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We will bring minds together for a better future
We will bring minds together for a better future Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum / 11 June 2013 MORE THAN 1,200 years ago, while Europe was in its Dark Ages, the Muslim world was ruled by a dynasty of Islamic leaders who embraced free thought and creativity from all corners of the globe. Never before had history witnessed such cultural openness and symbiosis as during the reign of the Abbasid Caliphs. They built the world’s first university, named it Bayt Al Hikma (‘House of Wisdom’), and filled its library with the finest cultural, scientific and literary creations known to mankind. As early as the ninth century, under the Caliph Al Mamoun, Baghdad had become the world’s capital of science and culture. The city was renowned for embracing all races and religions. It became a magnet for intellectuals, free thinkers and innovators from East and West. Its people developed a passion for gathering together all of the fruits of mankind’s quest for happiness. This celebration of human creativity flourished for more than five centuries and set the stage for the European Renaissance. Looking at the Middle East and its challenges today, it is tempting to think back to that golden age of Islamic culture with wistful nostalgia for a faraway time. But Al Mamoun’s vision is more than ancient history. It is also a solution for the present and the future — a model that we are actively rebuilding, right now. My own country — the United Arab Emirates — stands where it stands today because since our inception we have given the utmost priority to the human mind. Our land has always been a safe harbour for great thinkers. We have welcomed innovative minds and given them the freedom to create. By working together, thousands of experts and specialist from the UAE and around the world have built in Dubai the world’s tallest skyscraper, the largest manmade islands, the largest automated metro network and the third largest airline in the world. In our capital Abu Dhabi, they built the world’s largest carbon-free city, complete with advanced research facilities for renewable energy. Great artistic and cultural minds are collaborating to build a vast cultural and artistic city complete with the greatest international museums. We have been building on an idea that is more than 1,000 years old. Today we want to extend this vision to an international level. We want to host Expo 2020 — a global event in which the cultures, innovations and creations of the world will meet in Dubai. We want to welcome more than 25 million people during six months, so they can see the best of what the human mind can achieve across cultures and races. We want to host the greatest minds in the world to share innovative solutions for global challenges that cannot be dealt with in isolation. Expo 2020 will bring together expert thinkers to share inventive ways to deal with pressing issues such as energy and water. Great minds will also come together to share smart solutions for transportation, sustainability and global economic stability. When we proposed to host the world’s biggest cultural event, we promised to astonish the world. Today we pledge to breathe life into our slogan: we will bring minds together for a better future. We proposed to host this international event in 2020 to deliver three important messages. Our first message is to tell the world that the Middle East is not a region of conflict, war and tension. Its history and geography prove that this is a region where cultures, civilisations and innovation can meet and flourish. Initiatives such as Expo 2020 are an opportunity to restore this role by playing host to the world, communicating positively and openly with its diverse cultures, accepting and embracing ideas and interacting with all people. We are at the heart of the world. Two thirds of the world’s population live less than eight hours away. We are destined to be a meeting point for mankind and a melting pot for cultures and civilisations that will provide humanity with amazing innovations and creations. Our second message is to the people of our region who are tired of conflict and tension. We tell them that we have a culture, a religion and a language in common: if communication among different cultures can bring about a better future, imagine what it could do for us with all our commonalities. We have been trying for more than six decades to communicate and interact positively within our region. We endeavour to unite minds, and then borders; to touch together our hearts before touching on economic interests, and to unify our collective will before unifying our currencies. We have always wanted to establish connections, real connections, to build a better future for the people of our region and its youth in particular. It is time for our region to restore its role in history and civilisation. Our history and our culture have destined us for greatness, and our future should showcase this destiny.Our last message is to the governments representing the 166 countries that will vote next November to choose the winning host country for Expo 2020. We tell them that our region deserves the chance to organise this great world exhibition, that our country is ready to host it, and that we are committed to staging the best Expo in history. We are thankful to the countries that announced their support to us; and to the people of the world our message is that of love and peace. Our slogan will always be that connecting minds creates a better future. It is a slogan of which Caliph Al Mamoun would have been proud. Continue reading
Emaar Properties launches The Hills
