Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed is expected to hold talks with high level French officials during his visit. Rashed Al Mansoori / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed is expected to hold talks with high level French officials during his visit. Rashed Al Mansoori / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed is expected to hold talks with high level French officials during his visit. Rashed Al Mansoori / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, will visit France on Wednesday.
Sheikh Mohamed will meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris during the tour.
The two leaders are due to discuss relations and strategic co-operation between the nations during the visit, Wam reported.
They will review a number of issues of mutual interest and the latest developments in the region.
France and the UAE enjoy long-standing diplomatic ties.
Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Macron spoke on the phone last month to discuss ways to strengthen the friendship.
Days before the call, France thanked the UAE for helping its citizens to leave Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of the country.
Florence Parly, France's Minister of the Armed Forces, offered her gratitude for the Emirati assistance during a phone call to Mohammed Al Bawardi, UAE Minister of State for Defence Affairs.
Sheikh Mohamed embarked on an official visit to France in November, 2018.
During that trip he met Mr Macron as part of a summit in Paris.
The meeting was followed by a visit to the Louvre museum, where a photographic exhibition celebrating 100 years since the birth of Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father of the UAE, was on display.
Sheikh Mohamed met Emirati students studying in Paris at the exhibit.
Sheikh Mohamed visits France in 2018 – in pictures
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, meets French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. All photos by Ministry of Presidential Affairs
The two leaders sat down for lunch to discuss issues of bilateral co-operation, as well as signing further agreements in the fields of health and mutual investments.
Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Macron then visited the Louvre, where an exhibition celebrating 100 years since the birth of Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father of the UAE, was on display.
Sheikh Mohamed said the UAE and France are partners in the fight against extremism and terrorism.
Sheikh Mohamed said the two countries support values of tolerance, promote dialogue, interaction and coexistence among peoples, civilisations and cultures.
A picture posted on Sheikh Mohamed's Twitter page shows him and Mr Macron embracing, with the French leader wearing a Year of Zayed pin.
Sheikh Mohamed meets Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces of France.
Sheikh Mohamed talks with Ms Parly, fourth right, along with Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, CEO and managing director of Mubadala, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority and Abu Dhabi Executive Council member, right, and Deputy Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, Major General Essa Saif Al Mazrouei, second right.
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Who was Alfred Nobel?
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 UN General Assembly President in quotes:
YEMEN: “The developments we have seen are promising. We really hope that the parties are going to respect the agreed ceasefire. I think that the sense of really having the political will to have a peace process is vital. There is a little bit of hope and the role that the UN has played is very important.”
PALESTINE: “There is no easy fix. We need to find the political will and comply with the resolutions that we have agreed upon.”
OMAN: “It is a very important country in our system. They have a very important role to play in terms of the balance and peace process of that particular part of the world, in that their position is neutral. That is why it is very important to have a dialogue with the Omani authorities.”
REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL: “This is complicated and it requires time. It is dependent on the effort that members want to put into the process. It is a process that has been going on for 25 years. That process is slow but the issue is huge. I really hope we will see some progress during my tenure.”
Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6
Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge
A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools
Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE) Where: Allianz Arena, Munich Live: BeIN Sports HD Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
