Protesters on horseback rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, through central Houston, Texas. Reuters
A broken Statue of Liberty figure is seen between glass shatters outside a looted souvenir shop after a night of protest against the death of an African-American man George Floyd in Minneapolis in Manhattan in New York City. AFP
People, who gathered in protest against the death of George Floyd, peacefully march to the White House in Washington DC. EPA
Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis police custody, is surrounded by family members as he speaks at a protest rally against his brother’s death, in Houston, Texas. Reuters
George Floyd's daughter, Gianna Floyd, 6, is seen during a press conference at Minneapolis City Hall following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Reuters
A Somali-American couple, alongside protesters calling for justice for the death of George Floyd, waits after curfew outside the Cup Foods in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP
Thousands of protesters turn out for a sit-in at the State capitol, more than a week after George Floyd's death while under arrest, in St Paul, Minnesota. EPA
A police officer kneels during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, outside LAPD headquarters in Los Angeles, California. Reuters
Protesters during a 'Black Lives Matter' demonstration in New York City. AFP
A protester holds a placard during a demonstration after French medical experts exonerated the gendarmes involved in the arrest of Adama Traore, a young black man who died in police custody in 2016, outside the 'Tribunal de Paris' courthouse in Paris. AFP
Turkish leftist demonstrators clash with police at Kadikoy in Istanbul, as leftist groups gather in support of US protesters against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, and against police violence in Turkey. AFP
A woman stands in front of Police officers, in downtown Las Vegas, as they take part in a 'Black lives matter' rally in response to the recent death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody. AFP
People take part in a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, at Trump International Hotel in New York. Reuters
A demonstrator holds a sign during a rally following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Boston, Massachusetts. Reuters
A demonstrator reacts during a rally following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Boston, Massachusetts. Reuters
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responds to a question on racism during a news conference outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa. Mr Trudeau said Canadians were watching what’s unfolding in the US with 'horror and consternation'. AP
Members of the National Guard take a knee as people protest against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, in Hollywood, Califronia. EPA
Black Lives Matter has been one of the great phenomena of 2020, with huge demonstrations taking place in support of the movement from North America and Europe to Australia. There were no protests in Malaysia, however, partly because the general view was that mass gatherings of any kind could be fatally foolish in the middle of a pandemic; the virus wasn't going to give you a pass because you believe your cause is just. But also because, as is the case in many Asian countries, there is little popular appetite for progressive politics of almost any kind.
That may turn out to be truer than expected in some western countries, too. A recent survey by the UK polling firm Opinium found that 55 per cent of British citizens thought the BLM protests had increased racial tension in the country, with only 17 per cent disagreeing. Remarkably, that view was shared by 44 per cent of minority ethnic people who were asked – not an overall majority, but far more than the just over 20 per cent who disagreed.
Whatever one thinks of BLM, in one very important way its impact in the UK has clearly been highly counter-productive. If this is also the case with many of the other "new" progressive causes – such as identity politics and gender fluidity – as I suspect it is, its proponents need to ask what has gone so badly wrong with their approach. They might also question why they have made at most negligible inroads into that vast majority of the globe who live in developing countries.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and ihs Ferrari counterpart Sebastian Vettel take the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign in Bahrain. AP Photo
One answer, I would suggest, is that while many are open to reform, far fewer are keen on the idea of revolution, still less on revolutionary compulsion. Many of the new progressive causes – I am distinguishing them from more traditional left-wing concerns about poverty and economic inequality – spring from worthy sentiments. We should be inclusive and kind, and not discriminate on the grounds of difference. We should do far more to acknowledge the effects past injustices still have on many today.
In their execution, however, these campaigns in mainly western countries have been revolutionary and have sought to compel. Centuries-old norms, such as what it means to be a man or a woman, for instance, have been torn up, and feminists who argue that the old distinctions must be maintained have been subjected to vile abuse and threats. "Taking the knee" has become compulsory for figures in sports and politics, for fear of being condemned as racist should they wish to convey their support in another manner. (Thus removing real meaning from the gesture; for if the act is not carried out freely, why should it be deserving of praise?) The new progressives brook no nuance or dissent. They are Stalinist in their insistence that all should agree with and act according to their "truth".
