'Yellow vest' protesters march in front of French police in Paris. Getty
'Yellow vest' protesters march in front of French police in Paris. Getty
'Yellow vest' protesters march in front of French police in Paris. Getty
'Yellow vest' protesters march in front of French police in Paris. Getty

Macron’s ratings fall further after month of protests


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A month of "yellow-vest" protests took a further toll on the popularity of French leader Emmanuel Macron, a new poll showed on Sunday, with analysts saying he will be forced to change his style of governing.

About 66,000 protesters turned out again on Saturday in a fifth round of anti-government demonstrations, which began over fuel tax hikes last month.

This figure was about half the number of the previous weekend, suggesting the protests' momentum was waning and the most acute political crisis of Mr Macron’s 19-month presidency was coming to an end.

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France's 'yellow vest' protests decline on fifth weekend

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“It is calming down, but what remains of it all is a strong feeling of hatred towards Macron,” said veteran sociologist Herve Le Bras from the School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.

A major poll published in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper showed approval for Mr Macron slipped another two points in the past month, to 23 percent.

The proportion of people who said they were “very dissatisfied” by his leadership jumped by six points to 45 percent.

Many of the protesters targeted Mr Macron personally, calling on him to resign or attacking his background as an investment banker and his alleged elitism.

Mr Le Bras said the protests underlined the depth of dislike for Macron’s personality and style of governing, which critics see as arrogant and distant.

Until last week, a clear majority of French people backed the protests, which sprung up initially over high taxes before snowballing into broader opposition to Mr Macron.

In a bid to end the standoff, he announced a package of measures for low-income workers on Monday in a televised address, estimated by economists to cost up to €15 billion (Dh62.3bn).

The 40-year-old also acknowledged widespread animosity towards him and came close to apologising for a series of verbal gaffes thought to be dismissive of the poor or jobless.

Two polls published last Tuesday – in the wake of Mr Macron’s concessions – suggested the country was now split 50-50 on whether the protests should continue.

“It’s a movement that has succeeded in forcing back what looked like a strong government,” Jerome Sainte-Marie, a public opinion expert at the Pollingvox group, told AFP.

“People have confidence in themselves now, so things won’t return to how they were on November 15” before the protests started, he said.

“The context in which Emmanuel Macron holds power has changed,” he added.

The former investment banker had until now styled himself as a determined pro-business reformer who would not yield to pressure from protests like his predecessors.

“Macron has given an indication that he is more open to dialogue,” Jean-Daniel Levy from the Harris Interactiv polling group said.

The government has announced a six-month consultation with civil society groups, mayors, businesses and the protesters to discuss tax and other economic reforms.

Rises in petrol and diesel taxes, as well as tougher emissions controls on old vehicles – justified on the grounds of environmental protection – were what initially sparked the "yellow vests" movement.

Mr Macron “won’t necessarily change the overall course of his reforms, rather the way he carries them out,” Mr Levy added.

In Paris on Saturday, more than 8,000 police easily outnumbered the 2,200 protesters counted by local authorities.

There were 168 arrests by early evening, far fewer than the 1,000 or so of last Saturday.

Tear gas was fired, but only a fraction of the amount compared with earlier this month when graffiti was daubed on the Arc de Triomphe in scenes that shocked France.

At Toulouse, in the south-west, police said they arrested 31 people and were still holding 26 after clashes in the city.

Two motorway tollbooths at Narbonne and Perpignan in the south were burned overnight Saturday to Sunday, firefighters reported. Both were attacked in previous protests.

Richard Ferrand, the head of France's National Assembly, welcomed the “necessary” weakening of ‘yellow vest’ rallies on Saturday, adding that “there had been a massive response to their demands”.

Now, he added: “The time for dialogue has come.”

Interior minister Christophe Castaner called on protesters to halt the blockades which disrupted traffic and businesses.

“Everyone’s safety has to become the rule again,” he tweeted.

“Dialogue now needs to unite all those who want to transform France.”

He confirmed that eight people died since the start of the movement.

Around 69,000 members of the security forces were on duty across France on Saturday, down from 89,000 the previous weekend, when 2,000 people were detained.

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MATCH INFO

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Company%20Profile
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Cheat’s nigiri 
This is easier to make than sushi rolls. With damp hands, form the cooled rice into small tablet shapes. Place slices of fresh, raw salmon, mackerel or trout (or smoked salmon) lightly touched with wasabi, then press, wasabi side-down, onto the rice. Serve with soy sauce and pickled ginger.

Easy omurice
This fusion dish combines Asian fried rice with a western omelette. To make, fry cooked and cooled sushi rice with chopped vegetables such as carrot and onion and lashings of sweet-tangy ketchup, then wrap in a soft egg omelette.

Deconstructed sushi salad platter 
This makes a great, fuss-free sharing meal. Arrange sushi rice on a platter or board, then fill the space with all your favourite sushi ingredients (edamame beans, cooked prawns or tuna, tempura veggies, pickled ginger and chilli tofu), with a dressing or dipping sauce on the side.

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Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

UAE Falcons

Carly Lewis (captain), Emily Fensome, Kelly Loy, Isabel Affley, Jessica Cronin, Jemma Eley, Jenna Guy, Kate Lewis, Megan Polley, Charlie Preston, Becki Quigley and Sophie Siffre. Deb Jones and Lucia Sdao – coach and assistant coach.

 
Results

4pm: Al Bastakiya – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Dirt) 1,900m; Winner: Panadol, Mickael Barzalona (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)

4.35pm: Dubai City Of Gold – Group 2 (TB) $228,000 (Turf) 2,410m; Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

5.10pm: Mahab Al Shimaal – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Canvassed, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson

5.45pm: Burj Nahaar – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson

6.20pm: Jebel Hatta – Group 1 (TB) $260,000 (T) 1,800m; Winner: Lord Glitters, Daniel Tudhope, David O’Meara

6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (TB) $390,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass

7.30pm: Nad Al Sheba – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Final Song, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor

Key findings
  • Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
  • Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase. 
  • People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”. 
  • Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better. 
  • But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Janet Yellen's Firsts

  • In 2014, she became the first woman to lead the US Federal Reserve 
  • In 1999, she became the first female chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers 
List of officials:

Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.

Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.

Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

Rating: 2/5

T20 World Cup Qualifier

October 18 – November 2

Opening fixtures

Friday, October 18

ICC Academy: 10am, Scotland v Singapore, 2.10pm, Netherlands v Kenya

Zayed Cricket Stadium: 2.10pm, Hong Kong v Ireland, 7.30pm, Oman v UAE

UAE squad

Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Darius D’Silva, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Junaid Siddique, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Waheed Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Zahoor Khan

Players out: Mohammed Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed

Players in: Junaid Siddique, Darius D’Silva, Waheed Ahmed

if you go

The flights

Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes. 

The hotels

Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes. 

When to visit

March-May and September-November

Visas

Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.