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        <title><![CDATA[Year 2025 was costliest year on record for wildfires]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/year-2025-was-costliest-year-on-record-for-wildfires]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Wildfires caused more financial damage in 2025 than in any other year, with catastrophic fires in the US, South Korea and Europe killing about 90 people and forcing roughly 300,000 to evacuate, a new study found. Wildfires accounted for 38 per cent of all insured natural hazard losses globally in 2025 — more than hurricanes, earthquakes and floods combined — even as the total area burned was the second lowest since records began in 2002 and 16 per cent below the long-term average, according to The Independent.Researchers say the pattern reflects a shift in how wildfires cause harm: there are fewer fires overall but they are hitting populated areas with greater intensity and speed than before. "2025 shows that a 'quiet' fire year globally can still be devastating," Dr Matthew Jones of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, who led the study, said. "We are seeing a growing disconnect between total area burned and real-world impacts, with risk increasingly determined by fire location, intensity and exposure."The study, published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth and Environment on Monday, also found that total fire-related carbon emissions fell in 2025, to 11 billion tonnes of CO2, the third-lowest year since 2002. The single costliest event was the Palisades and Eaton fires, which tore through the Los Angeles area in January 2025. Driven by extreme Santa Ana winds and critically dry vegetation, the fires burned over 20,000 hectares, killed 31 people directly, destroyed nearly 12,000 homes, and forced some 150,000 evacuations.Smoke exposure affected more than 10 million people, with pollution levels reaching nearly 20 times the WHO's daily guideline for fine particulate matter. Fine particular matter means tiny particles that penetrate deep into the lungs. Total losses were estimated at $140bn (£110bn), with insured losses approaching $40bn (£32bn), making it the fifth costliest natural disaster in recorded history.Two months later, South Korea recorded its deadliest and largest wildfire outbreak on record. Extreme heat, dryness and winds drove fires that burned over 100,000 hectares, killed 32 people and displaced tens of thousands of residents. A study found the conditions that enabled the fires were made twice as likely by climate change. In Europe, severe drought and repeated heatwaves drove major outbreaks in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and France during the summer of 2025, killing at least 28 people and forcing 120,000 evacuations. Such was the scale of the emergency that six countries simultaneously requested firefighting resources through the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism, a mutual aid system for member states to pool personnel, equipment and aircraft during disastersSpain recorded its largest burned area since 2002, with more than 350,000 hectares affected and eight deaths. Portugal's largest wildfire on record was ignited by lightning. In Turkey, the rapid spread of fire around Izmir forced 50,000 evacuations and a separate fire in July killed 10 firefighters. France saw its largest fire since 1949, burning 17,000 hectares in 72 hours. The UK suffered its largest burned area on record as well as its first megafire — a fire exceeding 10,000 hectares — on Dava Moor in Scotland during a severe heatwave.World Weather Attribution, an international scientific collaboration analysing the role of climate change in extreme weather, found the fire-prone conditions driving the worst European outbreaks were 5-40 times more likely in the current climate than in a world without climate change.]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 20:39:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[California nears healthcare crisis as warnings go unnoticed]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/california-nears-healthcare-crisis-as-warnings-go-unnoticed]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Anita Chabria, Tribune News ServiceWhen Congress passed the big, ugly bill known as HR 1 last year, most Americans understood it meant cuts to Medicaid, the safety net programme millions rely on for medical insurance. But few Californians realised just how much it will affect the Golden State when its provisions really kick in, starting after the midterms (the Republicans aren’t that dumb) and continuing on in cascading cuts for the next few years.Millions of Californians — not just low-income folks — are going to feel the effects, whether through a loss of insurance, fewer providers able to keep their doors open, or rising premiums and costs. “This problem trickles up,” state Senate leader Monique Limón, D-Goleta, told me. “This is not just going to impact the people that have a public healthcare plan. When you see a hospital close, when you see medical providers no longer being able to practice, it is absolutely going to impact everybody, the middle class included.”Added to the loss of federal funds, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s most recent budget plan (which the Legislature has to debate in coming weeks) includes cuts at the state level. This is in part to contend with the loss of federal money, but also because healthcare costs keep rising and even in this wealthy state, we can’t afford the bills — at least not without some changes. What those changes are — and who should bear the brunt of them — is a complicated and largely ignored debate happening right now. While our candidates for governor have been grilled on whether they support single-payer healthcare or not, (Becerra is a sort-of, Steyer is a yes) the real question isn’t how is the next governor going to expand access to care — but how are we going to keep the whole system from collapsing right now.“This is not hypothetical, this is what’s coming down the line,” Limón said.About 15 million adults and children, or about 1 in 3 of our state’s residents, rely on Medi-Cal, which is what California calls its Medicaid programme. Through a creative bit of state financing called the Managed Care Organization, or MCO, tax, the federal government has been paying for a big chunk of the costs of that insurance, about $7 billion a year. President Donald Trump’s HR 1 makes that money go bye-bye by greatly reducing the MCO, leaving the state to figure out how to backfill that cash. And that’s just one of the ways the big, ugly bill hurts California. Yes, it’s complicated.Newsom’s budget plan relies in a not-small way on restructuring the MCO tax to fit HR 1’s new rules. But here’s the problem with that — any fix will require approval from the Trump administration, which has repeatedly shown the welfare of Californians is not a high priority. In fact, the Trump administration in March rejected California’s request to update another fee related to hospitals that also generates billions for Medi-Cal. So maybe Newsom will be able to negotiate a plan that saves the MCO and California healthcare. But wouldn’t it be much better for the GOP, with a presidential election looming, to watch California (and her presidential-contender governor) tumble off a healthcare cliff? Few states rely on an MCO tax the way ours does, which means our pain is going to be far more visible and profound if we lose this funding.That means if Newsom’s budget is approved by the state Legislature with the MCO fix, the state is taking a gamble. If the feds don’t approve some new version of the MCO tax, “it would have major implications,” Adriana Ramos-Yamamoto told me. She’s a senior policy fellow with the nonpartisan California Budget and Policy Center.What’s the fourth-largest economy in the world to do? Limón would like to see the state stop subsidising corporations who pay so meagerly that their employees qualify for Medi-Cal. “We don’t have the luxury of being able to provide these tax subsidies,” Limón said. Turns out, 42% of Medi-Cal enrollees are full-time workers, according to a new report by the UC Berkeley Labor Center. Although most big corporations offer some sort of health insurance, it’s often tied to working a certain number of hours (which they then make sure not to schedule) or it has prohibitive costs or other barriers.In 2022, the Labor Center found, 34% of low-wage workers received their health insurance through employers, compared with 69% of higher wage workers — meaning California is picking up insurance costs because low-wage employers are finding ways out of them. “Over the decades, Medi-Cal has really undergone a significant transformation. It’s shifted from a program that primarily served the disabled and indigent and elderly folks to one that largely supports folks that work in low-wage industries,” Tia Orr, the executive director of SEIU California, told me. “Medi-Cal has now become a program where folks that work every single day have to rely on it. The idea that someone can work every day and qualify for food stamps and Medi-Cal, it should be eye-opening to folks.” Right now, she points out, California taxpayers are paying about $7,800 a year for each person on Medi-Cal.]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 20:37:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[The real cost]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/the-real-cost]]></link> 
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 20:36:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[All about politics]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/all-about-politics]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Is something illegal allowed to occur and not be corrected? The obvious answer is no, but the reality is not so simple.The addition of Donald Trump's name to the John F. Kennedy Centre was illegal but the law was ignored. A judge has directed that the extra letters be removed within two weeks but a gambler could make easy money by betting that it won't be removed in time.The second illegal example of narcissism is the proposed $250 US bill with a living person's face on it, guess who. This would require Congress to change laws but could this happen?There are many countries where the leader ignores laws, often in horrific ways but any occurrence is bad. Is this your country? A simple count of monuments and name mentions should make it obvious.Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/all-about-politics]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 20:34:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Agreement is not understanding]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/agreement-is-not-understanding]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Randi McCray, Tribune News ServiceDuring a recent conversation, my 16-year-old son told me I did not understand him. Parents know these moments well. What begins as a disagreement about something practical can quickly become something larger. A conversation about rules, expectations, timing, priorities, or responsibility suddenly transforms into a referendum on whether your child feels seen, heard, and respected. At first, I responded the way many parents do: by focusing on the issue at hand. But as we continued talking, I realised something more important was happening beneath the surface.When my son said I did not understand him, what he often meant was that I did not agree with him. That distinction matters more than we may realise. To his credit, he was articulating something many adults struggle to name. We often confuse understanding with endorsement. If someone does not validate our conclusion, mirror our emotions, or support our position, we assume they have failed to hear us. We interpret disagreement as dismissal.But understanding and agreement are not the same thing. Understanding asks whether I can grasp how you arrived at your perspective. Agreement asks whether I share it. One is rooted in empathy and curiosity. The other is rooted in alignment. A person can fully understand your frustration and still think you are wrong. A spouse can understand your feelings and still see the situation differently. A colleague can understand your concerns and still choose another path. A parent can understand why a teenager wants more freedom and still say no.Somewhere along the way, many of us learned to collapse these differences into one demand: If you love me, respect me, or care about me, you will agree with me. I know this because I once believed it too. As I reflected on that conversation with my son, I realised I grew up carrying a similar assumption. Agreement felt like validation. Disagreement felt like rejection. If someone challenged my view, it could feel as though they were challenging my worth. Many people never outgrow that framework. They simply carry it into adulthood and apply it to marriages, friendships, workplaces, and civic life.You can see it everywhere. National data suggests many Americans feel the same strain. Eight in 10 US adults say Republican and Democratic voters cannot agree on basic facts about important issues. A record 45% of Americans now identify as political independents, and 85% say politically motivated violence is increasing. These numbers point to more than policy disagreement. They reflect a country struggling to stay in a relationship across differences. When agreement becomes the price of being understood, curiosity disappears. Conversations become negotiations for emotional validation rather than opportunities for learning. Listening becomes performative. People stop asking questions and start defending positions. Every difference feels personal.And perhaps most damaging of all, we become fragile in the face of ordinary disagreement. That fragility shows up in homes as much as it does in headlines.As a parent, I could have ended the conversation the old-fashioned way. I could have pulled rank, asserted authority, or dismissed his frustration with some version of “because I said so.” But I wanted something different for my son. I wanted him to understand that someone can hear you deeply and still not side with you. That love does not require surrendering judgment. That being challenged is not the same as being devalued. That emotional maturity includes tolerating the discomfort of not getting consensus. Most of all, I wanted to model that difficult conversations can still be kind.This is not just a parenting lesson. It is a civic one. A pluralistic society depends on people who can remain in relationships despite disagreement. Families need it. Friendships need it. Workplaces need it. Communities need it. Democracies certainly need it. If every disagreement is interpreted as disrespect, then only echo chambers feel safe. We do not need less conviction. We need stronger relational skills. We need the capacity to hold our values without requiring universal affirmation. We need to listen for meaning instead of only listening for compliance.My son may not have realised it, but he gave me a useful reminder. Being understood feels good. Being agreed with feels good too. But they are different experiences, and confusing them can damage relationships we care about most. One of the most important lessons we can teach our children — and ourselves — is that disagreement is not abandonment.Someone can love you, hear you, respect you, and still see things differently. In an age where so many conversations collapse under the weight of that confusion, learning the difference may be one of the most necessary skills we have left.