In film, the United Nations has had its moments. Cary Grant, stepping out of a yellow cab outside the New York headquarters in North by Northwest, is probably the most iconic. The suave Roger Thornhill, an Alfred Hitchcock creation, managed to give a couple of hitmen the slip after a dramatic case of fake gunshots.
For the real life UN, the business of diplomacy is more humdrum. Paper, not celluloid, is the fabric on which speeches and resolutions have long been etched. But that is changing.
Email and websites triumphed long ago as the dominant means for the UN to deliver a message. Yet it came as a surprise when a few days ago the UN secretary general's spokesman told those of us who report from here that his office would no longer issue print press releases.
Within a few hours the metal racks where the papers have traditionally been placed every day had been taken away. There is a bit of a void.
A lot of paper will be saved, though not as much as you might think – 50 boxes a year from this small part of the UN.
The efficiency – about $2,000 – does not amount to much in a giant organisation whose total budget for 2018 and 2019 is $5.4 billion, but it is part of a modernisation that began in 2012.
If it were a shock for reporters it was an expected change for the staff who assist journalists. Jane Gaffney started working at the UN six days after arriving in New York from her native Ireland in 1982. She has done many jobs since, including electoral and peacekeeping missions overseas.
Now a senior information assistant in the office of the spokesperson for the secretary general, she is a woman who knows where to find things. She is also the office's records' keeper, likes the reliability of paper and is not quite ready to surrender.
“Online systems go down and just like in life, you need to have a back up,” she told me.
It did not take Jane long to prove her point. Asked which missive most stands out in her tenure, she cited then UN secretary general Kofi Annan's remarks to the General Assembly on September 23, 2003. Known as the “fork in the road” speech, the late Ghanaian diplomat's words were an impassioned plea to world leaders to stick with the multilateral order on which the UN was built.
His words came barely a month after the Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad that had killed Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN's special envoy, and 20 of his staff, widely considered the day Iraq's sectarianism began to spiral out of control.
Mr Annan's remarks reflected the sorrow he felt for those who died but spoke more broadly and openly of his personal regret that the UN had been unable to stop America and Britain's misguided push for war. Isolationism and divisions at the UN are today bigger than ever.
To Jane and her colleagues, the printed word stands for more than its electronic equivalent. Recovering the late Mr Annan's speech for my perusal, the online server where it was located was not functioning. But Jane had a file housing a paper copy and moments later I had a copy.
Some older journalists and members of diplomatic missions will continue to visit the spokesperson's office for printed speeches and summaries of meetings. They don't like computers. As long as Jane and her colleagues are around, they should be fine.
The biog
Name: Capt Shadia Khasif
Position: Head of the Criminal Registration Department at Hatta police
Family: Five sons and three daughters
The first female investigator in Hatta.
Role Model: Father
She believes that there is a solution to every problem
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Biography
Favourite book: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Holiday choice: Anything Disney-related
Proudest achievement: Receiving a presidential award for foreign services.
Family: Wife and three children.
Like motto: You always get what you ask for, the universe listens.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
- 1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
- 2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
- 3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
- 4th ODI, Sunday, April 16
Squads:
- UAE: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
- Zimbabwe: Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
South Africa World Cup squad
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (w), JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Rassie van der Dussen.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
Changing visa rules
For decades the UAE has granted two and three year visas to foreign workers, tied to their current employer. Now that's changing.
Last year, the UAE cabinet also approved providing 10-year visas to foreigners with investments in the UAE of at least Dh10 million, if non-real estate assets account for at least 60 per cent of the total. Investors can bring their spouses and children into the country.
It also approved five-year residency to owners of UAE real estate worth at least 5 million dirhams.
The government also said that leading academics, medical doctors, scientists, engineers and star students would be eligible for similar long-term visas, without the need for financial investments in the country.
The first batch - 20 finalists for the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinction.- were awarded in January and more are expected to follow.
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
The specs
A4 35 TFSI
Engine: 2.0-litre, four-cylinder
Transmission: seven-speed S-tronic automatic
Power: 150bhp
Torque: 270Nm
Price: Dh150,000 (estimate)
On sale: First Q 2020
A4 S4 TDI
Engine: 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 350bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh165,000 (estimate)
On sale: First Q 2020
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
info-box
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Happy Tenant
Started: January 2019
Co-founders: Joe Moufarrej and Umar Rana
Based: Dubai
Sector: Technology, real-estate
Initial investment: Dh2.5 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 4,000
Company%C2%A0profile
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