Emaar Properties launches The Hills 10 June 2013 Emaar Properties, global project developer and provider of premium lifestyles in Dubai, has unveiled The Hills, its latest residential development in the city. The Hills, envisaged as part of Emirates Living, the pioneering master-planned communities by Emaar, will stand out for its spectacular golf-course views and a focus on a greener lifestyle through several energy and water efficiency initiatives. Overlooking the Emirates Golf Club, with easy access from Shaikh Zayed Road, The Hills features two residential buildings of 12 and 15 storeys, each featuring one, two and three-bedroom apartments. All apartments overlook either the rolling greens of the golf course or spectacular views of the cityscape and beyond. The Hills will be defined by world-class amenities and several swimming pools, a value addition that enhances the quality of life of residents seeking a leisurely lifestyle. The residential buildings are part of a complex of four low-rises. A key component of the development is a hotel under Vida Hotels and Resorts, the latest addition to Emaar’s hospitality portfolio, promising the new generation of business executives, entrepreneurs and leisure travellers a stimulating lifestyle environment. Another low-rise building will feature Vida serviced apartments, also catering for business and leisure visitors. Potential customers can register for residences in The Hills from June 12 at www.emaar.com . The sale will be held on June 15 at the Emaar Sales Centre in Downtown Dubai on a first-registered, first-served basis. Ahmad Al Matrooshi, managing director of Emaar Properties, said: “Emaar pioneered the concept of master-planned communities with Emirates Living, a collection of neighbourhoods including The Lakes, The Greens, The Meadows and The Springs that are now fully established and continue to be sought-after by families. With The Hills, we are broadening our Emirates Living portfolio, offering residences that are distinguished by their sustainability features and their impressive golf-course views. The Hills will define a new, relaxing lifestyle for residents, who can also access all lifestyle amenities in close proximity.” “The launch of The Hills also highlights the robust demand for world-class residential property in Dubai, with demand from investors around the world. By offering the convenience of a hotel and serviced apartments, under Vida Hotels and Resorts, within the development, we are creating a vibrant lifestyle destination, both for residents and tourists to Dubai,” he added. A primary focus of The Hills is to promote a greener lifestyle, with sustainability being a key consideration, factored in right from the design stage. In addition to using environment-friendly materials in the construction, the buildings will also place emphasis on energy and water use efficiency through smart lighting and water-saving kitchen and bathroom faucets. business@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Kabul airport targeted in militant suicide attack
Kabul airport targeted in militant suicide attack (AFP) / 10 June 2013 Militants launched a suicide and grenade attack on Kabul airport early Monday, taking over a nearby building which security forces attempted to storm as blasts and gunfire rocked the Afghan capital. Loud explosions and bursts of small-arms fire erupted for at least two hours and were continuing, with the US embassy sounding its “duck and cover” alarm and its loudspeakers warning that the alarm was not a drill. “An explosion… occurred after which a group of suicide attackers entered a building (near) Kabul airport, and started sporadic shooting,” Hashmat Stanikzai, Kabul’s police chief, said in a statement. “Now the area is sealed off and a stand-off between security forces and the attackers is ongoing.” A senior government official said several insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and machine guns were holed up in the building, which was under construction. “They are firing all over the place, including at the airport. They have machine guns and RPGs. Police have engaged them and there are also units of our special forces in the area,” he said, declining to be identified. The heavily-guarded airport, which is both a civilian and military facility and contains a large base for the US-led NATO coalition, was closed to all flights. The NATO-led coalition said that some international forces were involved in the military response to quell the attack. “There were personnel from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with Afghan forces but Afghan forces led the operation,” a coalition spokesman said. President Hamid Karzai was on a visit to Qatar but it was unconfirmed whether he was scheduled to return on Monday. There were no immediate reported casualties or claims of responsibility for the attack, which began at 4:30 am (1200 GMT). Kabul last came under attack on May 24, when Taleban militants launched a coordinated suicide and gun attack on a compound of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). One insurgent detonated himself outside the compound at the start of the fighting, which left several buildings destroyed or damaged by rocket-propelled grenades, gunfire and explosions. A policeman, two civilians and all four militants died in that attack, with the government lauding the response of the Kabul security forces for preventing further casualties. The effectiveness of Afghan forces is crucial to the government’s ability to defeat the Taleban insurgency as 100,000 NATO-led combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014. The police, army and special forces are being trained by the international coalition, but there are widespread fears that they will not be able to impose security after 12 years of war. On Saturday, an Afghan soldier shot dead two US soldiers and one US civilian, the latest “insider attack” to undermine efforts by the two armies to work together to defeat the Taleban insurgency. The killings in the eastern province of Paktika came on the same day that one Italian soldier died when a grenade was thrown into an armoured vehicle in Farah province, in the far west of the country. In another recent attack to shake confidence in Afghanistan’s prospects after 2014, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) offices in the eastern city of Jalalabad were attacked on May 29. The two-hour assault, which left one Afghan guard dead, was the first time ICRC offices have been targeted in Afghanistan since the aid organisation began work in the country 26 years ago. The Taleban, who were ousted from power in Kabul in 2001, denied any involvement in the Jalalabad attack. Continue reading
