Today, on the second Monday of October, the US government celebrates Columbus Day as a federal holiday.
Government offices, banks and schools are shut down across the country for a long weekend.
But an increasing number of state and local governments are moving away from the holiday, choosing instead to recognise Indigenous Peoples' Day.
Rather than honouring European explorer Christopher Columbus, who landed in the present-day Bahamas in 1492, the day remembers and celebrates the history and culture of the Native American peoples.
President Franklin D Roosevelt first proclaimed a national Columbus Day in 1934, asking Americans to observe it with sentiment "befitting the anniversary of the discovery of America".
Italian-American communities used the holiday to highlight their heritage and accomplishments in honour of the Italian explorer.
But to generations of indigenous people, Columbus represents the start of the colonisation of the Americas and the dispossession and the death of millions.
By 1900, it was estimated that 80 per cent of the US indigenous population was wiped out.
A group of indigenous activists first proposed an Indigenous Peoples' Day in 1977 at the first UN Conference on Indians in the Americas, which was held in Geneva.
By a vote of 143 in favour, four against and 11 abstentions, the UN General Aassembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on September 13, 2007.
The US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand voted against the measure, quoting provisions on self-determination, land and resources rights and the state management of resources.
This land is your land
South Dakota, where about 8 per cent of its population identifies as Native American, became the first state to officially celebrate Native Americans' Day instead of Columbus Day in 1990.
Berkeley, California, the birthplace to the campus free speech movement in the 1960s, was the first city to adopt Indigenous Peoples' Day in 1992 as a counter-protest to a 500th anniversary celebration of Columbus’s arrival.
Some local municipalities and state governments throughout the US have chosen to remove statues glorifying the so-called discoverer as well as those erected in homage to the Civil War.
In 2020, the Columbus statue was removed from California's state capitol in Sacramento, where the second Monday in October is now called Italian-American Heritage Day.
Overseers of Tower Grove Park in St Louis, Missouri, voted for the removal of a 134-year-old Columbus statue, with many other cities including Chicago and Detroit following suit.
To date, 33 monuments to Columbus have been removed and 60 homages to the Confederates of the Civil War are now history, the Southern Poverty Law Centre says. Last summer, the US House of Representatives voted for the removal of certain busts and statues on display at the US Capitol.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
EXPATS
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What is Diwali?
The Hindu festival is at once a celebration of the autumn harvest and the triumph of good over evil, as outlined in the Ramayana.
According to the Sanskrit epic, penned by the sage Valmiki, Diwali marks the time that the exiled king Rama – a mortal with superhuman powers – returned home to the city of Ayodhya with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman, after vanquishing the 10-headed demon Ravana and conquering his kingdom of Lanka. The people of Ayodhya are believed to have lit thousands of earthen lamps to illuminate the city and to guide the royal family home.
In its current iteration, Diwali is celebrated with a puja to welcome the goodness of prosperity Lakshmi (an incarnation of Sita) into the home, which is decorated with diyas (oil lamps) or fairy lights and rangoli designs with coloured powder. Fireworks light up the sky in some parts of the word, and sweetmeats are made (or bought) by most households. It is customary to get new clothes stitched, and visit friends and family to exchange gifts and greetings.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
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Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
Kashima Antlers 3 (Nagaki 49’, Serginho 69’, Abe 84’)
Guadalajara 2 (Zaldivar 03’, Pulido 90')
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
ARGENTINA SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Franco Armani, Agustin Marchesin, Esteban Andrada
Defenders: Juan Foyth, Nicolas Otamendi, German Pezzella, Nicolas Tagliafico, Ramiro Funes Mori, Renzo Saravia, Marcos Acuna, Milton Casco
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes, Guido Rodriguez, Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Roberto Pereyra, Rodrigo De Paul, Angel Di Maria
Forwards: Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Lautaro Martinez, Paulo Dybala, Matias Suarez
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What is the definition of an SME?
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.
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
SPECS
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