Now, thinking that what you believe is right is also right for everyone else is nothing new. That is the essence of adherence to any system of “universal values”, and proponents of western liberal democracy – with all the suites of “rights” that entails – are just as committed to that principle. The latter, though, have generally been a little more diplomatic in promoting their worldview. While lecturing countries in Asia and Africa on human rights (their version of that concept, naturally), they still concede – at least a little – that countries differ on what liberties should be enshrined in law or where the parameters of acceptable behaviour should be set.
So, for example, western universalists may not agree with the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, published by the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation in 1990, but they would deal with the fact that it ends with lines that indicate a significantly different set of values: “All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this declaration are subject to the Islamic Sharia. The Islamic Sharia is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification of any of the articles of this declaration.”
The new progressives’ approach, on the other hand, is simply to label anyone who disagrees with them as “bigoted”. Both in the West and in the rest of the world, this alienates liberals who might otherwise be quite sympathetic to where they are coming from, and it refuses to give any credit to the vast number of people who are fundamentally “small c” social conservatives.
The latter represent the overwhelming majority in all four of the Arabian Gulf and South-East Asian countries I have lived and worked in both as a child and as an adult. I have been lucky to learn much from these societies, and have gained enormous respect as a result for traditions, customs, ideas about cohesion, and attitudes towards religion and authority, that varied from my own. But the new progressives seem incapable of admitting that those with traditional values – who don’t want to overthrow capitalism or disrupt the nuclear family – can be decent and admirable people, too. Their very conservatism is deemed a “sin” for which they cannot be forgiven.
Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley are leading the left wing of the Democratic Party. EPA
The new progressives' approach is simply to label anyone who disagrees with them as 'bigoted'
It is likely that such people make up the majority in countries like the UK and US as well. Many in the past voted for left-wing parties, but are baffled why the new progressives who hold such sway over Britain's Labour Party and a wing of the Democratic Party in America appear to have abandoned the struggle for the working class and labour, for issues that seem to them to be less central, and which sometimes affect a tiny minority. They are put off, too, by the divisiveness and the harshness with which those who are not signed up to the very latest iteration of progressivism are treated.
I am sure that most of the new progressives are well-meaning people. But they have lost their way, and their efforts are becoming self-defeating, as the survey on BLM shows. For a start, they might look to consensus and emphasis on communal harmony so valued in the Asian countries in which I have lived. They might not agree, but they could surely learn from them how to fight a better fight – or better still, to persuade without rancour.
Sholto Byrnes is an East Asian affairs columnist for The National
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
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.
Messi at the Copa America
2007 – lost 3-0 to Brazil in the final
2011 – lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals
2015 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
2016 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
Abu Dhabi Card
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 1,400m
National selection: AF Mohanak
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 90,000 1,400m
National selection: Jayide Al Boraq
6pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 100,000 1,400m
National selection: Rocket Power
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Listed (PA) Dh 180,000 1,600m
National selection: Ihtesham
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 1,600m
National selection: Noof KB
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 2.200m
National selection: EL Faust
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Etihad Airways flies from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur, from about Dh3,600. Air Asia currently flies from Kuala Lumpur to Terengganu, with Berjaya Hotels & Resorts planning to launch direct chartered flights to Redang Island in the near future. Rooms at The Taaras Beach and Spa Resort start from 680RM (Dh597).
West Asia Premiership
Dubai Hurricanes 58-10 Dubai Knights Eagles
Dubai Tigers 5-39 Bahrain
Jebel Ali Dragons 16-56 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
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
Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
Steve Baker
Peter Bone
Ben Bradley
Andrew Bridgen
Maria Caulfield
Simon Clarke
Philip Davies
Nadine Dorries
James Duddridge
Mark Francois
Chris Green
Adam Holloway
Andrea Jenkyns
Anne-Marie Morris
Sheryll Murray
Jacob Rees-Mogg
Laurence Robertson
Lee Rowley
Henry Smith
Martin Vickers
John Whittingdale
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16. first leg
Atletico Madrid v Juventus, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports