Arab world gripped by opening of Mubarak trial



CAIRO/SHARM EL-SHEIKH // Egyptians and their fellow Arabs were enthralled yesterday by the unprecedented sight of Hosni Mubarak, a leader of the region for three decades, being wheeled into court.

Outside the courtroom in Cairo, they watched on a big screen as the octogenarian, who ruled Egypt for 30 years, lay on a hospital trolley connected to a drip. "I don't believe this … to see a president being tried … I never imagined it. I am so happy," Ahmed Amer, 30, an employee in a water service company, said outside the court.

A Bahraini activist called Online Bahrain addressed other Arab autorcrats across the Arab world: "Dear Arab dictator, take a long hard look at Mubarak. He was just as powerful as you were. Your time is up if you don't change."

Some thought it would inspire those protesters trying to oust their own leaders, such as Syria's Bashar Al Assad, who has used his military to try to crush an uprising. "The trial no doubt inspires Syrians and raises their hopes of the victory of their cause for freedom," said Imadeddin Al Rashid, an Islamic law professor who fled Syria. The opening of the trial coincided with a push by Syrian forces into Hama.

In Yemen, protesters were glued to small television sets they had brought into the tents where they camped out in Sanaa.

Mr Mubarak was not the first Arab leader to fall in the Arab Spring, but he is the first to stand trial in person. The former Tunisian president, Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali, who was toppled first, fled to Saudi Arabia and was tried in absentia.

There are contrasts with the trial of Iraq's Saddam Hussein, kicked out of office by a US-led force and not his own people.

If convicted, Mr Mubarak could face the death penalty, though few expect that outcome.

Some dismissed the proceedings. A government adviser in Saudi Arabia, which tolerates no dissent and has no political parties, criticised putting Mr Mubarak on trial. "You realise that these idiotic people are going to destroy whatever is left of the Egyptian state, this is a masquerade," the adviser said. "This is a humiliating spectacle for everyone. There is nothing to be proud of. Time will tell."

Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: "This trial presents a historic opportunity for Egypt to hold a former leader and his circle to account for crimes committed during their rule."

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said: "If these proceedings scrupulously reflect the international fair trial standards, it will embody a clean break with the record of impunity that characterised Hosni Mubarak's rule, contribute to a new and hopeful chapter in Egypt's history, and set an important regional precedent."

* Reuters with additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

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The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
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World Test Championship table

1 India 71 per cent

2 New Zealand 70 per cent

3 Australia 69.2 per cent

4 England 64.1 per cent

5 Pakistan 43.3 per cent

6 West Indies 33.3 per cent

7 South Africa 30 per cent

8 Sri Lanka 16.7 per cent

9 Bangladesh 0

Electoral College Victory

Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate. 

 

Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.

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The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.

 Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.

A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.

The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.

The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.

Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.

Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment

But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.

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Name: HyperSpace
 
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Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
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Name: Qyubic
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