From left, Quacy, Quintan, both 12, Milo, and Quacy Jr, both 16 hold placards as they walk in the rain after attending a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Lafayette Park, near the White House, Washington DC. AFP
A man reacts at a memorial for George Floyd following a day of demonstration in a call for justice for the black American who died while in custody of the Minneapolis police, on June 5, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP
A protester participates in a demonstration during a storm in front of Lafayette Park next to the White House, Washington, DC. AFP
Demonstrators attend a Black Lives Matter protest to express solidarity with US protestors in Sydney. AFP
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second left, takes a knee during in a Black Lives Matter protest on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada. AFP
Protesters take a knee and raise their fists during a 'Black Lives Matter' demonstration in front of the Brooklyn Library and Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York. AFP
Youths kneel with placards reading 'Black Lives Matter' in front of riot police officers blocking the way in Athens during a rally against racism and police brutality and in support to the protests in US. AFP
People hold banners during a Black Lives Matter rally in central Seoul, South Korea. EPA
A man holds a placard in solidarity with thousands of people marching during a Black Lives Matter protest in Brisbane. AP
Protesters wear masks during a rally in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter demonstration on June 6, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. Getty
Aboriginal elders conduct a traditional smoking ceremony at Town Hall during a 'Black Lives Matter' protest on June 6, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Getty
Demonstrators are seen in the rain wearing protective face masks during a Black Lives Matter protest in Verulamium Park, St Albans, Britain, following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, on June 6, 2020. Reuters
People hold placards at a Black Lives Matter protest to express solidarity with US protesters, in Melbourne on June 6, 2020. AFP
Activists hold placards as they attend a rally in support of the 'Black Lives Matter' demonstrations in the US, during a march in the Myeongdong district of central Seoul on June 6, 2020. AFP
Activists hold placards as they attend a rally in support of the 'Black Lives Matter' protests, during a march in the Myeongdong district of central Seoul on June 6, 2020. AFP
A placard reading "black lives matter" is seen in a car during a communal conference of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) at a drive-in cinema on the site of the former blast furnace Phoenix West in Dortmund, western Germany, on June 6, 2020 amid the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The conference aims at preparing the local elections in September. / AFP / Ina FASSBENDER
Protesters chant and hold placards during a 'Black Lives Matter' march on June 6, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Getty
A young child attends the 'Black Lives Matter' march with her family on June 6, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Getty
Protesters gather at a Black Lives Matter rally in Genoa, Italy, on June 6, 2020. EPA
Demonstrators wearing protective face masks attend a Black Lives Matter protest in London's Parliament Square on June 6, 2020, following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. Reuters
Race relations can be a fraught subject anywhere but especially so in the US right now. The long hot summer of national reckoning on race and policing has slipped into an autumn of continuing anguish and defiance.
Americans' view of the relations between black and white races is now the most negative of any year since Gallup started asking the question in 2001. And the issue of racial injustice has become one of the top four concerns, according to an NPR/Ipsos poll, as Americans prepare to vote in a consequential presidential election that will be closely watched around the world.
It figures. Nearly 60 years after Martin Luther King delivered his “I have a dream” speech to an audience of a quarter of a million people in Washington, DC, the issue of race relations in America can be boiled down to three intensely symbolic, highly charged things: knees, guns and votes.
Knees feature prominently. Late last month, tens of thousands joined the Get Your Knee Off Our Necks march in Washington, so named because of the manner in which George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis, died at the hands of police in May.
A policeman knelt on Floyd’s neck as he gasped “I can’t breathe”. A bystander’s cellphone video of the atrocity went viral. The march followed repeated instances of the world and its sportsmen kneeling in support of racial and social justice campaigners in America.
And US President Donald Trump, who has called anti-racism activists "domestic terror", launched an ad attacking his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, for "taking a knee" while racial justice protests in Minneapolis turned violent. The unsubtle message is that Mr Biden is complicit in the rioting that has occasionally erupted during the protests. It is the same subtext as Mr Trump's Republican National Convention last month, which focused on characterising the Democrats as the party of chaos and anarchy.
