were all adopted and she found a foster home.
After undergoing a routine spay operation, vets found a tumour on her ovary. Midnight survived a tricky operation and her foster mum helped her recover.
When Midnight's time in foster care came to an end, she was destined for the kennels. However, that's when Sheikha Latifa, stepped in.
The dog is now under the royal's care and is undergoing training to help her overcome her fears and regain confidence.
The niece of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, shared a video on her own Instagram account showing her gently stroking Midnight under the chin.
"Sheikha Latifa is such a humble and kind princess. She has been following Midnight's story every single day since she was rescued back in April," a representative from Bubbles Pet Rescue told The National.
"It's indescribable, we are not only so happy for Midnight to finally experience love but also this is a great example for our nation. It inspires others to do the same, to rescue a dog instead of buying one. Hopefully others will see this as an example that breed doesn't matter."
Sheikha Latifa is an equestrian athlete and has a long-running affinity with both dogs and horses, as evident by her Instagram posts.
In a video shared online by Bubbles Pet Rescue, Midnight is seen learning how to take food from a trainer.
“This is a dream come true for Midnight. To be heard, to be seen, to be loved and to be wanted!” said the organisation on Instagram.
Earlier this year, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, also rescued a stray dog from Bubbles Pet Rescue.
Grace, a saluki mix, was found wounded in the Al Barashi area of Sharjah after being shot several times with an air gun. Pellets were found lodged in her skull, in both eye sockets, the neck, chest and back legs
After posting about Grace on Instragram, Bubbles Pet Rescue were contacted by officials from the Crown Prince’s court and Sheikh Hamdan took the dog into his care.
The Dubai royal later posted a heart-warming video on Instagram of him out walking a happy looking Grace.
Brief scores:
Day 2
England: 277 & 19-0
West Indies: 154
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 310hp
Torque: 366Nm
Price: Dh200,000
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Results
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TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PLUS
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3EFounder%3A%20Hani%20Abu%20Ghazaleh%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20with%20an%20office%20in%20Montreal%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%202018%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Virtual%20Reality%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20raised%3A%20%241.2%20million%2C%20and%20nearing%20close%20of%20%245%20million%20new%20funding%20round%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
