I refer to the story More than 1,100 road accidents in Dubai over the weekend (February 20). The biggest problem is that when you indicate to change lanes into a space, the driver behind will accelerate to close the space for no reason. So people end up not indicating, because the element of surprise is the only way you get to move over.
James De Vile, Abu Dhabi
Stop using mobile phones while driving. I see more and more of this every day, looking at Facebook and texting as soon as they stop at the signals and then carry on as they drive.
I often wonder what is so important that it can’t wait until they have reached their destination.
Kay Lancaster, Duabai
Taxi and bus drivers have a huge responsibility to keep their passengers safe, not the opposite.
Name withheld by request
Are we prepared for bio warfare?
I am writing in reference to the news report Idex 2017: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed open Idex in the capital (February 20).
We are spending billions of dollars on conventional weapons to deal with conventional warfare. According to Bill Gates, money should be spent in combating terrorists using pathogens as bioweapons.
How could it be prevented and what are the contingency measures? Are we equipped to deal with bio weapons?
Name withheld by request
Commendable move on cricket
The decision to play the Pakistan Super League final in Lahore is brave, audacious and, of course, commendable. It comes on the heels of a spate of terrorist attacks across the country. The decision sends out a strong message to those outfits that are bent on sabotaging Pakistan’s image. It indicates that Pakistan as a nation will not be deterred by a handful of maniacs.
Having said this, the onus lies on the federal and local governments, as well as Paksitan’s military, to ensure safety and security for foreign players.
This event – which will not only be attended by international delegates, but also watched all over the world – will be a litmus test for Pakistan’s security agencies. This is an opportunity to project Pakistan as a country that is able to keep terrorism at bay.
Moreover, if Pakistan can host this event without any incident it would pave the way for the return of international cricket to the country. Pakistanis deserve this.
Terrorism has already dealt a major blow to Pakistani cricket. This situation cannot continue for ever.
Bilal Farooq, Abu Dhabi
Trump sons’ visit is great news
Congratulations to Damac and Trump International for completing a successful project (Trump's sons in Dubai to open Trump International Golf Club, February 19).
Build it and they will come. Dubai is home to world-class golf courses and iconic buildings and this adds to the growing stock of championship courses. We look forward to Trump International and Damac Hills hosting world-class events.
In the words of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, we do business with a country, not individuals. Also, we must separate business from politics.
So Damac rightly has a contract with Trump International, which is a separate entity that has nothing to do with the politics of president Donald Trump.
It’s this kind of attitude that places Dubai and the UAE ahead of the rest in this region. Dubai was built on partnerships with world-class entities and this is another testament to economic diversification.
Randall Mohammed, Dubai
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
Race results:
1. Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi: 46.44 min
2. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team: +0.91sec
3. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team: +31.43sec
ROUTE TO TITLE
Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8
Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 685Nm at 2,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Price: from Dh850,000
On sale: now
A cryptocurrency primer for beginners
Cryptocurrency Investing for Dummies+– by Kiana Danial
There are several primers for investing in cryptocurrencies available online, including e-books written by people whose credentials fall apart on the second page of your preferred search engine.
Ms Danial is a finance coach and former currency analyst who writes for Nasdaq. Her broad-strokes primer+(2019) breaks down investing in cryptocurrency into baby steps, while explaining the terms and technologies involved.
Although cryptocurrencies are a fast evolving world, this book offers a good insight into the game as well as providing some basic tips, strategies and warning signs.
Begin your cryptocurrency journey here.
Available at Magrudy’s , Dh104
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 1050Nm
Range: 450km
Price: Dh601,800
On sale: now
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
Civil War
Director: Alex Garland
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, Nick Offerman
Rating: 4/5
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