Guns too are increasingly coming into play as armed right-wing militia and vigilante groups supporting Mr Trump directly confront anti-racism protesters on the streets of American cities such as Kenosha, Wisconsin, Portland, Oregon and, more recently, Louisville, Kentucky. Sometimes the racial justice protesters are also visibly armed, raising the prospect of dangerous confrontations across a nation on edge.
Finally, there are the votes. With less than two months to go to the election, there are growing fears of vote suppression, especially in the case of poorer black voters and those who prefer to cast their ballot by mail because of the pandemic.
The situation remains volatile as Labour Day, marked in the US on the first Monday in September, came and went. Labour Day is traditionally seen to kick off the last lap of the general election campaign, which means both the Trump and Biden teams are intensifying their efforts to dominate the narrative, win over new voters or sway wavering ones.
The Black Lives Matter movement saw a revival following the killing of a black American man at the hands of a white American policeman. AFP
The most recent estimates show Mr Trump trailing in national opinion polls as well as in Wisconsin and Michigan, two of the three key swing states. He is currently tied with Mr Biden in Pennsylvania. An incumbent American president has never got past Labour Day as such a clear underdog since George H W Bush in 1992.
Analysts say Mr Trump has a narrow path to re-election and that it runs through heavily white states like Wisconsin and Minnesota. Unsurprisingly then, Mr Trump has put himself at the centre of the raging national debate about race and police tactics, but only by dismissing suggestions of "systemic racism" and assuming the mantle of guarantor of law and order.
Mr Trump recently tweeted mockingly about a Black Lives Matter activist and hailed his administration’s controversial new move to cut off federal agencies' anti-racism training, which has been cast by the government as "divisive, anti-American propaganda". He also continues to deride calls for policing reforms and to describe the unquiet status quo as the “American way of life”. This is thought to be code for white dominance of the levers of power.
Barack Obama's election wasn't so much a sign that America had achieved a post-racial society but that it was striving towards it
So, what might happen next? The logic and demands of politics in a presidential election year would seem to be heading for a full-frontal collision with a passionate, once-in-a-generation call for wholesale change. The disparate protests for social justice across the country show no sign of petering out, with Portland hitting the 100th-day mark of continuous demonstrations at the weekend.
Meanwhile, new cases of alleged police mistreatment of black people and brutality towards them continue to emerge, further fuelling sorrow and rage on the part of protesters. The case of Daniel Prude, a black man who suffocated in March while being handled by police came to public attention just last week. Prude was placed in a restraint called a "spit hood" by police.
The only certainty right now is that tension on America’s streets will continue to escalate. What is not clear is the extent to which Mr Trump’s “law and order” message will resonate in the countdown to election day, November 3, as Americans increasingly express alarm about protests and counter protests in their neighbourhoods and cities.
Perhaps the best way to think about the future of the US is to disentangle the facts from popular perception. The facts tell a compelling story.
Despite its shortcomings, America in 2020 is nothing like the 1950s, when the equality of man envisioned by the Declaration of Independence was very far from reality, inter-racial marriage was illegal in many states and housing and education were segregated. And then there was Barack Obama's election – and re-election – to the highest office in the land. It wasn't so much a sign that America had achieved a post-racial society but that it was striving towards it.
The US has been a country in social transition for much of the past half-century. For some, the pace is imprudent and all too hasty. But despite everything, there is nothing yet to suggest these naysayers will ultimately prevail.
Rashmee Roshan Lall is a columnist for The National
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
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.
Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
It is considered to be the US' most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was first created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out projectiles, namely ballistic missiles, as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 93 miles above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then deployed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month
Poland Statement
All people fleeing from Ukraine before the armed conflict are allowed to enter Poland. Our country shelters every person whose life is in danger - regardless of their nationality.
The dominant group of refugees in Poland are citizens of Ukraine, but among the people checked by the Border Guard are also citizens of the USA, Nigeria, India, Georgia and other countries.
All persons admitted to Poland are verified by the Border Guard. In relation to those who are in doubt, e.g. do not have documents, Border Guard officers apply appropriate checking procedures.
No person who has received refuge in Poland will be sent back to a country torn by war.