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/agreement-is-not-understanding]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 20:33:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[How AI is already improving lives]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/how-ai-is-already-improving-lives]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Leading AI models are doubling their capabilities every four months, and the implications for accelerating scientific research, improving education, and transforming much of the economy provoke both enthusiasm and angst. While some CEOs of major AI companies speculate that AI will destroy millions of jobs in the US, just in the next five years, and anti-growth factions oppose critical AI infrastructure, like data centers, the positive case for AI has been criminally underrepresented in the public debate, according to the Tribune News Service.Healthcare is one example. In 2024, two Google DeepMind employees were awarded half of that year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work in creating AlphaFold software. AlphaFold uses AI to predict the structures and likely interactions of proteins inside the body without synthesizing them in a lab.Before AlphaFold, researchers developing new medicines would create new proteins in a lab, but because their structures are so complex, scientists had little understanding of what the proteins could do, so they’d pursue a trial-and-error approach.They were reliant on experimentation to determine the positive and negative effects of a new molecule. AlphaFold considerably accelerates that process. Instead of taking months, now researchers can study the effects of different proteins much more quickly, substantially accelerating the drug development process. This means more medicines, at lower cost, and better health outcomes, including saved lives.AI has also already been used to streamline certain bureaucratic complexities in the healthcare sector. Ten years ago, experts predicted that radiologists would be replaced. Instead, there are now more radiologists than before, and AI is helping them become more productive by automating tedious tasks like documentation, report formatting and electronic health record integration.Not only is AI helping radiologists with administrative tasks, but it helps them detect anomalies sooner. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic developed a system using AI that can detect cancer up to three years before current systems can. Earlier detection means more treatment options and longer survival times. For people with disabilities, AI is providing higher quality and faster transcription for the deaf, image descriptions for the blind, and speech generation for those unable to communicate verbally.And these are merely a few applications that have already borne fruit. As adoption spreads, the technology improves and becomes more tailored, AI will continue to produce major advancements. 70 years after the invention of the integrated circuit, 50 years after the personal computer, and 30 years into the internet, humanity is awash in data and information. There is so much that we are no longer able to manage it ourselves, which is why search engines have already started integrating AI into the results, and the line between search and AI models is blurring.But AI isn’t just about sorting information. A major beneficiary will be businesses that are too small to hire workers to perform administrative tasks, like building a website or designing a logo, to use AI agents to carry out these projects. AI agents are software programs that use AI to autonomously set goals, make decisions and take actions to complete various types of work. That ability moves toward leveling the playing field between businesses of different sizes, increases efficiency for all firms, and super charges competition to the benefit of consumers.AI also has enormous potential to further reduce barriers to communication and increase access to education and healthcare worldwide. Language barriers may soon be greatly reduced, allowing for a historically impossible level of information sharing and growth. AI will bring the possibility of individual tutors to children worldwide, making education both more available and more effective.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/how-ai-is-already-improving-lives]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 08:59:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Trump has kept woes of Gazans on the back-burner]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/trump-has-kept-woes-of-gazans-on-the-back-burner]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s expansion of Israel’s control of Gaza from 60 to 70 per cent is a violation not only of the repeatedly breached October 10th, 2023, ceasefire but also negates the peace plan put forward by Donald Trump in 2025. His plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages, prisoner exchanges, Gaza’s demilitarisation, deployment of an International Stabilization Force, transitional governance by Palestinian technocrats with international monitoring, large-scale reconstruction, and a conditional pathway toward acceptance of Palestinian self-determination and recognition of Palestinian statehood.The comprehensive plan was backed by the United Arab Emirates, the US, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Canada, and Britain. Not by Netanyahu who has done his utmost to scupper the plan once the exchanges of hostages and prisoners took place while Hamas has said it would disarm once Gaza is free of Israeli occupation. Deadlock reigns.Israel has already expelled Palestinians from the area it holds in Gaza, squeezing nearly 2.1 million displaced people into ever tighter areas. Israel has also officially urged Gazans to leave the Strip through the Egyptian border although they have nowhere to go. Human rights agencies have condemned Israel and warned against ethnic cleansing, which is a war crime.Egypt will not accept Gazans. Jordan has given citizenship to West Bankers which it used to rule but not Gazans who were ruled by Egypt from 1949-67. While Gazan men have worked for decades in the Gulf their numbers have declined and most have not settled there. Many Gazans who left during earlier Israeli operations have returned to the Strip where they have core and extended families. The death toll in Gaza has risen to 72,819 while 172,894 others were wounded since the start of Israel’s offensive.Meanwhile, Trump has ignored Gaza although he initially gave it priority. His board of peace has received no funds. It was meant to finance the Strip’s reconstruction post-deal after Hamas’ control ended. Supporters had pledged $7 billion and Trump $10 billion. Trump’s refusal to deal with Gaza reflects his flabby responses to crisis situations which he does not know how to handle.Instead of implementing a solution for Gaza, Trump was dragged by Netanyahu into a war against Iran in the expectation that Israel, the regional superpower, and the US, the global hyperpower, would defeat Tehran in four or five days. Three months later, Netanyahu and Trump have been compelled to agree to a ceasefire in a war they have lost because Iran – driven by its anti-Israel-anti-US policy – has not surrendered. Although supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his chief aides were killed on the first day of the war, the regime has not collapsed. Senior officers from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are running the country with the backing of Khamenei’s wounded son, Moktada, who is in hiding.Netanyahu intended the Iran war to provide a defining victory over Tehran that would secure him a favourable place in Israel’s history. However, he has been unable to turn military power into political advantage. Despite the exercise of over-whelming military power Israel’s enemies have been weakened but not defeated. Palestinian Hamas, the IRGC, Lebanon’s Hizbollah, and Yemen’s Houthis remain in the field while the post-Assad government struggles to govern Syria. Netanyahu contends areas Israel has seized in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon as “buffer zones” that can prevent militant attacks like the October 7th, 2023, Hamas raid from Gaza. However, Palestinians regard Israel’s ”buffer zone” in Gaza as a means to permanently displace Gazans, stepping up pressure on them to emigrate by making it impossible for them to live safely, securely and decently with their families in Gaza. Israeli politicians portray their efforts as “voluntary migration” from the Strip.Netanyahu desperately seeks a victory over Hamas in Gaza and in his war on Iran. Israel’s voters go to the polls in October, and he needs a victory for his Likud party, in power for 15 years. As long as he is in office, especially if he is prosecuting wars against Hamas, Hizbollah, and Iran, he hopes to escape prosecution for years of wrongdoing.Since 2001 Netanyahu has been on trial accused of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. The three cases being prosecuted are based on his relationships with wealthy and powerful Israeli businessmen. In the first case he is charged with accepting approximately $300,000 in cigars and champagne. In exchange, prosecutors allege he used his position to secure favours, including tax exemptions and help with US visa renewals.In the second case, Netanyahu is alleged to have held discussions with Arnon Mozes, publisher of the Yediot Ahronoth newspaper, who proposed legislation to restrict circulation of a rival newspaper in exchange for favourable media coverage of Netanyahu. The third case, the most serious of the indictments, alleges that he provided regulatory and financial favours to telecommunications mogul Shaul Elovitch in exchange for permitting Netanyahu and his family to pursue positive coverage on his popular news website, Walla.Netanyahu has not been successful in dodging Israel’s laws. He has been hailed repeatedly before the Jerusalem district court to testify although sessions have been cut short by his duties as prime minister. He has managed to delay and slow proceedings but not to escape the charges, with breach of trust being the most consequential and damaging.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Jansen]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[Opinion ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/trump-has-kept-woes-of-gazans-on-the-back-burner]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 08:55:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Pete Hegseth hails ties with China and Asia allies]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/pete-hegseth-hails-ties-with-china-and-asia-allies]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised defense allies in Asia and hailed newly stable ties with China, while taking swipes at longstanding security partners in Europe. The comments, made on Saturday at an Asia security forum in Singapore, are the latest sign of the Trump administration shifting attention toward the Indo-Pacific while expressing antagonism toward Europe and the NATO alliance. Hegseth singled out allies such as South Korea, Japan and the Philippines for “stepping up” on defense while lambasting European nations that “threw open their borders and hollowed out their militaries.”He also highlighted the importance of the “interpersonal diplomacy” between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping after their meeting earlier this month in Beijing. Notably he made no mention in his prepared remarks of Taiwan, the key flashpoint between the two superpowers. “The default Asian lens on America has been clearer and far more pragmatic than in other regions,” he said at the Shangri-La Dialogue. ”Our partners in Asia have long understood that the bedrock of a durable partnership is not based on idealistic values, but on the concrete alignment of national interest.”Taiwan is top among several friction points between the US and China, with American arms sales and diplomatic support for the island generating angry responses from Beijing. Xi warned Trump during the Beijing meeting that mishandling the issue could lead to clashes, and the US leader has delayed approving a $14 billion weapons package to Taiwan, which is heavy on air defenses. Hegseth’s failure to mention Taiwan in his address marked the first such omission by a Pentagon chief at the Singapore forum in at least a decade. The self-ruled island, which the Chinese Communist Party claims as its own despite never having ruled it, remains the primary red line in the US-China relationship.Last year, Hegseth mentioned Taiwan at least five times during his address to the forum. His predecessor Lloyd J. Austin III name-checked the global chip hub once the year before, and five times in 2023, according to the official transcripts. The US defense chief later told reporters the US position on Taiwan was unchanged, adding that the only possible shift was “how we talk about” the issue. Hegseth described that updated approach to the self-ruled island as “strong, quiet but clear.”Hegseth’s framing of the US-China relationship — using the term “constructive strategic stability” that emerged from the Xi-Trump summit — also raised eyebrows. “As defense minster he needed to show his willingness to counter China and reassure allies and partners, but he used a term that implies he wants to stick to a G2,” Daisuke Kawai, a professor at Tokyo University, said after the defense chief’s speech. “That will worry some countries here and it shows his stance has softened on China.”Hegseth also had kind words for his Chinese counterpart, Defense Minister Dong Jun, who skipped the event for the second year. Last year, the US defense chief quipped: “We are here this morning — somebody else isn’t.”