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Good morning from The National on February 27, 2025.

Here is your digest of what is making the headlines in the Emirates.

Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi believes education can rehabilitate children rescued from bonded labour. Photo: Pradeep Tewari
Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi believes education can rehabilitate children rescued from bonded labour. Photo: Pradeep Tewari

Indian Nobel peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi has issued a powerful rallying cry to people around the world to join the fight against child labour and trafficking.

The children's rights activist, who is in Abu Dhabi this week for the Indiaspora Forum for Good, has launched a movement encouraging compassion. He believes people would take action if they understood the impact of exploitation if their family or friends were affected.

“What if this were your daughter or son? You would not sit quiet. You would act, we must all work and lead efforts to stop child slavery,” he said as he addressed the forum.

Mr Satyarthi, 71, and his team of volunteers in India have rescued more than 130,000 children from trafficking and illegal work in factories over four decades.

Read more from Ramola Talwar Badam here

Tom Evans
Assistant News Editor


Dubai Government staff to work flexible hours over Ramadan

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed issued the directive on Wednesday. Photo: Dubai Media Office
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed issued the directive on Wednesday. Photo: Dubai Media Office

Dubai Government employees will be given flexible and remote working hours during Ramadan. This will extend to flexible working for three hours each day and working from home for two days per week. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, directed the Dubai Government to impose the rules for the holy month.

Employees must complete five and a half hours of work from Monday to Thursday and three hours of work on Friday. The provision depends on “job requirements, work conditions, and the nature of their responsibilities”.

Read more here


UAE looks to lure more financial services, AI and pharma firms

Mohamed Alsuwaidi, Minister of Investment, speaking during Investopia conference in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National
Mohamed Alsuwaidi, Minister of Investment, speaking during Investopia conference in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

The UAE is increasing efforts to attract investments in financial services, pharmaceuticals as well as technology and manufacturing, its Minister of Investment said. It also aims to further simplify processes for companies to set up base in the Emirates. Financial services "is the space that has a huge amount of growth and potential", Mohamed Alsuwaidi told the Investopia conference in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

“We are still far behind where we would like to be in financial services," he said. "For me, there's definitely significant room to grow there, whether it's in the asset management business, whether it's in the insurance business, whether it's even in banking and whether it's technology or FinTech or so on."

Other sectors that are high on the list of priorities for the Arab world’s second-largest economy are pharmaceuticals, biosciences, drug discovery, medical devices, manufacturing, artificial intelligence and data centres.

Read more from Fareed Rahman here



FACT OF THE DAY

Bahrain's Investcorp, the biggest alternative asset manager in the Middle East, has acquired properties in two US cities for more than $335 million, capitalising on its optimism about US growth. Read more here

THE WRAP


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