• Robots are seen during the Spring Festival Science and Technology Temple Fair in Beijing on January 31, 2025. (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP)
    Robots are seen during the Spring Festival Science and Technology Temple Fair in Beijing on January 31, 2025. (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP)
  • Students camp at a football stadium in protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago in Indjija, northern Serbia. AP
    Students camp at a football stadium in protest over the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people more than two months ago in Indjija, northern Serbia. AP
  • A Hindu holy man near Sangam, the confluence of Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers, during the Kumbh Mela festival. AFP
    A Hindu holy man near Sangam, the confluence of Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers, during the Kumbh Mela festival. AFP
  • Part of a lorry recovered from a sinkhole in Yashio, near Tokyo, Japan. EPA
    Part of a lorry recovered from a sinkhole in Yashio, near Tokyo, Japan. EPA
  • Mongolian-born sumo wrestler and new yokozuna, or grand champion, Hoshoryu Tomokatsu, second left, performs the ring-entering ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. AFP
    Mongolian-born sumo wrestler and new yokozuna, or grand champion, Hoshoryu Tomokatsu, second left, performs the ring-entering ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. AFP
  • Fashion model Liseth Santos poses in an outfit by by Spanish fashion house Miabril, at the International Flamenco Fashion Show in Seville. Reuters
    Fashion model Liseth Santos poses in an outfit by by Spanish fashion house Miabril, at the International Flamenco Fashion Show in Seville. Reuters
  • Rescue workers use a crane to clear a derailed train from the tracks near Lahore, Pakistan. AFP
    Rescue workers use a crane to clear a derailed train from the tracks near Lahore, Pakistan. AFP
  • Worshippers perform ablutions before offering prayers during Biswa Ijtema, an annual gathering of Muslims in Tongi, near Dhaka, Bangladesh. AFP
    Worshippers perform ablutions before offering prayers during Biswa Ijtema, an annual gathering of Muslims in Tongi, near Dhaka, Bangladesh. AFP
  • Workers search through items sent to landfill near Phnom Penh, Cambodia. AFP
    Workers search through items sent to landfill near Phnom Penh, Cambodia. AFP

News

Best photos of January 31: From robots in China to flamenco fashion in Spain

The National picks the most striking images from around the world

The National

January 31, 2025

  • English
  • Arabic

The specs: Fenyr SuperSport

Price, base: Dh5.1 million

Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm

Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km

Founder: Ayman Badawi

Date started: Test product September 2016, paid launch January 2017

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Software

Size: Seven employees

Funding: $170,000 in angel investment

Funders: friends

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
  • 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
  • 2nd Test India won by innings and 53 runs at Colombo
  • 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
If%20you%20go
%3Cp%3EThere%20are%20regular%20flights%20from%20Dubai%20to%20Kathmandu.%20Fares%20with%20Air%20Arabia%20and%20flydubai%20start%20at%20Dh1%2C265.%3Cbr%3EIn%20Kathmandu%2C%20rooms%20at%20the%20Oasis%20Kathmandu%20Hotel%20start%20at%20Dh195%20and%20Dh120%20at%20Hotel%20Ganesh%20Himal.%3Cbr%3EThird%20Rock%20Adventures%20offers%20professionally%20run%20group%20and%20individual%20treks%20and%20tours%20using%20highly%20experienced%20guides%20throughout%20Nepal%2C%20Bhutan%20and%20other%20parts%20of%20the%20Himalayas.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UK’s AI plan
  • AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
  • £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
  • £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
  • £250m to train new AI models
Eyasses squad

Charlie Preston (captain) – goal shooter/ goalkeeper (Dubai College)

Arushi Holt (vice-captain) – wing defence / centre (Jumeriah English Speaking School)  

Olivia Petricola (vice-captain) – centre / wing attack (Dubai English Speaking College)

Isabel Affley – goalkeeper / goal defence (Dubai English Speaking College)

Jemma Eley – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)

Alana Farrell-Morton – centre / wing / defence / wing attack (Nord Anglia International School)

Molly Fuller – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)

Caitlin Gowdy – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai English Speaking College)

Noorulain Hussain – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai College)

Zahra Hussain-Gillani – goal defence / goalkeeper (British School Al Khubairat)

Claire Janssen – goal shooter / goal attack (Jumeriah English Speaking School)         

Eliza Petricola – wing attack / centre (Dubai English Speaking College)

The specs: 2018 Renault Megane

Price, base / as tested Dh52,900 / Dh59,200

Engine 1.6L in-line four-cylinder

Transmission Continuously variable transmission

Power 115hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque 156Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined 6.6L / 100km

While you're here
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

The biog

Favourite books: 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life' by Jane D. Mathews and ‘The Moment of Lift’ by Melinda Gates

Favourite travel destination: Greece, a blend of ancient history and captivating nature. It always has given me a sense of joy, endless possibilities, positive energy and wonderful people that make you feel at home.

Favourite pastime: travelling and experiencing different cultures across the globe.

Favourite quote: “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders” - Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.

Favourite Movie: Mona Lisa Smile 

Favourite Author: Kahlil Gibran

Favourite Artist: Meryl Streep

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
Tamkeen's offering
  • Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
  • Option 2: 50% across three years
  • Option 3: 30% across five years 
Updated: January 31, 2025, 11:56 AM