“I wish my counterpart was here at this conference,” Hegseth said on Saturday. “But I look forward to other options when we can cross paths and communicate.” At one point, a Chinese delegate asked Hegseth to respond to a recent podcast comment by US Forces Korea commander Xavier Brunson that South Korea is a “dagger in the heart of Asia,” a line Beijing slammed as hostile and aggressive. Brunson, sitting in the audience, responded directly and cordially, saying he was riffing on a line from another era that referred to Korea as a dagger pointed at Japan, and that the full context of the comment was about changing perspectives in the region. He encouraged the Chinese delegate — Wang Dong of Peking University — to listen to his full remarks on the topic.Trump has deployed the US military into high-profile operations this year in the Middle East, against Iran, and in the Caribbean. While the actions against Venezuela were broadly seen as successful, the conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global energy supplies through the closure of the Strait of Hormuz while also depleting critical munitions. In response to another question earlier in the day, Hegseth said that a delayed $14 billion Taiwan arms package should be decoupled from the issue of munitions.“Any decision about future Taiwan arms sales, as the president said, will rest with him,” Hegseth said.“Our stockpiles are more than suited for that, both there and around the globe, because of how we balance exquisite and more plentiful munitions,” Hegseth said. “We’re in a very good place.”Hegseth provided no updates on talks with Iran, or a missile strike that injured several Americans, saying only that the US is ready to step up the fight if there’s not a “great deal” that ensures Tehran’s leaders don’t get a nuclear weapon. He confirmed the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz was still in place.]]></description>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/pete-hegseth-hails-ties-with-china-and-asia-allies]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 08:53:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Space exploration]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/space-exploration]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[A rocket from Blue Origin has exploded on its launchpad in Florida. Their spokesperson stated that “We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test.” An anomaly is a flashing button, what they got was what the cartoon Martin the Martian wanted, an “earth-shattering kaboom!”.Space has always had its dangers including a broken toilet, an extended stay which was best known for the floating sphere of hair of one astronaut but also for far too many deaths. Space exploration may be our future but it has to be safe and eventually made available for the general public.Dennis FitzgeraldMelbourne, Australia]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 08:50:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Wealthiest dudes in the world]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/06/01/wealthiest-dudes-in-the-world]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2026 08:48:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Protect English learners in nation’s schools]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/30/protect-english-learners-in-nations-schools]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[The Trump administration’s recent decision to dissolve the US Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition has received little public attention. But for more than 5 million English learners in America’s public schools, the consequences could be life-altering, according to the Tribune News Service.The Office of English Language Acquisition, known as OELA, is not a symbolic office or bureaucratic accessory. Congress established its existence under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 because the education of multilingual learners depends on sustained federal leadership, deep educational expertise and meaningful civil rights accountability.OELA’s director reports directly to the secretary of education for a reason: Serving English learners is not peripheral to public education. It is a core federal responsibility. Now that office is being eliminated and its experts fired or dispersed to other areas.Since Education Secretary Linda McMahon was appointed by President Donald Trump last year, the Department of Education has weakened its Office for Civil Rights, rescinded longstanding federal guidance protecting multilingual learners, frozen funding for English learners and transferred oversight responsibilities through interagency agreements involving the Department of Labor.Together these actions have hollowed out the federal infrastructures schools rely on to effectively serve multilingual students. That matters because civil rights protections are only as strong as the institutions charged with protecting them. Under Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, states and school districts are legally required to provide English learners meaningful access to education. These protections emerged from decades of advocacy for multilingual students, who were too often segregated, underserved or denied access to learning opportunities in public schools.Congress established OELA to prevent that history from repeating itself. Today, English learners make up roughly one in 10 public school students nationwide. Most of these students are US citizens. They live in urban, suburban, rural and small-town communities in every state. Regardless of citizenship status, they are not a marginal population or a niche constituency. Multilingual students are central to the future of American public education and its economy.Effectively serving multilingual learners requires expertise and coordination that, if scattered across agencies or unrelated departments, will have significant consequences. OELA historically housed career staff with deep knowledge of language acquisition, bilingual education, teacher preparation, federal compliance and multilingual learner assessment. School systems across the country rely on experienced federal staff to navigate funding requirements, support bilingual programming and sustain multilingual educator pipelines.As an educator and researcher in California, I have seen firsthand how fragile support systems for multilingual learners already prevail in local schools in rural and urban schools. Districts face persistent shortages of bilingual and multilingual educators, especially rural and urban high poverty communities.Teacher preparation programs rely on federal grants and technical assistance to strengthen pathways into the profession. Families depend on schools not only for academic support, but also for translation, communication and access to public institutions that too frequently feel inaccessible.Eliminating OLEA will not make schools or the federal government more efficient. It just leaves students with fewer protections and districts with less support, as it jeopardizes funding and accountability mechanisms schools and families depend on to meet student needs.The administration has defended these moves as efforts to streamline government or align education more closely with workforce priorities. But multilingual education is not merely workforce preparation. It is about increasing educational access, teacher preparation, civic participation and equal opportunity.]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2026 19:41:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[One in three voters saw political deepfakes before polls]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/30/one-in-three-voters-saw-political-deepfakes-before-polls]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[The UK is facing a "democratic emergency," a leading think tank has warned weeks ahead of a crucial by-election after new polling revealed around 16.5 million UK adults saw political deepfakes in the month before the local elections. Almost one in three (30 per cent) voters said they had seen a deepfake or AI-generated video, audio clip or image about an election candidate or politician online in the lead up to last months elections, the shocking new polling showed. It was conducted by Opinium for cross-party think tank Demos between April 30 and May 6 2026 — immediately before local and devolved elections across the UK.The warning comes just two weeks before voters go to the polls in Makerfield for a crucial contest, which could decide Britain's next prime minister if Andy Burnham wins the seat and decides to challenge Sir Keir Starmer, which he is widely expected to do. Deepfakes are digitally created and altered content, often in the form of fake images, videos and audio recordings. Around one in six people (16 per cent) said they had encountered political deepfakes more than five times during that period, suggesting that a significant minority of users are being exposed to this content at very high levels. The polling showed that, when it comes to UK politicians, Labour and Reform leaders were most often reported "deepfaked" — which is significant for the upcoming Makerfield by-election as the race is expected to be a close fight for the two parties.The findings come as the Electoral Commission launches a new deepfake detection pilot intended to improve identification and map the scale of the problem. However, findings from the pilot are not expected for at least six months. Demos has now called for the government to "move faster to establish clear rules and accountability" for deepfakes, urging ministers to "use the Representation of the People Bill — which is already underway — to introduce meaningful protections for the public before the next general election".The think tank previously proposed amendments to the Representation of the People Bill to address AI-generated election misinformation, including clearer legal responsibilities for platforms and developers — proposals which were not taken up by the government. Chi Onwurah, chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, agreed that "stronger safeguards are needed to protect voters from online misinformation". She told The Independent: "Reports of growing numbers of political deepfakes ahead of elections is deeply alarming, and it's clear that stronger safeguards are needed to protect voters from online misinformation."My committee has repeatedly raised the risks posed by of AI-generated deepfakes with the big tech companies, and we weren't satisfied with their response. It's clear that protections are not working as intended. "Deepfakes can do untold damage to individual lives and to the integrity of our democratic systems, eroding confidence In the electoral process itself. At a time where hostile actors like the Kremlin are actively working to undermine our democracy, complacency isn't an option."Demos's research also found that 39 per cent of respondents were unsure whether they had seen a deepfake at all, which the think tank argued showed a "concerning lack of public confidence in discerning the truth in visual content they see online related to elections". More of the public said they were not confident they could identify a deepfake online (43 per cent) than said they were confident (38 per cent), the survey also showed.The most commonly identified subjects of political deepfakes were Donald Trump — with 45 per cent of people saying they had seen a corresponding deepfake — Keir Starmer (36 per cent) and Nigel Farage (27 per cent). Meanwhile, a smaller minority reported seeing deepfakes of Zack Polanski (10 per cent) and Kemi Badenoch (8 per cent). Polling suggested much of the content was overtly damaging to the profiles of those represented. Among respondents who had seen political deepfakes, 6 in 10 (56 per cent) said the content portrayed the subject negatively, including 28 per cent who described the content as "very negative".The polling also found significant public concern about the impact of AI misinformation on democracy as 42 per cent said they were worried about fake videos or deepfakes of candidates and MPs impacting the May 7th local and devolved elections, while just 23 per cent said they were not worried. Azzurra Moores, Associate Director of Information Ecosystems at Demos, told The Independent: "Political deepfakes are no longer a future threat, they are already flooding people's social media feeds."Our polling shows millions of people say they are now encountering AI-generated political content online, often repeatedly and usually in a negative context. At the same time, many voters are unsure how to discern the truth from the content they are seeing. "That combination of widespread exposure and low public confidence in spotting deepfakes creates serious risks for trust in democratic debate, setting the stage for a democratic emergency in the UK.]