Foreign observers touring Raqqa after it was liberated from ISIS last year found their powers of description challenged by what was on display. Almost the entire city – home to nearly a quarter of a million people before the war – had been reduced to rubble. In a place that once hummed with life, the main landmark was the midtown traffic junction where ISIS staged its sadistic public executions. And mass graves and landmines were all that ISIS left behind when its fighters fled the capital of its so-called "Caliphate". The civilians who have since trickled back into the city are still haunted by the reign of terror they endured. The destruction all around them doesn't merely remind them of the recent past; it makes them physically captive to that past.
It is daunting even to contemplate reconstruction under existing circumstances. And yet rebuilding Raqqa is the only way to liberate it, psychologically, from ISIS. This is why the UAE's pledge of $50 million on Thursday to help revive Raqqa – and other areas once under ISIS rule – is so crucial. Other potential donors have been deterred from acting by the ongoing conflict in Syria. But the UAE's donation reminds them that there is an urgent need for intervention – that the obligation to aid the people of Raqqa cannot wait for the arrival of perfect circumstances. Announcing the pledge at Nato last week, Mohammed Al Bowardi, the UAE's Minister of State for Defence, indicated that improving the living conditions in Raqqa will only enhance security.
Eradicating terrorism is rightly a top priority for Nato and the international community, but the focus should also extend to preventing its rise in the first place. Desperate conditions, after all, are ideal breeding grounds for militancy. In Iraq and Syria, ISIS found plenty of recruits among young men who had been abandoned by their governments. Walking away from a new generation, now that ISIS has militarily been vanquished as an organised force, would be a profound mistake – and could lead us to yet more nightmares. It is therefore important to learn from the past and invest generously in places ravaged by terrorism.
The historic monuments vandalised by ISIS were architectural expressions of our civilisation's finest instincts and cultural sophistication. Re-erecting them, brick by brick, affirms our steely determination to preserve our heritage. The UAE's grant of $50 million to rebuild Mosul's Al Nuri Mosque, razed by ISIS as Iraqi forces advanced to liberate the city, is a case in point. As Noura Al Kaabi, the UAE's Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, has said, this is "an initiative that defeats extremism in all its facets. We don't want to allow the destruction of the past and the present". The two are inextricably connected.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
more from Janine di Giovanni
SERIES SCHEDULE
First Test, Galle International Stadium
July 26-30
Second Test, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
August 3-7
Third Test, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 12-16
First ODI, Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
August 20
Second ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 24
Third ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 27
Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31
Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3
T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6
SERIES SCHEDULE
First Test, Galle International Stadium
July 26-30
Second Test, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
August 3-7
Third Test, Pallekele International Stadium
August 12-16
First ODI, Rangiri Dambulla Stadium
August 20
Second ODI, Pallekele International Stadium
August 24
Third ODI, Pallekele International Stadium
August 27
Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31
Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3
T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Real Sociedad v Leganes (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Real Valladolid (4pm)
Valencia v Granada (7pm)
Eibar v Real Madrid (9.30pm)
Barcelona v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Sunday
Real Mallorca v Villarreal (3pm)
Athletic Bilbao v Levante (5pm)
Atletico Madrid v Espanyol (7pm)
Getafe v Osasuna (9.30pm)
Real Betis v Sevilla (midnight)