She landed at Islamabad’s international airport named after a daughter of Pakistan who was educated at Oxford University and aspired to keep the ravages of extremism at bay.
Malala Yousafzai, the 20-year Nobel Peace Prize winner, returned to her homeland for her first visit since an attack on her school bus in 2012 left the student from Swat Valley fighting for her life. Like Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister who was killed by an assailant in 2007, Miss Yousafzai is now studying at a top Oxford college.
Arriving at the house of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the current prime minister, in an official convoy under heavy security, Miss Yousafzai was moved to tears as she sought to discuss her exile from her homeland.
The Philosophy, Politics and Economics student became emotional as she explained her departure had not been of her choice. "I don’t cry much," she said at the short official reception. “I had to go out for further treatment, I had to go out to continue my education.
"It has been my dream that I should go to Pakistan and there, in peace and without any fear, I can move on streets, I can meet people, I can talk to people," she said.
The ambition has been curbed on the trip. She has been targeted by a bitter hate campaign that at its wildest fringes accuses the young woman of being a pawn of Western intelligence agencies.
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The Pakistani military airlifted Miss Yousafzai by helicopter hours after a Taliban gunman boarded a bus in the Swat town of Shangla, shooting her in the head. She was first flown to Peshawar, where she was placed in a medically induced coma, and then moved in a medical evacuation to the British city of Birmingham, where doctors battled for three days to save her life.
With the prize money from sharing the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize and proceeds from a bestselling memoir, Miss Yousafzai established the Malala Fund to help support the efforts of those seeking to educate girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. As a schoolgirl before the attack, she had already become a champion for greater access to learning.
The four-day trip is in part designed to promote the work of the fund, and Miss Yousafzai plans to meet with government officials and female and education activists. The fund has restored and supported schools in Pashtun areas.
Security considerations mean that a mooted plan for her to visit Swat, a picturesque area that was once a hiking and tourism destination, has been dropped.
Instead her family will travel to Islamabad where she is expected hold a reunion at a well-secured luxury hotel. Miss Yousafzai's exact schedule is being closely guarded for security reasons and fear of another attack by the Taliban.
Reflecting on her new life, she said she had “returned without any fear,” observing: "I have seen a lot in these years."
The visit was cheered by many in Pakistan, including Marvi Simed, a member of the executive council of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, who quoted words of welcome from the Urdu poet, Hafez Juanpuri.
“Welcome home [Malala],” she said. “You made us cry today. Really hope that all the children of my country and all countries are safe and secure.”
Others had a more grudging reaction based on suspicion of those who remove themselves from their homeland. "Pakistan is her home and if she has come home we welcome her, but we think that she has come as part of international agenda to malign Pakistan and we strongly condemn that," declared Kashif Mirza, president of the All Pakistan Private Schools Federation.
A social media campaign used the slogan “Know the real heroes” to attack the visit. It showed the image of a school boy shot in the mouth, claiming he had remained in Pakistan to study.
“Real Pashtun don't leave the battleground they get back on their feet and face the enemy but Malala dramazai gets training from MI6 part of a script,” declared Yawar Mir on Twitter.
However, other users responded that the image was of another Pakistani victim of violence, Waleed Khan, who was studying at the University of Birmingham school and had stood for the UK Youth Parliament as a champion of courage in the face of intimidation.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
High profile Al Shabab attacks
- 2010: A restaurant attack in Kampala Uganda kills 74 people watching a Fifa World Cup final football match.
- 2013: The Westgate shopping mall attack, 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers and four gunmen are killed.
- 2014: A series of bombings and shootings across Kenya sees scores of civilians killed.
- 2015: Four gunmen attack Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya and take over 700 students hostage, killing those who identified as Christian; 148 die and 79 more are injured.
- 2016: An attack on a Kenyan military base in El Adde Somalia kills 180 soldiers.
- 2017: A suicide truck bombing outside the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu kills 587 people and destroys several city blocks, making it the deadliest attack by the group and the worst in Somalia’s history.
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Leaderboard
63 - Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)
64 - Rory McIlroy (NIR)
66 - Jon Rahm (ESP)
67 - Tom Lewis (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
68 - Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
69 - Justin Rose (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Danny Willett (ENG), Li Haotong (CHN), Matthias Schwab (AUT)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
Results
2.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m
Winner Lamia, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
3pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m
Winner Jap Al Afreet, Elione Chaves, Irfan Ellahi.
3.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m
Winner MH Tawag, Bernardo Pinheiro, Elise Jeanne.
4pm Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 2,000m
Winner Skygazer, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
4.30pm The Ruler of Sharjah Cup Prestige (PA) Dh250,000 1,700m
Winner AF Kal Noor, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
5pm Sharjah Marathon (PA) Dh70,000 2,700m
Winner RB Grynade, Bernardo Pinheiro, Eric Lemartinel.
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
2019 Asian Cup final
Japan v Qatar
Friday, 6pm
Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
UAE squad to face Ireland
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri (vice-captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmad, Zawar Farid, CP Rizwaan, Aryan Lakra, Karthik Meiyappan, Alishan Sharafu, Basil Hameed, Kashif Daud, Adithya Shetty, Vriitya Aravind