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2026 19:39:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Breaking news nuisance]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/30/breaking-news-nuisance]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2026 19:36:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[State election]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/30/state-election]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[In about six months, we will have a state election, and like most political leaders, ours are proclaiming how important it is and that everyone should vote for their team. Being a democratic country gives us the opportunity and the responsibility to vote in these elections.In America there will be elections at about the same time but their leader Donald Trump has stated ‘I don’t care about the midterms’. This is disgraceful to both the people who will vote and those that have died to protect that right to vote.Use your vote to select representatives that will do the best for everyone not just their own team. Be wary of those that only do the best for themselves and treat them with the contempt they deserve. It's your right, use it wiselyDennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia]]></description>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/30/state-election]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2026 19:35:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Mental strength is more than toughness]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/30/mental-strength-is-more-than-toughness]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but awareness alone cannot save us. Men of color are already painfully aware that something is wrong. We feel it in our sleeplessness. In our blood pressure. In the marriages that strain under emotional distance. In the fathers who never learned how to say “I’m not OK.” In the sons trying to inherit manhood from men who never permitted tenderness.The crisis is not merely psychological. It is cultural, historical, spiritual, and physiological all at once. African Americans, particularly men, occupy one of the most paradoxical spaces in American life. We are hyper-visible in sports and entertainment. We are present in politics and public discourse. Yet we are emotionally invisible in matters of vulnerability, grief, anxiety and depression. We are celebrated for resilience, but denied rest. Our toughness is admirable, while we are punished for transparency.Rates of anxiety, depression, substance dependency and suicide among Black men persist, as reported by mental health organisations. Yet in many communities, therapy remains stigmatised, and survival trumps self-examination. For generations, Black men learned emotional suppression was necessary to cope with challenges such as racism, increased policing, and workplaces where anger is labeled as aggression and sadness is seen as weakness.Unfortunately, many men first learn to arm themselves against before discerning and loving themselves. In turn, giving way to loneliness. Loneliness is not simply about being alone. You can be in a crowded sanctuary, a packed gym, a busy office, or a loving household and still feel unseen. Loneliness is the distance between what one carries internally and what one feels safe enough to reveal.However, it is important to recognise that survival and wellness are not the same thing. This revelation did come about on a therapist’s couch, though I deeply value therapy and encourage it. It was realised through movement. Through exhaustion. By way of training. In the discipline of choosing to pay attention to my body in a sociocultural reality that conditions Black men to ignore such until crisis forces attention.Late last year, I immersed myself in the demanding world of HYROX training and competition. HYROX is a global fitness race. It combines endurance running with functional strength movements and has become, personally, more than an athletic challenge. Instead, it serves as a mode and means for improving my physiological architecture, spiritual recalibration, and stewarding of my mental and emotional self.At first glance, the sport looks perfunctory. A circuit of rowing, sled pushes and pulls, wall balls, ski erg, burpees, lunges, and repeated running until the body protests. Yet in the midst of this intensity, something transformative happens when a person intentionally enters difficulty instead of merely reacting to it. Training forces me, and others, into an honest conversation with ourselves.Treadmills don’t care about titles. The sled does not respond to ego. The rower exposes mental fatigue almost immediately. Every workout confronts illusion. Each interval asks the same question: What remains when comfort disappears? Hence, I discovered that fitness was not simply changing my body. It was reorganising my emotional life.Consistent training provides structure when stress threatens fragmentation. Exercise is an intervention for anxiety spirals. Running is meditation in motion. Strength training restored confidence eroded under the pressures of leadership, caregiving, ministry, public engagement, and everyday life. Beyond the physical benefits, HYROX gave me community. And that matters more than many of us realise.In case you're wondering, there is science behind this transformation. Regular exercise reduces cortisol, improves sleep, regulates mood, stimulates endorphins, and supports cognitive health. What gets overlooked is the psychological restoration of agency. Mental unhealthiness frequently produces helplessness. Exercise reintroduces evidence of capacity. Physical progress slowly translates internally. Confidence returns. Discipline strengthens. Self-trust rebuilds itself repetition by repetition.Still, exercise alone is not a cure-all therapy. No amount of deadlifts can replace therapy where trauma exists. No race medal can heal untreated depression. No training eliminates the need for emotional honesty, spiritual grounding, meaningful friendships, medical care, or supportive family systems. But movement can become a doorway.Mental health is not merely about avoiding breakdown. It is about cultivating wholeness. Wholeness means recognising that mind, body, spirit, and community are interconnected. It means rejecting the idea that masculinity needs emotional starvation. It means understanding that asking for help is not a weakness but a sign of wisdom.]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2026 19:33:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Milburn’s NEET review deserves cross-party support]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/milburns-neet-review-deserves-cross-party-support]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[The government needs to come up with a less dehumanising term than the ugly acronym “NEETs” to describe a million of our fellow citizens, aged between 18 and 24, who are not in education, employment or training. It is rather symptomatic of the neglect shown towards what is being referred to, equally dismally, as a “lost generation”.A more accurate term might simply be “young people”, because that is what they are — and the vast majority of those who have found themselves falling behind are in that situation through no fault of their own, according to The Independent.As Alan Milburn’s interim review of what has been going wrong devastatingly reveals, the NEET crisis also represents an obscene waste of human resources. The cumulative cost of young people being out of work, training and education is £125b a year — more than equal to the amount needed to build the strongest armed forces in Europe.These young people are not indolent “snowflakes”, cynically manipulating the social security system and inventing mental health problems to avoid earning a living. Mr Milburn has condemned this mythology, and for good reason. He has researched this generation more than anyone else, and spoken to its members, and he knows that they have suffered the sort of distress that few in previous generations have since the world wars of the 20th century.They have grown up in superficially prosperous times, but also in the age of social media eclipsing real life; they have lived through a global pandemic, alongside the rapid advance of technology, industrial change, the start of the AI revolution, and the consequent rapid disappearance of old-style, “entry level” work.The qualitative and quantitative research Mr Milburn has conducted has produced a portrait of a generation in crisis. His review is comparable in its authority to the Beveridge Report of 1942, which founded the modern welfare state. That landmark document identified the “five giants” – idleness, ignorance, disease, squalor and want – that were to be slain in the postwar world.Today, the scourge of poverty, economic exclusion, mental illness and hopelessness among the young stand as the giant social evils of our time.The many statistics Mr Milburn quotes can be terrifying: for example, half of 16- to 24-year-olds not in work will still be NEET some 15 years later. But this is too often a story of human despair, and of people at the beginning of their lives falling into addiction, homelessness and crime. And needlessly so.Comparable nations such as Ireland and the Netherlands have much lower NEET rates. It is not inevitable that 10 per cent of Britain’s young should be condemned to lifelong struggle.Once, in a previous political life, Mr Milburn was considered a suitable “heir to Blair”, albeit one of a number; a man fit to take the New Labour project forward. That never quite happened, but today he has retained that essentially Blairite mentality — looking for solutions that work, wherever they may be found. It is an evidence-based, analytical approach, admirably critical but open-minded.He rejects, for example, the idea that immigration and the recent increase in employers’ national insurance contributions have dramatically boosted the number of NEETs, because it has been so high for so long, and since well before Rachel Reeves hiked taxes in the last couple of years. But he also sees that some employers have “been on easy street” because well-qualified and more experienced immigrant candidates were available.]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 20:12:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[You need to be serious about women like Trinny Woodall]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/you-need-to-be-serious-about-women-like-trinny-woodall]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[What do you think about when you picture a British female entrepreneur? Is it Trinny Woodall launching Trinny London after a long TV career or Deborah Meaden from Dragons' Den? Maybe it's Anita Roddick who launched The Body Shop in the Seventies. Chances are, beyond these examples, you may struggle to name a female entrepreneur, and you most certainly won't know that they could be worth over £50 billion to the British economy right now.For Starmer and Reeves, growth, how to get it, how to stimulate it and how to reap the rewards of it has been a single focus. Get that right and the rest follows. More employment means more tax receipts and more tax receipts mean more money to deliver better services. Or so goes the argument. Various economic interventions have spluttered with a series of false starts, U-turns and dead ends, with UK growth remaining sluggish. The UK has underperformed its peers over the last decade, hit by a series of shocks, including the pandemic, the 2022 energy crisis, Brexit, and now the Iran war, leaving growth well below historical averages.In his much-discussed essay, Tony Blair has doubled down on the idea that economic growth needs to be the government's overriding priority. Blair said Labour had created "headwinds, not tailwinds" for business through policies such as raising employers' national insurance, strengthening workers' rights legislation, pushing up minimum wages, and a focus on aspects of the net zero agenda. At no point did he gesture to the huge potential being lost every day. If people are serious about growth, backing scaling companies needs to be at the centre of the debate. And there are some companies that are being shamefully overlooked right now — the women-powered ones. Help them grow and the Treasury could see the money flowing into the economy.New data from Women Are Good Business, powered by The Gender Index, suggests that the numbers could be extraordinary. The headline finding is this: if women-powered companies were scaled at the same rate as their male-led counterparts, it could unlock £54.5bn in revenue and generate £20.7bn for the treasury every single year. This is not a marginal gain. It could be a structural transformation of the public finances. The data also shows precisely where women-powered companies stop growing at the same rate as men-led ones. At the micro level, women hold their own: 22 per cent of companies with 0-4 employees are women-powered, by 101-200 employees, it has fallen to 13.3 per cent and by 301-400 employees, just 11 per cent are women-led.Research shows the businesses women lead are built for longevity, reinvesting profit rather than extracting it in a quick exit; they grow at a pace that prioritises resilience over the quick buck that venture capital romanticises Closing the scaling gap across just the 51-200 employee range, otherwise known as the critical mid-growth zone, could create nearly 390,000 jobs. That is employment in precisely the kind of productive, growing businesses that regional economies could be built on. The data has existed for years, scattered across reports and spreadsheets, waiting for those in charge to recognise it and take action. The case is made with ease: women-powered businesses generate twice the return on investment compared to male-led counterparts but less than 2 per cent of venture capital ever reaches women. The gap is not a problem. It is an economic opportunity; backing women should be part of the strategy.Parliament has already done the work on what needs to change. In 2025, the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee published its examination of female entrepreneurship. It called for a Female Enterprise Investment Scheme, sitting alongside existing tax reliefs, but with higher incentives specifically designed to drive funding into female-led businesses, a new Office for Women's Business Ownership and a 10 per cent public procurement target for women-powered businesses.Research shows the businesses women lead are built for longevity, reinvesting profit rather than extracting it in a quick exit; they grow at a pace that prioritises resilience over the quick buck that venture capital romanticises. In a country that has spent decades lurching between short-termism and stagnation, this is precisely the model of enterprise that deserves to be shouted about from the rooftops. These kinds of businesses provide real stability needed to underpin the economy. And yet we have a system designed around the quick sale, the clean exit, the capital event, the founder cashing out, a system that is structurally blind to this kind of sustained value. It certainly does not reward it.It is the businesses, built slowly and built to last, that will still be employing people and paying tax in 20 years' time. The kinds of businesses that women build. The woman who built a business over 15 years, launches; the founder who built up from her kitchen and now employs 50 people, the entrepreneur whose exit may be modest by City or venture capital standards, but transformative by every other measure.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/you-need-to-be-serious-about-women-like-trinny-woodall]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 20:10:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Saving memories]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/saving-memories]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/saving-memories]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 20:10:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Who wrote what?]