UAE President Sheikh Mohamed on Tuesday ordered the release of 963 prisoners ahead of Eid Al Adha.
He also pledged to pay the inmates' fines, state news agency Wam reported.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and in his capacity as Ruler of Dubai, ordered the release of 985 inmates of various nationalities.
Pardons are typically offered throughout the year in keeping with the generous spirit of occasions such as Ramadan and Eid Al Adha.
In February, Sheikh Mohamed also ordered the release of 1,295 of prisoners to mark Ramadan.
Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Ruler of Fujairah, later agreed to free 112 prisoners in the emirate.
Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah ordered the release of 411 inmates, while Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah pardoned 439 prisoners. Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Ruler of Ajman, order the release of 225 inmates.
What is Eid Al Adha?
Eid Al Adha – which means “festival of the sacrifice” – is the latter of the two Eid holidays celebrated across the Arab world, coming after Eid Al Fitr. Eid Al Adha commemorates the Prophet Ibrahim being asked by God in a dream to sacrifice his son, Ismail, as a test of his faith.
As with other religious holidays in the Emirates, it is a time for friends and family to gather, often over meals, and reflect on their lives and faith. It is customary for families who have the means to slaughter a goat or sheep and share the meat with relatives and the less privileged.
Employees in the public and private sectors are to be granted leave from Thursday, June 5, to Sunday, June 8, to mark the holiday, with work resuming on Monday, June 9.
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
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.
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
Royal Birkdale Golf Course
Location: Southport, Merseyside, England
Established: 1889
Type: Private
Total holes: 18
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Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
Match info
Uefa Nations League A Group 4
England 2 (Lingard 78', Kane 85')
Croatia 1 (Kramaric 57')
Man of the match: Harry Kane (England)
Squad for first two ODIs
Kohli (c), Rohit, Dhawan, Rayudu, Pandey, Dhoni (wk), Pant, Jadeja, Chahal, Kuldeep, Khaleel, Shami, Thakur, Rahul.
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
More from our neighbourhood series:
GOODBYE%20JULIA
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Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
