Despite its huge oil earnings, Iran is a political, economic and social failure. Politically, the regime's fake democracy was uncovered following the recent presidential elections. Economically, the balance of payments shows perpetual deficit, and socially the lower classes are under great pressure, said Dr Fahd el Fanek in an article published by the Jordanian daily al Rai.
Given its political and social instability challenges, Iran ought to mend its internal situation before indulging in projects of regional hegemony. Contrary to the arguments advanced by some Arabs, betting on Iran's resistance is doomed, Dr el Fanek argued.
He came to the conclusion that Iran only appears strong because of Arabs' weakness. Iran is witnessing a downturn and those who make a comparison between Iran and Israel are blinkered, because the Arab nation must acknowledge that it has more than one enemy.
There seems no end in sight to the tug of war between the Turkish army and the Islamist-orientated government. This is because of Ankara's aspiration to become an EU member and the economic and democratic achievements of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), said Abdul Baqqi Salai in an article in the Qatari daily Al Sharq.
What is more, the Turkish army, long known for plotting a coup whenever it is not happy with a government, has become reluctant and finds it embarrassing to interfere in politics.
Recently, the Turkish parliament passed a law under which army members would come under the jurisdiction of civilian courts in time of peace. It was in response to the involvement of army members in an alleged coup against AKP. This puts an end to the army's interference in political affairs and is a step towards meeting EU democratic norms, Mr Salai commented.
He concluded by saying that if the Turkish government succeeds in its action against the army, it will definitely have established a strong foundation for a multi-cultural and multi-ideological system and will put an end to a 50-year tradition of military coups to preserve the secular state.
The columnist Satea Nooraddin wrote in the Lebanese Daily Assafir that the American president is looking forward to a realisation of his old socio-political dream: to change the US image into that of a world-friendly, poverty-combating power.
Nooraddin commented that one of the major steps in this direction relates to the vision of ridding the globe of the threat of nuclear weapons. Another reason is that the USA, like Russia long before, realised that with the current financial crisis the cost of storing and maintaining its nuclear arsenal is too high.
Finally he raised the following question: is this a real awareness likely to materialise or will Mr Obama soon find himself face to face with arms manufacturing lobbies? Will the world discover that this was only a dream?
In an article in the Saudi Daily Arriyadh, Dr Abdul Qadder Fantoukh believed that the sudden death of the King of the Pop, Michael Jackson, had a worldwide impact on internet infrastructure.
In fact, several widely known websites such as Twitter and Facebook were overloaded on the occasion because of a huge number of concurrent searches for Jackson material.
The same happened with YouTube video downloads and SMS networks on the occasion of the same sad event, the article went on to say.
Major news websites, such as CNN, ABC and others were not spared, as their pages became very slow to download.
Dr Fantoukh has come to the conclusion that if such great sites had been vulnerable to such "friendly" attacks from network users, what would happen with potential malicious attacks? Attention must henceforth be drawn to the high risks of our dependence on NIC systems and the great dangers this represents for our societies.
* Digest compiled by Mohamed Naji
mnaji@thenational.ae
SCHEDULE
Saturday, April 20: 11am to 7pm - Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Festival and Para jiu-jitsu.
Sunday, April 21: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (female) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Monday, April 22: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (male) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Tuesday, April 23: 11am-6pm Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Wednesday, April 24: 11am-6pm Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Thursday, April 25: 11am-5pm Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Friday, April 26: 3pm to 6pm Finals of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Saturday, April 27: 4pm and 8pm awards ceremony.
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Company Profile
Company name: NutriCal
Started: 2019
Founder: Soniya Ashar
Based: Dubai
Industry: Food Technology
Initial investment: Self-funded undisclosed amount
Future plan: Looking to raise fresh capital and expand in Saudi Arabia
Total Clients: Over 50
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Company%20Profile
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Race card
6.30pm: Emirates Holidays Maiden (TB), Dh82,500 (Dirt), 1,900m
7.05pm: Arabian Adventures Maiden (TB), Dh82,500 (D), 1,200m
7.40pm: Emirates Skywards Handicap (TB), Dh82,500 (D), 1,200m
8.15pm: Emirates Airline Conditions (TB), Dh120,000 (D), 1,400m
8.50pm: Emirates Sky Cargo (TB), Dh92,500 (D)1,400m
9.15pm: Emirates.com (TB), Dh95,000 (D), 2,000m
Men from Barca's class of 99
Crystal Palace - Frank de Boer
Everton - Ronald Koeman
Manchester City - Pep Guardiola
Manchester United - Jose Mourinho
Southampton - Mauricio Pellegrino
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
FORSPOKEN
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Starfield
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Abu Dhabi racecard
5pm: Maiden (Purebred Arabians); Dh80,000; 1,400m.
5.30pm: Maiden (PA); Dh80,00; 1,400m.
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA); Group 3; Dh500,000; 1,600m.
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (Thoroughbred); Listed; Dh380,000; 1,600m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA); Dh70,000; 1,400m.
7.30pm: Handicap (PA); Dh80,000; 1,600m
Results
6.30pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes Group Three US$200,000 (Turf) 2,000m; Winner: Ghaiyyath, William Buick (jockey), Charlie Appleby (trainer).
7.05pm: Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Cliffs Of Capri, Tadhg O’Shea, Jamie Osborne.
7.40pm: UAE Oaks Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,900m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.15pm: Zabeel Mile Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Zakouski, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby.
8.50pm: Meydan Sprint Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,000m; Winner: Waady, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson.
The biog
Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed
Age: 34
Emirate: Dubai
Favourite quote: "No one has ever become poor by giving"
'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'
Director:Michael Lehmann
Stars:Kristen Bell
Rating: 1/5