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/who-wrote-what]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Pope Leo XIV has produced his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” 42,300 words of it in the English version.He speaks of the need to value humans and protect their roles in society. AI can do much of what we do, better and faster but what of the things that make us human? Would AI use the amount of yellow paint that Van Gogh did or use equal amount of each colour? Would AI ask "To be or not to be?" There is presumably a Latin version of this document, an Italian version, and others which would have kept him busy even if he used AI to do the translations or write the majority of it.We are safe but only if we use AI as a tool not an equal.It might be good to include a big 'off' button.Dennis Fitzgerald,Melbourne, Australia]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/who-wrote-what]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 20:08:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Gas tax suspension would provide welcome relief]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/gas-tax-suspension-would-provide-welcome-relief]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[I’m not a knee-jerk anti-tax fellow. While no one enjoys paying taxes, I recognise that federal, state and local levies fund a broad range of critical needs, from schools, parks, libraries and police to public health and scientific research.One specific levy, the federal gas tax, funds highway and bridge construction, plus public transit, with projected revenues of $37 billion this year. As a native of Detroit who learned to drive on the nation’s first highway, I’m a big fan of our amazing interstate system and the US routes that feed into it. I’m even a bigger fan of the road and bridge maintenance that helps make driving safe for the country’s 280 million motor vehicles, which the federal gas tax also funds.So I’m loath to suspend such a vital levy, which has been 18.4 cents per gallon since October 1993. I’m also loath to support President Donald Trump’s misguided war in Iran. Suspending the federal fuel tax would ease gas prices that have increased by an average of $1.52 per gallon nationwide since the war started, largely because Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s crude-oil supply passes.There’s also some irony in Trump asking Congress for a gas-tax “holiday.” When President Joe Biden made the same request in June 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had spiked oil and gas prices, Republican lawmakers rebuffed him, and even his most reliable ally, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, declined to endorse the plan. Now, a motley mixture of Democrats and Republicans is backing a gas-tax suspension. Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rick Scott of Florida, along with Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, are among the lawmakers who have voiced support. Democrat Alex Vindman, running for the Senate in Florida, is also on board.“I’m hearing from Democrats, independents and Republicans alike about how surging gas prices are putting the squeeze on families’ budgets,” Vindman said in a May 12 statement. While still a bit lower than the national average, the average gas price in Florida has surged from $2.88 to $4.34 a gallon since the start of the Iran war. With the national average hitting $4.53 per gallon, as of May 20, suspending the gas tax would provide only mild relief, about 4%. State gas taxes are higher in every state except Alaska, and in some states much higher, from California’s levy of 70.92 cents per gallon to 58.7 cents in Pennsylvania and 54.50 cents in Indiana. California drivers pay $6.16 per gallon on average, the highest price in the country.“It’s a small percentage, but it’s, you know, it’s still money,” Trump said on May 11. Congress first imposed the federal gas tax in 1932 as the Great Depression drained federal coffers. It started at 1 cent per gallon. Had it merely kept up with inflation since then, the tax would be 24.4 cents today. And inflation since 1993, when Congress last raised the tax, would put it at 42.43 cents. So, if anything, the gas tax is overdue for an increase. However mild the relief might be, it would be welcome at the start of the summer vacation season, when Americans take to the roads in large numbers, and their fuel costs rise regardless of the price at the pump.With the growing bipartisan support, Congress should pass a six-month suspension of the federal gas tax. To prevent a big hit to the Highway Trust Fund, which relies on revenue from the tax, lawmakers should adopt a plan by Kelly and Blumenthal to offset the loss of highway funds with temporary transfers of general-purpose funds from discretionary programs. If Congress wanted to get creative, it could pair indexing the gas tax to inflation in order to meet future road needs with automatic, short-term suspensions in the event of price spikes caused by war, economic shocks or other special circumstances.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 20:04:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[‘Focusing’ on the plan rather than the personality]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/28/focusing-on-the-plan-rather-than-the-personality]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[One of the reasons why Sir Tony Blair was Labour’s longest-serving and, certainly in domestic matters, most successful prime minister is that, both while preparing for power and then while in it, he possessed an obvious youthful wisdom. Now, almost two decades after he left Downing Street, and in his most dramatic intervention yet, he brings that same wise counsel, tempered by experience, to bear on his party’s current travails, according to The Independent.As ever, he is worth listening to. His diagnosis is as sharp as it was when he was running for party leader back in 1994. Despite a hugely changed world and political context — or rather, because of it — Labour can only prosper by occupying what Sir Tony calls the “radical centre”. It is a phrase he may have picked up from a mentor of his own, who was a leader of an earlier generation of social democrats: Roy Jenkins. It means putting policy success — “delivery” — above all else.So now, Sir Tony reminds all those seeking the leadership of the party, and thus the country, of certain eternal truths about the practice of progressive politics in government, and what befalls those who neglect them: “The Labour Party is playing with fire; or, more accurately, with its future, and that of the country.” As he indicates, any discussion about the future should first be about the “what” rather than the “who”.Although no stranger to the politics of personality himself, Sir Tony is right to tell his colleagues and comrades to downplay personality and focus on the plan. Specific policy areas have figured in the proto-leadership contest now underway, such as rejoining the EU and the merits of restricting social media use by the young, but what has been missing, and for too long, is clear. In his words: “We don’t have a worked-out, coherent plan for the country in a fast-changing world, and are in the wrong political position from which to devise one and win a second term.”Even Sir Keir Starmer himself should acknowledge that his team were badly underprepared for the challenges of office. It was all about winning, with less attention given to what they could and couldn’t do when they got into power, especially on the economy. Sir Keir and Rachel Reeves plead that they were blindsided by the Tories when they inherited the books, but there were plenty of experts warning that the “Change” manifesto didn’t add up. It didn’t.Sir Keir’s predecessor isn’t shy about dissecting the problem and explaining why it has exacted such terrible electoral consequences recently: “The government is governing from an essentially traditional Labour ‘soft left’ position, parked firmly in the party’s comfort zone ... In the last Budget, it appeared as though we were increasing tax to pay for additional welfare spending, when the public already think welfare bills are too high.”He argues that, in stark contrast to the New Labour years, the Starmer administration’s policies are hampering growth and prosperity — “the new workers’ rights laws; the net zero acceleration and phasing out of the British oil and gas industry; the uplift in the minimum wage beyond inflation; and the non-dom changes” have given “headwinds, not tailwinds, to British business, despite the macroeconomic gains for which the chancellor is rightly praised”.The former leader is equally, if not more, disparaging about those who would seek to replace Sir Keir: “Trying to force the prime minister out before we know what policy direction we’re bringing in is not a serious way of conducting ourselves.”It has obviously not escaped Sir Tony’s attention that, even at this early stage of proceedings, there is confusion about what Andy Burnham or, to a lesser extent, Wes Streeting might stand for, or would actually do in office.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 13:09:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Turning East]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/turning-east]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[All roads lead to Beijing these days. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited China in April, meeting with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. During this trip two-dozen landmark agreements were signed covering comprehensive strategic cooperation across trade, energy, and technology.The Arab League and its members have adopted the “One China” principle and recognise the government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government representing the whole of China and Taiwan as “an inalienable part” of China. Iran regularly dispatches trade delegations to China, which is its main overall trading partner and primary client for its oil. High-level diplomatic visits and commercial missions occur frequently to implement the 25-year Comprehensive Strategic Partner- ship. This month Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travelled to Beijing to discuss economic cooperation and regional security. Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was appointed as Tehran’s special envoy to China.US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin were also among the global leaders to take this road. However, Trump may have blotted his copybook as far as Beijing is concerned. This week he said he could consider speaking to Taiwan’s President Lai Chingte which would be anunprecedented departure from diplomatic norms. The US and Taiwanese presidents have not spoken directly since 1979, when Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing.In January, Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin and Finnish President Alexander Stubb were followed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. While all seek to expand trade with China, which has the world’s second largest economy after the United States, Martin is seen as a pivotal persona as in July Ireland assumes the six-month presidency of the European Union. Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz made his first trip to China in February. Although China’s closest political ally is Russia, the Chinese have done a great deal to cultivate Western countries which provide the main markets for its goods.While visiting European leaders have sought to boost economic exchanges with China, a trade war looms as the European Commission has put forward revisions to a standing cyber-security deal by regulating, reducing and phasing out bloc dependence on Chinese mobile phones, computers, mobile networks, software and hardware and other security-sensitive equipment. Adoption will take time, as all 27 European parliaments have to consider and adopt the measure, giving China time to secure amendments and press for revocation.About 30 to 32 per cent of all EU high-tech imports originate from China. Chinese firms supply about one-third of European mobile infrastructure, nearly one in three smartphones, and the majority of consumer computers.China provides around 22 per cent of all goods imported into the EU. This amounts to about 17 per cent of China’s total global exports, placing it alongside the US as one of China’s top two export customers.In 2013, China adopted the “Belt and Road” (BRI) initiative as a means to assume global leader- ship and promote its infrastructure and economic development strategy. Dubbed the 21st century version of the historic “Silk Road,” China aims to invest in over 150 countries and international organisations through six overland economic corridors. As of 2025, participating countries accounted for nearly 75 per cent of the world’s population and over half of global GDP.Determined to revive its centrality in world political and economic affairs, China has turned to its own multi-millennial history. The ancient Silk Road was a network of land and sea trade routes connecting East Asia with the Mediterranean from the 2nd century BC to the 15th century.Spanning over 6,400 km, the Silk Road carried silk, spices, religion, and technology until the Ottoman Empire closed it down. A paved highway along sections of the Silk Road still connects Pakistan and the Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang in China.Thirteenth-century Genoa merchant, explorer and writer, Marco Polo documented his travels along the Silk Road in his book “Livres des Merveilles du Monde,” published in 1300. He wrote of his friend Kublai Khan (1215–1294) who was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty which tamed, united, and expanded China until it reached the borders of Europe via the Islamic world.China introduced papermaking, which replaced parchment and movable type and the printing press which led to mass literacy and Europe’s Renaissance. China invented the compass and sold it to Europe in the 12th century, launching the Age of Exploration. Gunpowder reached Europe in the 13th century and revolutionised European warfare. In the 17th and 18th centuries Catholic Jesuit missionaries introduced translations of Chinese Confucian classics, which contributed to the European Enlightenment, trans- formed the continent and spread to the Americas and Oceania. The Enlightenment promoted individual liberty, religious tolerance, separation of church and state, constitutional governance, advancement according to merit and inspired the scientific revolution of the 17th century.The Islamic world gave China seminal advancements in astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and cartography while Europe provided silver and furs and plagued China with the scourge of opium which led to US-European warfare and con- quest. The 1948–1949 revolution led by Communist Mao Zedong took over the mainland and drove Western-backed nationalists to Taiwan. The US recognised China and established relations with the government in Beijing in 1979 but maintained relations with Taiwan. Although claimed by mainland China, Taiwan maintains diplomatic relations with 11 out of 193 UN member states and the Vatican.