A feminist trailblazer and one of America's most prominent justices died on Friday, aged 87. Even as she battled pancreatic cancer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg did not give up the fight for equality. She remained committed to her position as one of nine judges on the US Supreme Court, the country's foremost tribunal, until the day she died. She would often joke that there would only be enough women on America's highest court "when there are nine", an anecdote that perfectly illustrates her dedication to furthering women's rights.
Ginsburg was the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court. She was nominated for the position in 1993 by then-president Bill Clinton. A self-made woman hailing from a modest Jewish family, Ginsburg had to fight discrimination early on in her life. Despite having graduated top of her class from Columbia Law School in 1959, she struggled to find employment.
In fact, she had been demoted from her previous job in 1954 when she became pregnant. "Not a law firm in the entire city of New York would employ me," she said. "I struck out on three grounds: I was Jewish, a woman and a mother."
Since those days, Ginsburg made it her life’s cause to have sexist laws repealed. In 1971, she was only 38 when she won her first case before the Supreme Court in Reed v Reed, successfully ending a policy that gave men preference over women as estate executors. The following year she co-founded the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and became the first tenured woman professor at the prestigious Columbia Law School. As the ACLU’s general counsel, she launched gender-discrimination cases with the aim of ending sexism in American law. Of the six cases she brought before the Supreme Court, she won an astounding five.
Her fight for equality, however, was not reserved to the public sphere. In her own personal life, she shared household work and childcare equally with her late husband, Martin, who also took on most of the cooking. Anti-feminists often make the argument that a woman's success inevitably comes at her family’s expense. Yet Ginsburg’s family life is proof to the contrary. Her biggest supporter was her late husband, who lobbied for her to be appointed at the Supreme Court. On his deathbed, he wrote a letter to his wife saying: “I have admired and loved you almost since the day we first met.”
Ginsburg was a force to be reckoned with when it came to advancing women’s rights, yet much remains to be done to achieve equality. For instance, a recent report by the World Economic Forum found that “no country, including the top-ranked ones have yet achieved gender parity in wages”. In 2017, the “Me Too” movement revealed the extent to which men in power, in Hollywood and beyond, can exploit their position to take advantage of women.
Despite having graduated top of her class from Columbia Law School, she struggled to find employment
Ginsburg has inspired a new generation of women's rights advocates to follow in her footsteps.
Her passing, however, has created a political storm that has nothing to do with the values she stood for during her lifetime. Right-wing politicians hoping the progressive judge's seat will be filled with a conservative appointee have rushed intoa partisan debate. But now is not the time for political calculations. People of all sides should come together to celebrate Ginsburg's achievements and honour the memory of a woman who changed the lives of millions of Americans for the better and inspired many more across the world.
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah 5.10pm: Continous 5.45pm: Raging Torrent 6.20pm: West Acre 7pm: Flood Zone 7.40pm: Straight No Chaser 8.15pm: Romantic Warrior 8.50pm: Calandogan 9.30pm: Forever Young
Test series fixtures
(All matches start at 2pm UAE)
1st Test Lord's, London from Thursday to Monday
2nd Test Nottingham from July 14-18
3rd Test The Oval, London from July 27-31
4th Test Manchester from August 4-8
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Biography
Her family: She has four sons, aged 29, 27, 25 and 24 and is a grandmother-of-nine
Favourite book: Flashes of Thought by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
The biog
Place of birth: Kalba
Family: Mother of eight children and has 10 grandchildren
Favourite traditional dish: Al Harees, a slow cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled cracked or coarsely ground wheat mixed with meat or chicken
Favourite book: My early life by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah
Favourite quote: By Sheikh Zayed, the UAE's Founding Father, “Those who have no past will have no present or future.”
