US vice president-elect Kamala Harris and president-elect Joe Biden arrive for victory address after being declared the winner in the 2020 presidential election, in Wilmington, Delaware. EPA
US president-elect Joe Biden and Jill Biden with vice president-elect Kamala Harris are joined by family members after Mr Biden delivered his victory address following the announcement of the winner in the 2020 presidential election, in Wilmington, Delaware. EPA
People watch fireworks after media announced that Democratic US presidential candidate Joe Biden has won the 2020 election, in Wilmington, Delaware. Reuters
US president-elect Joe Biden gestures in celebration after delivering remarks in Wilmington, Delaware. AFP
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife Jill, and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her husband Doug, react to the confetti at their rally in Wilmington, Delaware. Reuters
Vice president-elect Kamala Harris arrives to deliver remarks before introducing the US president-elect Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. AFP
People gather to watch the speeches in Times Square in New York City. Reuters
Gabriella Ziccarelli, 32, from Arizona, holds a US flag as she watches a speech by vice president-elect Kamala Harris, in Times Square in New York City. Reuters
Vice president-elect Kamala Harris speaks in Wilmington, Delaware, November 7, 2020. Reuters
US president-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris gesture during their post-election rally in Wilmington, Delaware. Reuters
A person wearing a protective mask holds a 'Biden Harris' campaign sign outside Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. Bloomberg
The presidential motorcade, with US President Donald Trump, travels through Reston, Virginia, after President Trump played golf at his International golf club. AFP
President Donald Trump returns to the White House from playing golf in Washington, after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election. AFP
President Donald Trump plays golf at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. AFP
A woman reacts as she watches speeches by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, in Times Square in New York City. Reuters
People watch the speeches by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, at Times Square in New York City. Reuters
Confetti falls after US president-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris delivered speeches in Wilmington, Delaware. AFP
US president-elect Joe Biden with his wife Jill Biden, salute the crowd on stage after delivering a speech in Wilmington, Delaware. AFP
US president-elect Joe Biden, wife Jill Biden, vice president-elect Kamala Harris and husband Douglas Emhoff hold hands while wearing protective masks during a post-election event in Wilmington, Delaware. Bloomberg
Vice president-elect Kamala Harris and president-elect Joe Biden stand on stage with family members in Wilmington, Delaware. AP Photo
A boy carries a sign with vice president-elect Kamala Harris at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington. Reuters
People watch a speech by Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, at Times Square in New York City. Reuters
A woman takes selfie photo posing with an extra edition of a newspaper reporting that Democrat Joe Biden is projected to win the 2020 US presidential election, in Tokyo, Japan. Reuters
Saturday in Washington was like nothing I have experienced in 22 years living in this city. Horns honked, cheers resounded, fireworks crackled and people danced in the streets. It felt like a long, painful war was ending with an almost visceral wave of relief.
Four days after the US election, major news organisations finally and unanimously announced that Democrat Joe Biden had won. President Donald Trump and his allies angrily insist that he somehow is the real winner but they have no coherent narrative to explain why.
Against a backdrop of unprecedented anxiety, the 2020 election mainly produced good news. For many, there’s profound satisfaction that Mr Trump was defeated. Many distinguished figures had warned that a second Trump term could pose an existential threat to democratic institutions, accountability and the rule of law. A major counter-argument was that he lacked the ability, but not the instinct, to push for autocracy.
Any such danger has been avoided.
The presidential win is cathartic for Democrats. It is rare and increasingly difficult to unseat a sitting president.
And the numbers are impressive. In 2016, Mr Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the electoral college by securing 306 votes, though she won the popular tally by almost 3 million. Mr Biden is also heading for 306, but is beating Mr Trump by over 4m popular votes, a double mandate.
Democrats reconstructed the mid-western "blue wall" that Mr Trump grabbed in 2016, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. They scored major breakthroughs in traditionally Republican Arizona and Georgia. Democrats would have salivated over this map 12 months ago, though their hopes became exaggerated more recently.
But there's much to please Republicans, too. They made surprising gains in the House of Representatives and crucial state legislatures. Control of the Senate will be decided by two January run-off elections in Georgia. If Republicans win both, they can effectively wield a veto over most of Mr Biden's domestic agenda.
Mr Trump helped inspire the biggest voter turnout in over a century, which was also due to expanded postal and early voting because of the pandemic.
In what was effectively a Trump referendum, no votes prevailed by 4-5m. But there were over 70m yeses, including most of his 2016 voters and significantly expanded blocs of Latinos and African-Americans, particularly younger men who appear to admire his swagger.
So, while many Republicans may be despondent, their party actually did fairly well.
Republican leaders might quietly welcome the potential end of Mr Trump's party leadership. But their refusal to publicly acknowledge Mr Biden's victory suggests they are still terrified of Mr Trump's base, and unwilling to defy him.
American democratic norms and processes prevailed. None of the well-publicised nightmare scenarios played out.