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Jansen]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[Opinion ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/turning-east]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 13:02:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Pop evolution]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/pop-evolution]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[There’s a new formula for achieving global success in the world of pop as traditional routes have become somewhat outdated. This week we are taking a look at some of the biggest names dominating the music charts and how they got there.Tate McRae is everywhere at the moment. The 22-year-old Canadian pop singer began her career as a dancer and gained prominence after winning dance competitions from a young age. Her social media presence grew with her and she began singing on YouTube. One of the first songs she sang online attracted over 40 million views, leading her to release the song as her debut single. Her career has grown from there and she has been nominated for some big awards including a Grammy.British singer RAYE is another artist whose rise to fame was unconventional. She spent years building her career behind the scenes. At the age of 17 she independently uploaded her debut EPto a streaming service after writing, recording and co-producing it herself. Shortly after that she signed to a major record label and her career took off. A special feature of RAYE is that her music spans many genres, which makes her appealing to an even wider audience.In other news this week, turn to our Fitness pages to read about how telling people to exercise more rarely works. According to experts, being encouraged to work out by someone who is really into working out can have the opposite effect, as there can be a lack of empathy. Instead, it’s best to find a fitness routine that meets you where you are.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Sarah Taryam]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[Opinion ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/pop-evolution]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 12:52:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Delightful surprise]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/29/delightful-surprise]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[In the IPL 26, a most delightful surprise has been the excitement and ebullience of children attending the matches. Many of the children are aged around eight to twelve. Yet, they wear the uniforms of their teams, they know who their key players are and when to cheer and clap for their teams, A sixer hit would see the children scream with happiness. Sure, all these children are accompanied by their parents. They emulate the joy or disappointment of their guardians.The IPL matches are becoming three-hour movies or outings for the entire family, with refreshments, music, dances and even light and sound shows. So, it is natural for the children to be accompanying their parents for these excursions.The passionate involvement of children in this sport is commendable. Some children may be inspired to pursue cricket as a profession. The top cricketers like Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma earn far more than MBAs or chartered accountants. So, it is wonderful that sports are also emerging as a source of employment for the future. Though, to earn high fees, would necessitate being the best in the field. Nevertheless, it is another career option for youngsters.Rajendra AnejaMumbai, India]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 08:28:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Colorado charts vaccine path despite federal pullback]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/28/colorado-charts-vaccine-path-despite-federal-pullback]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[In response to abrupt and politicised changes to federal vaccine policy, concerned Coloradans have taken several steps to shore up support for vaccine science. A bill passed by the state legislature in March then signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis allows Colorado to further uncouple itself from federal guidance. The law allows health officials to follow the recommendations of national medical groups when making decisions such as purchasing bulk vaccines for the Medicaid programme. “We are insulating our state from the dysfunction coming out of Washington,” said Democratic state Sen. Kyle Mullica, a co-sponsor of the bill and a registered nurse. “We’re going to rely on science.”“From fighting during the pandemic for Coloradans to get vaccines as quickly as possible to combating the Trump Administration’s barriers to getting vaccinated, we have expanded access to vaccines for Coloradans who want them,” Polis said in a statement when he signed the law. Colorado is one of at least 29 states that, along with Washington, DC, have taken steps to bypass the new federal recommendations amid worries that the changes could chip away at public trust in vaccines and erode broad vaccine coverage.Previously, Colorado, like most states, had followed federal guidance set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In January, CDC advisory panelists, selected by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., removed six pediatric immunizations from the agency's universal recommendation list. Last year, doctors, scientists, local leaders, and other supporters came together to form an outreach and advocacy coalition called Colorado Chooses Vaccines. The group aims to offer a clear, unified voice on the proven benefits of vaccines and reassure residents confused by the many federal changes.Carol Boigon, a former Denver City Council member, joined the group because she wants more people to hear her own chilling story about vaccine-preventable illness. “Every summer everybody got sick,” Boigon said, recounting her childhood in 1950s Detroit. The illness was polio, a highly contagious viral disease that attacks the nervous system, sometimes causing partial or full paralysis. During the summer of 1953, “the whole block was sick and some of us got crippled, and that was just the way it was,” she said.Boigon’s personal history will be part of the coalition’s work to educate new generations about the dangers of infectious diseases that were once common in the US but are now relatively rare. The group, which formed last September, will also compile vaccine information from medical groups and the state health department and advocate for policy proposals with the state government. “It was in direct response to the federal threats,” said another coalition member, former state lawmaker Susan Lontine. She leads the nonprofit Immunize Colorado. Another member, public relations specialist Elizabet Garcia, wants more outreach to Hispanics, whose vaccination rates lag behind other groups'.“A lot of time it’s this fear that they’re going to have to pay out-of-pocket, that their insurance doesn’t cover it, that they might not even have insurance in general,” Garcia said. Boigon was five when she got sick and was hospitalised for six weeks with a fever. The virus attacked her spine.“None of my limbs worked immediately afterwards,” Boigon said. Although she regained function in her other limbs, her right arm never fully recovered. She had to adapt, relearning everyday tasks such as reaching out to shake hands with people with her left hand. In 1955, not long after she got sick, the new polio vaccine became more widely available to the public. As vaccinations took off, US cases of polio, once one of the nation’s most feared diseases, dropped by an estimated 85%-90%.State leaders have taken other steps to promote public health. After the Trump administration pulled the US out of the World Health Organization, several states, including Colorado, decided to join the WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network on their own. Colorado also joined a multistate lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s changes to the childhood vaccine schedule. And the new state law has provisions besides allowing the state to diverge from federal recommendations. It codifies pharmacists’ ability to prescribe and give vaccines themselves. It also increases legal protections for healthcare workers who give vaccines. “This law will provide more clarity to guide all Coloradans, including providers who administer vaccines,” Lontine said.But the legislation has opponents who say it would interfere with parental choice and claim vaccines might be unsafe or ineffective.“I just want to make sure we’re not just getting into a big political dispute between the federal recommendations — the CDC and so forth — and different political views in Colorado here,” said Republican state Sen. John Carson, who voted against the vaccine bill. NPR contacted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about Colorado’s new law. Spokesperson Emily Hilliard answered in an email: “The updated CDC childhood schedule continues to protect children against serious diseases.”]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 19:48:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[New trend]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/28/new-trend]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/28/new-trend]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 19:47:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Love is blind]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/28/love-is-blind]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Someone rightly said that “love is blind,” and this saying perfectly reflects the craze many fans have for their favourite celebrities and sports icons (“Giant Messi statue in India to be removed over safety concerns,” May27, Gulf Today website).Around the world, millions admire famous personalities and often try to imitate their lifestyle, fashion, and achievements. However, admiration should always remain within the limits of responsibility and public discipline.The recent situation surrounding the giant golden-coloured statue of Lionel Messi in Kolkata clearly shows how excessive fan obsession can create unnecessary chaos. The 21-metre statue, unveiled during Messi’s GOAT Tour of India, attracted huge crowds eager to take photographs and celebrate their football hero. While such love for a legendary player is understandable, public enthusiasm should never disturb normal life or endanger the safety of others.Sports personalities inspire millions through their hard work and achievements, but true respect for heroes is shown through positive behaviour, not reckless gatherings or disorderly conduct. Authorities should take proper crowd-control measures during such events, while educational campaigns can help fans understand the importance of civic responsibility.People must remember that admiration should unite communities peacefully rather than create inconvenience or panic. Celebrities deserve respect, but society also deserves order, safety, and discipline. Responsible fandom is the need of the hour.Iqbal Arain,By email]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/28/love-is-blind]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 19:44:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Personal space is not always a given]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/28/personal-space-is-not-always-a-given]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Your independence should be your utmost priority. You should never settle for anything less than your own privacy and your own autonomy. You should never be beholden to anyone. Not your mother, not your sibling and not your friends. You need to be independent. Now I know many of you will say that independence requires you to be self-sufficient but try not to define it only in financial terms, although it is true that money often equates to self-sufficiency. Generally speaking, having enough money does mean you can do what you want, when you want and wherever you want or, if you wish, do nothing at all.But sometimes you don’t have enough money but still desperately need your autonomy and peace of mind. What do you do then? Most people reading this are likely to have a job and their own accommodation. But there will also be many individuals who, despite having a steady income, will be living in what can only be described as in cramped conditions with extended families.Now I’m not saying that extended families are a bad thing but I can also say that many a times they’re not a good thing either, especially if you don’t have adequate space to house everyone comfortably. I will also go so far as to say that living in such conditions is not only uncomfortable but also a form of abuse. It’s abuse to yourself and abuse to those around you. Imagine not having the kind of privacy you need to change your clothes or even to lie down in a darkened room when you need to because doing so would obviously inconvenience your flatmates which is often what they are, even if they’re your family.Imagine living in such conditions when you don’t get on with everyone in your unit. Imagine having to share a room with those with whom you have differences of opinion. Imagine if some of the people with whom you share a room have different sleeping habits. When you get up they are asleep and when you need to sleep they’re up and about doing their thing. If you’re responsible for this insane setup for your family then I’m sorry to have to tell you this but you are the most inconsiderate person on the planet. Everyone deserves to live in comfort and if you’re doing it to save a penny here and there, that penny is not well spent. Nothing is more important than someone’s personal space.Personal space gives you peace of mind and, don’t forget that, often those growing up in such a cramped environment, have no say in the matter because the choice wasn’t theirs. It might be the wife’s, the husband’s or an overbearing sibling’s, or all three.My advice to anyone living in cramped conditions where their creativity is being stifled or their ability to study is being hampered due to lack of space, if you are able to, move into university accommodation where you will have your own room or the very least continual access to a quiet library with a desk. If your creativity is being stifled, pluck up the courage to rent your own space even if it's just a small space and means spending a little bit of money. I guarantee, having that space will clear your mind of the clutter you most likely see on a daily basis living in the current conditions in which you live.If there are 10 people living in a tiny 2 bedroom, and I am using this example from reality of people I know, then I guarantee you have no space for your clothes, nowhere to change and sleeping is only possible when everyone sleeps at the same time. Otherwise you will most likely be kept up by lights going on or the incessant movement during the night by the person or persons who have different sleep schedules.Someone one commented on social media that animals are so much smarter than human beings when it comes to choosing who’s in charge. Animals would never let someone with little or no sense lead their pack. Unfortunately, in humans, this is all too often the case.