The last of three jailed Al Jazeera English journalists to leave Egypt on Wednesday arrived in Qatar, where the network is based.
Baher Mohammed was greeted by the smiles and hugs of co-workers who had pressed for the release of the three men.
Mohammed, who is Egyptian, was arrested along with his colleagues in Cairo in December 2013. He and Mohamed Fahmy were sentenced in an August retrial to three years in prison for airing what a court said was “false news” and coverage biased in favour of the Muslim Brotherhood.
They were released from prison after receiving a pardon from Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi in September.
Fahmy, a dual Canadian-Egyptian citizen who renounced his Egyptian citizenship in an attempt to facilitate his release, left Egypt last week.
A third colleague arrested with them, Australian Peter Greste, was deported from Egypt a year ago but was nonetheless convicted in absentia. He has not been pardoned.
“It feels good to be back and see those who supported me,” Mohammed said after his arrival in the Qatari capital, Doha. “I didn’t know what to say. I was just saying lots of thank you’s.”
Mohammed left Egypt without fanfare last Thursday for a short getaway with his family to the Indian Ocean island nation of the Maldives. He said authorities initially stopped him from leaving Cairo airport, forcing him to miss his planned flight out, but he was eventually allowed to depart.
On arrival in Doha, he clutched his son Haroon, whose August 2014 birth he had missed because he was behind bars.
Network executives were on hand to welcome him, with Mostefa Souag, the network’s acting director general, hailing Mohammed’s courage and calling him “an ambassador for press freedom and fearless journalism”.
Mohammed plans to continue working for the network, which he said took good care of his family during his ordeal. * Associated Press
The years Ramadan fell in May
The Equaliser 2
Director Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Ashton Sanders
Three stars
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:
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hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
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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.”
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
MATCH SCHEDULE
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tuesday, April 24 (10.45pm)
Liverpool v Roma
Wednesday, April 25
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid (10.45pm)
Europa League semi-final, first leg
Thursday, April 26
Arsenal v Atletico Madrid (11.05pm)
Marseille v Salzburg (11.05pm)
