I write in reference to Laura Koot's op-ed As a Canadian, I'm ashamed of Trudeau's crackdown on the protesters (February 20): for more than six hours, over two evenings, I binge-watched the professional behaviour of Canadian law enforcement officers slowly, deliberately and safely return the city of Ottawa back to its citizens. Yes, there were minor skirmishes, and yes, windows in mostly abandoned vehicles were broken to remove them from areas they were illegally parked. But what a small price to pay to deal with a small number of occupiers who were anarchists and not protesters. I am not ashamed at all about how Canada managed this peacefully with very few minor incidents. I fear more for the indecisive, divisive leadership that exists in all of our political parties at every level.
Alex Zahavich, Abu Dhabi
All Canadians have identical rights. Those rights include the right to express one's opinion and another is to peacefully, lawfully gather to express one's point in protest against a perceived injustice or to support any issue one chooses. [But] no Canadian has the right to disrupt the lives of others, create economic distress or incite anarchy. It would be wise to remember that mob rule is where the roots of the Nazis began. A democracy is built on respect, which includes the rule of law and the rights of others.
Gordon Paul McWhaw, Abu Dhabi
Ending the pandemic requires a patient public
I write in reference to Patrick DeHahn's article Washington prepares for lorry convoy protest (February 23): there is undoubtedly a strong anti-government sentiment prevalent among millions of North Americans, particularly in the US but also in Canada. This sentiment has become even stronger due to Covid-19-related mandates enforced by the national governments in both countries. I can understand the frustration among many of them, for life has hardly been normal since the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020. A number of people have lost their jobs and livelihoods and are hurting very badly. That being said, everyone needs to be a little more patient as authorities slowly but surely contain the spread of the virus. Maybe it's just a matter of a few more months. In any case, I hope this particular convoy stages a peaceful protest – unlike the ones in Canada in recent weeks.
K Ragavan, Bengaluru, India
Amazon's Lord of the Rings missed a trick
I am writing in reference to Katy Gillett's article 'The Lord of the Rings': why are people commenting 'evil cannot create anything new'? (February 14): this is on behalf of the "traditionalists", as the writer describes us, whose opinion over the cast's diversity in the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been misconstrued. Our preferred alternative to the show's diverse characters is not a lack thereof. In fact, rather than creating new characters out of the blue – purely for the sake of being diverse – it would have been better to introduce already existing diverse characters into the story. JRR Tolkien, who wrote the Lord of the Rings books, created more than a thousand unique characters of all shapes and sizes and from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities that the show could have used. The creators wrote in new characters that don't fit into the world in any logical sense and, instead, just cause confusion to anyone who is well-versed in Tolkien's mythology.
Tolkien's legendarium is very close to my heart, and it has helped me get through some tough times in my life. Along with the entire community of "Tolkien Nerds", I wish for this show to live up to the incredibly high standards set before it. [But] we are disappointed with what Amazon has shown us so far, for quite understandable reasons.
Joel Kaufmann
MORE ON CORONAVIRUS & THE ECONOMY
The results of the first round are as follows:
Qais Saied (Independent): 18.4 per cent
Nabil Karoui (Qalb Tounes): 15.58 per cent
Abdelfattah Mourou (Ennahdha party): 12.88 per cent
Abdelkarim Zbidi (two-time defence minister backed by Nidaa Tounes party): 10.7 per cent
Youssef Chahed (former prime minister, leader of Long Live Tunisia): 7.3 per cent
SERIES INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
Table
The top three sides advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.
The bottom four sides are relegated to the 2022 World Cup playoff
1 United States 8 6 2 0 0 12 0.412
2 Scotland 8 4 3 0 1 9 0.139
3 Namibia 7 4 3 0 0 8 0.008
4 Oman 6 4 2 0 0 8 -0.139
5 UAE 7 3 3 0 1 7 -0.004
6 Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 PNG 8 0 8 0 0 0 -0.458
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier
Event info: The tournament in Kuwait is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.
Teams: UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Maldives, Qatar
Friday fixtures: 9.30am (UAE time) - Kuwait v Maldives, Qatar v UAE; 3pm - Saudi Arabia v Bahrain
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Scorebox
Dubai Sports City Eagles 7 Bahrain 88
Eagles
Try: Penalty
Bahrain
Tries: Gibson 2, Morete 2, Bishop 2, Bell 2, Behan, Fameitau, Sanson, Roberts, Bennett, Radley
Cons: Radley 4, Whittingham 5
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
Princeton
THE LOWDOWN
Romeo Akbar Walter
Rating: 2/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Robby Grewal
Cast: John Abraham, Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff and Sikandar Kher
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
MATCH INFO
Osasuna 1 Real Madrid 4
Osasuna: García (14')
Real Madrid: Isco (33'), Ramos (38'), Vázquez (84'), Jovic (90' 2)
Fixtures and results:
Wed, Aug 29:
- Malaysia bt Hong Kong by 3 wickets
- Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
- UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs
Thu, Aug 30:
- UAE bt Nepal by 78 runs
- Hong Kong bt Singapore by 5 wickets
- Oman bt Malaysia by 2 wickets
Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal
Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore
Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu, Sep 6: Final
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
