Insight and opinion from The National’s editorial leadership
November 23, 2021
In good times as well as bad, few diplomatic events have as much geopolitical significance as state visits. But for countries with royal families, even ones that have limited political power, coverage and popular appeal of their official trips can easily rival the presence of a nation's most senior politician.
We saw this special kind of diplomacy throughout the recent visit by Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to the Middle East. It was not an occasion to discuss geopolitics, rather one to re-emphasise the longstanding friendship between the UK and the region. And while it was not technically a state visit, it was significant. Prince Charles has deep ties with the Middle East and is seen as one of Europe’s most respected royals.
The trip is a sign that Britain values its friends. Politicians change, reflecting the modern, political phases of a country; royal families have a deeper, symbolic association with tradition and identity. The British royals are particularly illustrative of this fact. Constitutionally, they are largely ceremonial. Culturally, however, they are one of the most influential brands around, and a major part of the UK's soft power.
Queen Rania, wearing a white V-neck Dior midi coat with a patterned white blouse, gold Dior belt and a matching Louis Vuitton handbag, poses for a photograph as she visits Queen Rania Family and Child Centre with Britain's Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in Amman, Jordan, on November 16, 2021. Reuters
Queen Rania wears a gold and cream abaya to attend a private dinner at the Al Husseiniya Palace in Amman. Reuters
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wearing a blue flowery dress by Fiona Clare, arrive at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan. EPA
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in a pale green Anna Valentine gown, arrives at a private dinner at Al Husseiniya Palace. Reuters
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wearing a black and khaki Fiona Clare dress, take a walking tour of Umm Qais in Jordan. Getty Images
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wearing a white Anna Valentine tunic and trousers, arrive for a centenary celebration of the founding of the Jordanian state, at the Jordan Museum in Amman. AFP
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wearing a pale pink Anna Valentine tunic and trousers, meet Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and the first lady Entissar Amer, at Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo on November 18, 2021. Reuters
The Egyptian first lady, Entissar Amer, in a red skirt and top, at Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo, 2021. Reuters
To visit the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, Camilla, Duchess of Sussex, added a white head scarf to her Anna Valentine look. EPA
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wore the same Anna Valentine tunic to tour the Great Sphinx of Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, with Prince Charles. Reuters
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wearing blue Anna Valentine, talks with Magdi Yacoub, retired heart surgeon, during a UK-Egypt reception in Cairo on November 18. Reuters
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall wears a pale green Anna Valentine dress, to visit the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, in Alexandria, Egypt. Reuters
The current British monarch, Queen Elizabeth, has been a friend to the Middle East all her reign. Her first visit to the region was to Libya in 1954. Her first to the UAE was in 1979, when the country was just eight years old. She returned in 2010.
On the advice of doctors, she is now gradually pulling back from her full schedule of state occasions at the age of 95, paving the way for Prince Charles, the monarch-in-waiting, to take on the most important international royal visits. Like his mother, he, too, is a friend of the Middle East, although he has been away for some time; his last trip to the region was in 2006.
He was happy to be back, this time visiting Jordan and Egypt. On the last leg of his trip, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar in Cairo called him a "wise and responsible leader”, and the pair discussed issues such as the environment and interfaith dialogue. Charles, like many of the region's governments, has a longstanding interest in both. Charles's passion for the environment is so great – he is a leading global advocate of organic farming – that it has sometimes got him in trouble at home for overstepping the tight controls on the Royals' political neutrality.
But away from home, the mood this week has been one of friendship and optimism. Naturally, it is also one of responsibility. Camilla was clear that this visit was not a "holiday", but an important moment to affirm Britain's strong and enduring ties with the region. Nonetheless, after so many years away, the pair have said at the end of their tour that it was "absolutely brilliant", but also "too short".
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Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
THE BIO
Favourite holiday destination: Whenever I have any free time I always go back to see my family in Caltra, Galway, it’s the only place I can properly relax.
Favourite film: The Way, starring Martin Sheen. It’s about the Camino de Santiago walk from France to Spain.
Personal motto: If something’s meant for you it won’t pass you by.
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Salem Rashid, Mohammed Al Attas, Alhassan Saleh
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ahmed Barman, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
May 15: Yokohama, Japan
June 5: Leeds, UK
June 24: Montreal, Canada
July 10: Hamburg, Germany
Aug 17-22: Edmonton, Canada (World Triathlon Championship Final)
Nov 5-6 : Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date TBC: Chengdu, China
Mobile phone packages comparison
The specs: Aston Martin DB11 V8 vs Ferrari GTC4Lusso T
Friday
Real Sociedad v Villarreal (10.15pm)
Real Betis v Celta Vigo (midnight) Saturday
Alaves v Barcelona (8.15pm)
Levante v Deportivo La Coruna (10.15pm)
Girona v Malaga (10.15pm)
Las Palmas v Atletico Madrid (12.15am) Sunday
Espanyol v Leganes (8.15pm)
Eibar v Athletic Bilbao (8.15pm)
Getafe v Sevilla (10.15pm)
Real Madrid v Valencia (10.15pm)
SQUADS
UAE
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice-captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
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.
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The biog
Name: Mariam Ketait
Emirate: Dubai
Hobbies: I enjoy travelling, experiencing new things, painting, reading, flying, and the French language
Favourite quote: "Be the change you wish to see" - unknown
Favourite activity: Connecting with different cultures
NBA Finals results
Game 1: Warriors 124, Cavaliers 114 Game 2: Warriors 122, Cavaliers 103 Game 3: Cavaliers 102, Warriors 110 Game 4: In Cleveland, Sunday (Monday morning UAE)
