Sunday is not only Groundhog Day and Super Bowl LIV, but the date is also a palindrome.
Sunday is not only Groundhog Day and Super Bowl LIV, but the date is also a palindrome.
Sunday is not only Groundhog Day and Super Bowl LIV, but the date is also a palindrome.
Sunday is not only Groundhog Day and Super Bowl LIV, but the date is also a palindrome.

Sunday's date is a 'once-in-a-century' palindrome


Evelyn Lau
  • English
  • Arabic

Sunday will be a special occasion. In addition to being Super Bowl Sunday, Groundhog Day and National Ukulele Day, it's also a rare eight-digit palindrome when written out as 02/02/2020. The date reads the same backwards as forwards.

While Americans write the date as month/day/year, most Europeans view the date as day/month/year. However, more impressively, on Sunday, the date will be the same for everyone regardless of where they are in the world – the only time this will happen in this century.

The last eight-digit palindrome was 909 years ago on 11/11/1111 and the next one will be in 101 years for 12/12/2121. As well, Sunday will be the 33rd day of the year with 333 more days thanks to being a leap year (because there’s an extra day in February).

In the US because of how dates are formatted, there will be some more upcoming palindrome dates including: 02/11/20, 02/22/20, 12/11/21 and 12/22/21.

In addition to the date, there are a couple of other big events happening on Sunday. This year's Super Bowl LIV will feature the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the San Francisco 49ers in Miami, Florida.

It also marks Groundhog Day in Canada and America - a tradition in which a groundhog is used to determine how many more weeks of winter there will be. You may well prefer to celebrate the day with your ukulele in hand though.

Dhadak

Director: Shashank Khaitan

Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana

Stars: 3

Employment lawyer Meriel Schindler of Withers Worldwide shares her tips on achieving equal pay
 
Do your homework
Make sure that you are being offered a fair salary. There is lots of industry data available, and you can always talk to people who have come out of the organisation. Where I see people coming a cropper is where they haven’t done their homework.
 
Don’t be afraid to negotiate

It’s quite standard to negotiate if you think an offer is on the low side. The job is unlikely to be withdrawn if you ask for money, and if that did happen I’d question whether you want to work for an employer who is so hypersensitive.
 
Know your worth
Women tend to be a bit more reticent to talk about their achievements. In my experience they need to have more confidence in their own abilities – men will big up what they’ve done to get a pay rise, and to compete women need to turn up the volume.
 
Work together
If you suspect men in your organisation are being paid more, look your boss in the eye and say, “I want you to assure me that I’m paid equivalent to my peers”. If you’re not getting a straight answer, talk to your peer group and consider taking direct action to fix inequality.

Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier

Results

UAE beat Saudi Arabia by 12 runs

Kuwait beat Iran by eight wickets

Oman beat Maldives by 10 wickets

Bahrain beat Qatar by six wickets

Semi-finals

UAE v Qatar

Bahrain v Kuwait

 

UAE v Zimbabwe A

Results
Match 1 – UAE won by 4 wickets
Match 2 – UAE won by 5 wickets
Match 3 – UAE won by 25 runs
Match 4 – UAE won by 77 runs

Fixture
Match 5, Saturday, 9.30am start, ICC Academy, Dubai

THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick

Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

While you're here
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five new places of worship

Church of South Indian Parish

St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch

St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch

St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais

Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais

 

 


 

Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

The biog

Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball

Essentials

The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.