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Birjees Hussain]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/28/personal-space-is-not-always-a-given]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2026 19:42:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Africa is making massive strides toward sustainable energy]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/27/africa-is-making-massive-strides-toward-sustainable-energy]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Africa's next generation of power projects is increasingly being built around solar and wind power and battery storage, as governments and investors shift away from coal and large hydropower dams in search of cheaper, faster and more reliable electricity, according to Associated Press. The shift is visible in a $1.5 billion energy agreement between China and Zambia announced in early May that includes three separate 300-megawatt projects spanning solar, wind and coal-fired power.While the inclusion of coal underscores the continent's continuing need for stable baseload electricity, African countries facing rising fuel import bills as a result of the Iran war, unreliable grids and growing industrial demand are increasingly turning to renewable energy projects that can be deployed faster and more cheaply than traditional plants. Of the 322 energy projects announced across Africa in 2025, 173 were solar projects, followed by hydropower at 46, wind at 34, gas at 22 and hybrid energy projects at 14, according to the energy research firm Electron Intelligence, reported Associated Press."Africa is not on the periphery of the global energy transition, it is sitting at its center," said Mugwe Manga, climate finance lead at FSD Kenya. "The continent holds the world's best renewable resources, and the economics have now decisively turned in favour of clean energy."According to Olamide Niyi-Afuye, CEO of the Africa Minigrid Developers Association (AMDA), the continent is undergoing a broader strategic shift in how energy infrastructure is being developed, with an emphasis on systems that can be deployed faster and expanded gradually with flexible financing. Niyi-Afuye pointed to the growing role of solar within mini-grid systems.According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, Africa added a record 11.3 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in 2025, triple the previous year. South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia accounted for much of the growth. Increasingly affordable technology is helping. Utility-scale solar power costs have dropped by nearly 90% globally since 2010, while onshore wind costs have fallen around 70%, making renewables the cheapest source of new electricity generation in many African markets."Renewable energy is now unequivocally the fastest, cheapest, and most bankable way to connect people, companies and economies to the megawatts they need to grow," said Matt Tilleard, CEO of CrossBoundary Energy, which invests in renewable energy in Africa. Much of the growth is through distributed solar and battery systems installed directly in mines, factories, telecom towers and homes."Most official statistics still measure the energy transition the old way, by counting megawatts connected to national grids," he said. "But solar and batteries don't need central utilities." Data from the Africa Solar Industry Association shows 23.4 gigawatts of operational solar projects had been tracked across Africa by the end of 2025. But Chinese export figures indicate 58.1 gigawatts of solar panels have been shipped to African countries since 2017, suggesting solar adoption may be growing far faster than official figures capture.Investors increasingly favor renewable projects because they can generate returns faster and with less exposure to global fuel price shocks. "Solar and wind projects are especially attractive at this moment because they combine strong commercial fundamentals with relatively lower investment risk," Niyi-Afuye said.At the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo, CrossBoundary Energy is developing a 233-megawatt solar and battery project to supply one of Africa's largest copper mines. Tilleard said the project moved from signing to more than 80% completion within a year. Coal-fired plants can take up to 12 years to complete, while major hydropower projects often require a decade or more."Investors deploy capital and see assets generating revenue within 18 months," Tilleard said. The continent's renewable push is also being accelerated by policy changes. Ethiopia was the first country to ban imports of internal combustion engine vehicles, spurring faster adoption of electric vehicles. In South Africa, relaxing limits on private power generation has opened the door to a surge in industrial renewable energy projects.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 19:59:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Errant Ukrainian drones fuel tensions on NATO&#039;s eastern flank]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/27/errant-ukrainian-drones-fuel-tensions-on-natos-eastern-flank]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Ukrainian drones have strayed into Baltic countries' airspace in recent weeks, sowing confusion and raising tensions with Russia at a time when US commitment to NATO's collective security is in question. The airspace incursions have occurred as Ukraine, seeking to land heavier blows on Russia four years after Moscow's full-scale invasion, uses exploding drones to hit Russian Baltic ports that handle nearly 40% of national oil and gas exports. In most cases, Kyiv and the Baltic ⁠states have confirmed the stray drones are Ukrainian but have blamed Russia for causing them to deviate from their flight path with the use of electronic defences that jam or spoof signals. Such devices are widely used by Russia and Ukraine to disrupt the navigation of enemy drones and missiles.Russia has suggested the Baltic states are colluding to let Ukraine use their airspace to stage attacks on Russian targets. The Baltic states and Ukraine deny this. The Baltic states in the NATO military alliance — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — are staunch supporters of Kyiv and accuse Russia of using escalatory language to intimidate them in the hope they will persuade Ukraine to stop its attacks. "They're desperately now using any kind of opportunity to divide the Western part of the world and ... to put more pressure on Ukraine not to launch these attacks," Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in ⁠a phone interview.Most of the drones have caused no damage, crashing into open fields or flying back out of Baltic airspace, but there is a sense of growing unease. A NATO military jet shot down a suspected Ukrainian drone in Estonia on May 19, in what NATO told Reuters was the first time its military jet mission in the Baltics had "fired a missile in defence of the Alliance" since the three states joined in 2004. On May 20, Lithuanian lawmakers were forced to take shelter underground as a drone approached Vilnius. The following day, an air alert was issued in northern Lithuania."The threat level is growing. Drones are flying in. They are Ukrainian, but some are loaded with explosives and can hit civilian objects. We must protect people," Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas told Reuters.Asta Skaisgiryte, foreign policy adviser to Lithuania's president, said the Baltics were facing a particularly intense phase now because of progress by Ukraine in drone warfare that is making its long-range attacks more potent. She said it was possible Russia was deliberately redirecting drones to fly into neighbouring states.Several drones have entered Baltic airspace undetected, highlighting gaps in air defences on NATO's border with Russia and Belarus. Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina was forced to resign after firing her defence minister, blaming him for the lack of air defences. Despite unequivocal support for Ukraine, Estonian officials have told Kyiv that airspace incursions are not helpful and said they expect Ukraine to ⁠control its drones better. A Ukrainian military source said a "serious" investigation was under way to determine how Russia was causing Ukrainian drones to veer from their flight path into Baltic airspace.A senior Swedish military source said Ukraine was flying its drones deliberately close to the Baltic border with Russia, using it as a kind of shield, knowing Russia would not want to fire into NATO territory and risk direct confrontation. Ukraine's foreign ministry denied that. It accused Russia of jamming the drones to deliberately direct them towards the Baltics and said Kyiv picks flight paths that minimise any threat to their Baltic allies."We have intelligence about Russia deliberately doing this, these are not just abstract claims on our side," said Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's Foreign Ministry. Russia's embassies in Vilnius and Stockholm did not reply to requests for comment for this story.Last week, Russia's ambassador to the UN told a Security Council meeting Moscow had information that Ukraine planned to launch military drones from inside Latvia and other Baltic states, and warned that Russia would fire back.Although Latvia's envoy dismissed his comemnts as "pure fiction", Russia's foreign intelligence service SVR said Riga had agreed to the arrangement despite fearing it would become "a victim of Moscow's retaliatory strike".Tsahkna and Kaunas said they interpreted such statements as a sign of weakness ⁠by Russia as it struggles to counter Ukrainian drones or advance significantly on the battlefield.Linas Kojala, head of the Vilnius-based Geopolitics and Security Studies Center, said there was a risk of accidental miscalculation from "provocative" Russian actions."The tensions are high, there is a risk of an unintended escalation," he told Reuters. Although European politicians see Russia as a major threat, the United States, which is NATO's biggest military power and has tens of thousands of troops in Europe, has sent mixed signals over its commitment to the continent's defence.President ⁠Donald Trump has suggested the US could even leave NATO, and Washington said this month it was delaying a troop deployment to Poland, but days later announced it was sending an additional 5,000 personnel. A Baltic security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his agency viewed Russia's rhetoric as predominantly designed for domestic consumption to focus attention on the "war-mongering Europeans". "They want to hide the fact that they are actually struggling in coping with the Ukrainian drone attacks," said the official. "From our perspective, the security situation in the region has not changed."]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/27/errant-ukrainian-drones-fuel-tensions-on-natos-eastern-flank]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 19:57:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Society&#039;s problem]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/27/societys-problem]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/27/societys-problem]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 19:54:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Royal performance]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/27/royal-performance]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Mighty Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated Gujarat Titans (GT) on Tuesday to reach the final. It was an incredible performance by RCB. RCB batters started on a very high note from the word go and went on to put up a mammoth total of 254, which became challenging for GT batters. Chasing a high total is always risky and this is what happened with GT. Despite such a great batting side  GT players failed to get going. I think GT has one more chance to play to be in the final, but they have to wait. But the way RCB had kept their best for the last shows their planning and execution. Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya played one of their best innings and I hope they repeat the same performance in the final to lift the trophy.Tufail Ahmed,By email]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 19:52:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Low cost glasses help poor see a better future]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/27/low-cost-glasses-help-poor-see-a-better-future]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[As soon as he put on his glasses, Indian vegetable seller Tofan Jena knew daily life would never be the same. For the first time, the 49-year-old could see the world around him in sharp detail. "I can make out all the letters of the alphabet, even the smallest ones," he marvelled, pointing to his phone screen. Jena is among one billion people recorded by the World Health Organization who suffer from vision problems but lack the means to correct them.The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness estimates that $30 billion is lost in productivity from preventable or curable eye diseases in India alone. Just an hour earlier, Jena who is a resident of Bhubaneswar, capital of the eastern state of Odisha, had his eyes examined for the first time in his life by GoodVision, whose mission is to bring eye care to underprivileged communities. The charity hopes to close the gap in eyecare and works in 12 countries, including India, where around 550 million need glasses, and an estimated 250 million people lack access to them.For less than two dollars, Jena left with a pair of corrective glasses — and a clear vision of his future. "I can read, I can write, and I can see very well at a distance," he repeats, as if trying to convince himself. "I'll be able to do everything with these glasses." The small miracle was repeated for dozens of residents in the poor district of Salia Sahi. Technicians from the charity set up a mobile camp under a tarpaulin, offering shade from the blazing sun, while providing eye examinations, vision tests, and the selection and fitting of glasses. At the end, a line of people stood blinking at the world, amazed at the clarity and detail many had forgotten or, for some, had never known.With glasses perched on his nose, 43-year-old shopkeeper Minati Rout completes his journey by passing a final test: separating small pebbles from grains of rice. "I was not able to read small letters, I was not able to thread in a needle... now I can, to do all those things," she said. "I will tell my neighbours to get their eyes checked here too."Piush Khetan, the charity's India director, said they offer basic services which include a free eye screening and glasses for people in need as well as performing cataract surgery. The lenses for the glasses come from China, while the frames are made in India from metal wire and assembled in about 10 minutes.In the small town of Maniabandha, a two-hour drive from Bhubaneswar, patients wait on plastic chairs."These community camps are extremely important for villagers, because they have no access to eye care," said optometrist Gopinath Das."Sometimes they don't have money, sometimes they don't even know they have eye problems."More than 400 underprivileged neighbourhoods and villages are visited each month, sites often overlooked by public health services."We are able to provide help to people, and we feel good about it," said technician Debasmita Behera, 23."And I'm also earning." In Maniabandha, eight patients were taken to Bhubaneswar's Vision Care Hospital for cataract surgery. Hospital director Srimant Kumar Mishra said the most difficult part is to motivate patients to be operated on. "There is a lot of social stigma, they are afraid... They have a feeling that even if you get old, it is natural that they are not able to see."GoodVision's France representative, Maryline Ehlermann, said "eye care is a very profitable investment", citing a study estimating that if the billion people with curable vision problems were treated, it would "generate $447 billion annually for the global economy". In the world's most populous country — also one of its most unequal — the challenge is enormous. "In India, we only take things seriously if it's a matter of life or death," said Khetan. "So we focus on providing information, we try to convince people of the importance of taking care of their eyes."]