Cheer up, it’s not as bad as you think. That's not my opinion; I know it for a fact, and that fact is as follows: things are, mostly, getting better around the world.
It may be difficult to believe at a time when it’s easy to recite a long list of things that are not going well. We have humanitarian disasters, from the refugee boats in the Mediterranean to the plight of Myanmar's Rohingya people. We have grinding poverty, crime, and disease. We also have climate change and the loss of species, including great beasts being poached for their horns or as trophies by self-absorbed hunters, or the loss of their habitats through the destruction of ancient forests.
But just because there is a lot of bad in the world does not mean that things are not improving for most of us. In reality, they are. And there's a recently published book that goes to great lengths to prove it: Factfulness by the Swedish doctor, researcher and academic Hans Rosling.
In his own words, Mr Rosling's life’s mission was “to fight devastating ignorance with a fact-based worldview". I cannot think of anything more important right now than treating facts and fact-based arguments with respect. The book does so with real insight. For example, rather than dwell on the inequalities between rich and poor, Mr Rosling points out that in the past 50 or so years, more people have been pulled out of poverty than ever before in human history, most notably in China and India.
Yes, there are still great inequalities, but for most people life is getting better, even for those considered poor. As Mr Rosling puts it: “Life expectancy in low-income countries is 62 years. Most people have enough to eat, most people have access to improved water, most children are vaccinated, and most girls finish primary school…the idea of a divided world with a majority stuck in misery and deprivation is an illusion. A complete misconception. Simply wrong.”
Part of Mr Rosling’s analysis is in that phrase “divided world”. Humans tend to share the common failing of dividing the world into binaries. You are “for us” or “against us”. You are rich or poor. You live in the developed or developing world. Mr Rosling argues that these categories are not useful, and indeed are misleading.
He suggests four income levels. At the bottom, level 4, is grinding poverty. At the top, level 1, the kind of wealth we associate with Japan, Europe, the UAE, Malaysia and the US. In the middle, levels 2 and 3, we have a range from Kenya and Pakistan right up through India and China. China is on level 2 but ready to burst into level 1.
Mr Rosling’s point is that, for all that is wrong in the world, the movement up from the bottom has brought about one of the biggest positive changes in human history.
His book is worth reading as a counterweight to the miserable nature of today’s news and the headlines about death and destruction around the world.
But it is also worth cherishing for another reason: Mr Rosling celebrates facts. Facts are the basis of the Enlightenment, the intellectual movement rooted in the 18th century, which brought us modern science, modern medicine and overturned generations of superstition and ignorance.
Unfortunately this fact-based world view is itself being challenged and eroded by the phenomena we call fake news, a “post-truth world” and deliberate disinformation and lies. It often feels as though we have moved from fact-based enlightenment to a kind of un-enlightenment.
In the UK, those of us who point rigorously to the obvious facts are told, as I was lectured recently, to “have faith” in a political programme bringing Brexit to Britain.
But the idea of “faith based politics” rather than fact-based politics appears everywhere. In Britain, the facts about Brexit are that it has profoundly unsettled many businesses, with some speaking openly about relocating outside the UK. Disregarding these concerns, some politicians, on the basis of no facts whatsoever, claim money and wonderful new trade deals will roll into the UK from a fanciful “Brexit Dividend”.
In America, President Donald Trump’s casual disregard for facts is even more noticeable. In his un-enlightenment world, facts about trade, tariffs and promising new industries are ignored in favour of protecting the old rustbelt US economy of steel and automobiles.
Worse still, an un-enlightenment worldview can cost lives. In many countries vaccination rates against common childhood diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella have started to go down after an aggressive campaign based on no scientific evidence whatsoever that vaccinations may cause autism and other serious conditions.
Mr Trump, politicians in the new Italian government and elsewhere have endorsed such fact-free malevolent nonsense. The result will be increased incidence of preventable diseases and even child fatalities.
Despite all that, there are reasons to be cheerful. Mr Rosling's book is full of them. It's just a pity that Factfulness is not a compulsory text for anyone seeking political leadership anywhere in the world.
Gavin Esler is a journalist, author and television presenter
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The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
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Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
F1 line ups in 2018
Mercedes-GP Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Ferrari Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen; Red Bull Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen; Force India Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez; Renault Nico Hülkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr; Williams Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa / Robert Kubica / Paul di Resta; McLaren Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne; Toro Rosso TBA; Haas F1 Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; Sauber TBA
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The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Revival
Eminem
Interscope
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
Esperance de Tunis 0
Al Ain 3 (Ahmed 02’, El Shahat 17’, Al Ahbabi 60’)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
SPECS
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
T20 World Cup Qualifier A, Muscat
Friday, February 18: 10am - Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm - Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am - Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm - UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am - Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm - Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm – semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm – final
UAE squad: Ahmed Raza (captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia
All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv
World Cup final
Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
The biog
Age: 23
Occupation: Founder of the Studio, formerly an analyst at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
Education: Bachelor of science in industrial engineering
Favourite hobby: playing the piano
Favourite quote: "There is a key to every door and a dawn to every dark night"
Family: Married and with a daughter
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
