A feminist trailblazer and one of America's most prominent justices died on Friday, aged 87. Even as she battled pancreatic cancer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg did not give up the fight for equality. She remained committed to her position as one of nine judges on the US Supreme Court, the country's foremost tribunal, until the day she died. She would often joke that there would only be enough women on America's highest court "when there are nine", an anecdote that perfectly illustrates her dedication to furthering women's rights.
Ginsburg was the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court. She was nominated for the position in 1993 by then-president Bill Clinton. A self-made woman hailing from a modest Jewish family, Ginsburg had to fight discrimination early on in her life. Despite having graduated top of her class from Columbia Law School in 1959, she struggled to find employment.
In fact, she had been demoted from her previous job in 1954 when she became pregnant. "Not a law firm in the entire city of New York would employ me," she said. "I struck out on three grounds: I was Jewish, a woman and a mother."
More about Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Since those days, Ginsburg made it her life’s cause to have sexist laws repealed. In 1971, she was only 38 when she won her first case before the Supreme Court in Reed v Reed, successfully ending a policy that gave men preference over women as estate executors. The following year she co-founded the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and became the first tenured woman professor at the prestigious Columbia Law School. As the ACLU’s general counsel, she launched gender-discrimination cases with the aim of ending sexism in American law. Of the six cases she brought before the Supreme Court, she won an astounding five.
Her fight for equality, however, was not reserved to the public sphere. In her own personal life, she shared household work and childcare equally with her late husband, Martin, who also took on most of the cooking. Anti-feminists often make the argument that a woman's success inevitably comes at her family’s expense. Yet Ginsburg’s family life is proof to the contrary. Her biggest supporter was her late husband, who lobbied for her to be appointed at the Supreme Court. On his deathbed, he wrote a letter to his wife saying: “I have admired and loved you almost since the day we first met.”
Ginsburg was a force to be reckoned with when it came to advancing women’s rights, yet much remains to be done to achieve equality. For instance, a recent report by the World Economic Forum found that “no country, including the top-ranked ones have yet achieved gender parity in wages”. In 2017, the “Me Too” movement revealed the extent to which men in power, in Hollywood and beyond, can exploit their position to take advantage of women.
Despite having graduated top of her class from Columbia Law School, she struggled to find employment
Ginsburg has inspired a new generation of women's rights advocates to follow in her footsteps.
Her passing, however, has created a political storm that has nothing to do with the values she stood for during her lifetime. Right-wing politicians hoping the progressive judge's seat will be filled with a conservative appointee have rushed into a partisan debate. But now is not the time for political calculations. People of all sides should come together to celebrate Ginsburg's achievements and honour the memory of a woman who changed the lives of millions of Americans for the better and inspired many more across the world.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
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What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.