Though an anti-democratic hazard was soundly rejected, the best news of all was non-partisan, structural and institutional. Political systems functioned admirably despite profound social and partisan polarisation and the raging coronavirus pandemic.
Foreign meddling was contained. There was no violence or intimidation at polling places and no effort to disrupt the election process. Irregularities appear minor at worst.
State and local administrators who oversee American elections generally behaved impeccably. Democratic and Republican officials, and countless volunteers and election officers, worked together across the country without incident or rancour.
Americans in their conduct overwhelmingly upheld cherished democratic norms and traditions. The country may be polarised, but citizens on both the left and right appear sincerely committed to these values and mores. This is profoundly reassuring.
Mr Trump may be hoping that the Supreme Court, now bolstered with his latest conservative appointee, Amy Coney Barrett, will intervene and save him, as he repeatedly predicted it would during the campaign. He is going to be deeply disappointed.
This result is not within what is cynically but accurately called "cheating distance", and no pending case would overturn the outcome. If the court tried to overturn a free and fair election on a technicality, it would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis and do irreversible damage to the institution.
Mr Biden’s challenges will be enormous. He inherits a country still beset by a raging pandemic and struggling economy, and deeply divided along partisan, cultural and ethnic lines.
In his first speech as President-elect, he pledged to end the "grim era of demonisation” under Mr Trump and rebuild a spirit of compromise, co-operation and bipartisanship, but that won't be easy.
Much depends on what happens in the Senate, through both its composition as determined by the two Georgia run-off races, and the strategy adopted by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He ground governance to a virtual halt during much of the Barack Obama presidency, and could choose to repeat that strategy.
Mr Trump ought to help matters by at least acknowledging his defeat, but he seems incapable of that. He appears determined to promulgate a classic right-wing "stabbed in the back" theory that insists he is still the legitimate President, and so exacerbate tensions and further divide Americans.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden addresses the nation at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware. AFP
Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris looks on as US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks about election results in Wilmington, Delaware. Reuters
Dogs with bibs supporting Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden are seen across the street from where ballots are being counted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Reuters
Police stand guard during a demonstration held by supporters of democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden in New York. EPA
People cheer after Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden overtook President Donald Trump in the Pennsylvania general election vote count. Reuters
Activists celebrate after Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden overtook President Donald Trump in the Pennsylvania general election vote count, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Reuters
Journalists from all over the world wait for the result of the US Presidential elections on Black Lives Matter Plaza in front of the White House in Washington. AFP
Republican canvas observer Ed White, takes photos with his smart phone as Lehigh County workers count ballots as vote counting continues in Allentown Pennsylvania. AP Photo
Supporters of President Donald Trump demonstrate outside of the TCF Centre in Detroit, Michigan. AFP
Election officials proceed with the counting of ballots at the Allegheny County elections warehouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. AFP
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds a news conference during the presidential election in Washington. Reuters
Protesters urge vote counting outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center. AFP
Supporters of President Trump, who are questioning the legitimacy of the state's vote counting, gather outside of the Pennsylvania Convention Centre in Philadelphia. EPA
A police officer stands watch near a stage set up by the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. Reuters
Protesters, police, members of the media and others converge outside of the Convention Centre as the counting of ballots continues in the state in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. AFP
Protesters gather outside of the Philadelphia Convention Centre. AFP
Protesters outside of the Philadelphia Convention Centre. Joe Biden took the lead in the vote count on Friday morning from President Trump, bringing him one step closer to winning the election. AFP
A stage set up by the campaign of Joe Biden sits ready in Wilmington. Reuters
Once he's gone, however unwillingly, much of the country will try to move on. But the willingness and ability of the Republican Party to get past the Trump era remains an open question
Reports suggest he might nonetheless be willing to negotiate a normal transfer of power. His terms are unclear, but he faces significant potential criminal charges at both the federal and state levels, and has reportedly expressed concern he may face prosecution when he loses the protection of the presidency. He could be hoping for salvation through the art of the deal.
Mr Trump will probably be the first modern US President to refuse to concede defeat and participate in his successor’s inauguration. More likely is a new media-centred career of insisting that he’s still the real President and American democracy is a corrupt fraud.
He could inflict significant national damage while he is still formally in office until January 20, but he could also be restrained or even ignored, including by subordinates. His options might be more limited in practice than in theory.
Once he's gone, however unwillingly, much of the country will try to move on. But the willingness and ability of the Republican Party to get past the Trump era remains an open question. The immediate US political future may hang on the answer.
Hussein Ibish is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute and a US affairs columnist for The National
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Tenants also require a letter of no objection from their landlord before being allowed to list the property.
There is a cost of Dh1,590 before starting the process, with an additional licence fee of Dh300 per bedroom being rented in your home for the duration of the rental, which ranges from three months to a year.
Anyone hoping to list a property for rental must also provide a copy of their title deeds and Ejari, as well as their Emirates ID.
Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
Torbal Rayeh Wa Jayeh
Starring: Ali El Ghoureir, Khalil El Roumeithy, Mostafa Abo Seria
Stars: 3
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.