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 19:51:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[US Navy plans to buy battleships]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/26/navys-battleship-is-a-boondoggle-in-the-making]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[The US Navy says it plans to buy 15 hulking “battleships” over the next 30 years. The number of such behemoths it actually needs comes closer to zero. The sooner Congress recognises that fact, the better off American taxpayers, and indeed the Navy, will be, according to the Tribune News Service.The president introduced the first new warship, dubbed the USS Defiant, in December. Having long touted the beauty and power of World War II-era battleships, he claimed that the new class of battleships would be 100 times more powerful than their predecessors and bigger than any current US surface combatants. They’d bristle with cutting-edge weaponry — including lasers, hypersonic missiles and rail guns — and be armed with nuclear-capable cruise missiles. The Navy now says they’ll also be powered by nuclear reactors.Strategists who’ve studied the issue for the Navy say there’s a case for a warship somewhat larger than current Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which displace less than 10,000 tons and carry a little under 100 vertical launch cells for missiles and interceptors. The war in Iran has underscored how vital it is to be able to launch strikes from safe distances and parry incoming missiles and drones. Packing more cells onto a slightly bigger ship could usefully increase US capabilities.But building much larger vessels — the Defiant class is intended to displace roughly 30,000 to 40,000 tons — would only inflate costs and create fatter targets, without offering dramatically new operational capacity. Each one would need to stock more interceptors and operate with escort ships to fend off attacks. Some analysts have dismissed them as “bomb magnets.”Even if Congress approves the president’s request for nearly $1.5 trillion in defense spending next year — which remains far from certain — the Navy can ill afford such extravagance. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the first Defiant-class ship could cost as much as $20 billion — making it the most expensive warship ever built. (By comparison, America’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, cost $13 billion.) The chances of Congress consistently signing off on budgets big enough to accommodate more than a few such vessels are slim. And the fewer of them there are, the more expensive each will be to construct and sustain.That’s assuming they can even be built. Several of the advanced weapons systems the battleships are intended to field remain in development; the Navy hasn’t yet shown they can be integrated successfully onto a ship. Naval shipyards are already overstretched and desperate for skilled workers: Adding a massive new project will inevitably divert scarce resources from more important priorities, including nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines.For less than the price of one such vessel, the Navy could add a fleet of unmanned surface and undersea vehicles that could address a broad range of risks. Autonomous task forces of drones could be assigned to defend against specific threats — Russian subs sneaking into the Atlantic Ocean, say, or a possible amphibious landing on Taiwan. That would greatly expand the Navy’s capabilities without putting its most valuable resources at risk.The White House has asked for nearly $2 billion in next year’s budget for R&D and advance procurement of the Defiant class. Congress would be wiser to cut off the programme now, or at least direct that the money be used to research capabilities that could be deployed on the kind of midsize guided-missile cruiser the Navy might actually need. Getting warships into the water is hard enough without wasting funds on vessels unlikely ever to sail.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2026 19:40:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Social media risks children’s health, doctors warn]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/26/social-media-risks-childrens-health-doctors-warn]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Social media "ranks alongside smoking" as a threat to young people's health, a report by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges says. The Government's 'Growing Up In The Online World' consultation, which explored measures such as an Australia-style social media ban for minors, app curfews, and limits on addictive features, closes at the end of Tuesday. In a report submitted to the consultation, the academy warned that doctors are witnessing "a wave of radicalised children" exposed to "hateful, addictive and grossly distressing content".A survey of 454 doctors by the academy revealed that half treated at least one child per week whose mental distress or physical injury was directly linked to online content. The report included harrowing stories of deaths and injuries from interests in violence or radicalisation. In his first public statement on the issue since stepping down from Cabinet earlier this month, former health secretary Wes Streeting said that social media should be treated like tobacco. "It's extremely addictive, bad for our health, and Big Tech is borrowing the Big Tobacco playbook to avoid regulation," he said."We've got to give our children their childhood back. A ban for under-16s must be the start, not the end. We have given the pen to tech moguls to write our future for us. It's time to take the pen back." Families who have lost relatives to harm linked to online platforms are set to meet Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday and urge him to honour the Government's promise to impose social media restrictions on under-16s. There have been widespread calls for the UK to follow Australia's lead on a prohibition, although there have been questions about how effective it has been.Ministers announced in April they would introduce "age or functionality restrictions" on social media for under-16s regardless of the consultation outcome, with proposals to be unveiled by the summer and plans to legislate before the end of the year. The concession by the Government came after pressure from the House of Lords over the issue, led by Tory former education minister and academy chain founder Lord Nash. Peers voted four times to press the Commons into accepting an outright ban, ending their stand-off with MPs only after ministers agreed to restrictions.Lord Nash said: "The Government gave a commitment to Parliament that they would introduce some form of age or functionality restriction on social media for children under 16."We now expect them to deliver on that commitment fully and in the shortest possible timeframe."Hundreds of thousands of people have made their voices heard, asking the Government to raise the age for access to harmful social media to 16...."And today the prime minister will meet the bereaved parents who have campaigned tirelessly to prevent their experiences happening to anyone else."Please, just get on with it."Ellen Roome, whose son Jools Sweeney died aged 14 attempting what Ms Roome believes was an online challenge, said: "I, and other families who have lost children to social media, will tell the Prime Minister directly: Social media is a product, and like any other faulty product causing the deaths of children, it should be restricted until the companies responsible have fixed it and proven it is safe."We cannot go on with further speculation — we need clarity." But another coalition of children's organisations warned that focusing solely on age limits risked failing to address the structural drivers of online harms. The Children's Coalition for Online Safety, led by 5Rights Foundation and including groups such as the NSPCC and Girlguiding, demanded a broader overhaul of technology companies' business models and product design choices that keep young users hooked.In a joint statement, 25 organisations called for a ban on targeted advertising and manipulative design features; a ban on personalised services for under 13s and default safety protections for under-16s with penalties for firms that fall short; stronger regulation of AI systems including child-focused risk assessments; and the creation of an independent online safety commissioner.Leanda Barrington-Leach, executive director at 5Rights Foundation, said: "We will not fix this by tinkering around the edges — by tweaking features or relying on age limits alone."The issue is not a single product or setting; it is built into the system itself, into business models and design choices that prioritise engagement, data extraction and profit over children's wellbeing. "If a product were unsafe for children offline, it would not be allowed onto the market. We must insist on this same logic online."The onus must be on these businesses to demonstrate that their services are safe for children and not on parents or children to navigate or manage that risk themselves." The NSPCC charity said tech companies prioritising profit over keeping children safe "cannot be allowed to continue". Rani Govender, associate head of policy for child, said politicians must set out a path "requiring platforms to build safety into every device, feature and AI tool from the outset, preventing children from encountering harmful or illegal content and ensuring they can only access age‑appropriate services through risk-based age ratings — something that children and adults are telling us they strongly support."It also means ending the addictive design tricks that keep young users scrolling, gaming and watching for hours on end."]]></description>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/26/social-media-risks-childrens-health-doctors-warn]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2026 19:37:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Long life]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/26/long-life]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2026 19:36:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Don&#039;t just talk]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/26/dont-just-talk]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Donald Trump has written on Truth Social that negotiators from both sides “must take their time and get it right”. A simple and accurate statement but what is the full story?The only substantial concern is the nuclear issue and both sides seem unwilling to move on that, so all we are going to get is more words, accusations and distractions.The general opinion is that they should not have the opportunity to develop nuclear weapons but that also could be applied to all countries. The consequences of nuclear bombs are horrific as shown at Hiroshima and the potential to destroy the whole planet is too real. How can this be solved?Will we have to wait until President Trump leaves the oval office, or will wise minds step in?Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/26/dont-just-talk]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2026 19:34:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Bridging India’s informal waste collectors and the legal system]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/26/bridging-indias-informal-waste-collectors-and-the-legal-system]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and social enterprises in India are bridging the gap between legal recognition under the country’s formal e-waste rules and informal waste collectors, according to report by Mongabay-India (MI) report.India is the world’s third largest producer of e-waste, yet the informal waste collectors have no substantial legal recognition, says the MI report. The efforts are on by NGOs and social enterprises by training waste pickers, connecting them to formal recyclers, and securing them better pay, but these efforts remain small-scale and patchy across the country. India’s e-waste is estimated to hold critical minerals and metals worth an estimated $4.9 billion, much of it currently lost to unsafe, inefficient informal dismantling. Since the early 2000s, electronic waste has entered the very same stream in hordes — landing in the laps of informal waste collectors who dismantle devices at grave personal risk.Informal waste collectors are part of a lucrative industry. As per the India Waste Management Market Analysis by Mordor Intelligence, the India Waste Management Market size was valued at USD 13.58 billion in 2025 and is estimated to grow from USD 14.29 billion in 2026 to reach USD 18.94 billion by 2031 during the forecast period (2026-2031).Since the early 2000s, electronic waste has entered the very same stream in hordes – landing in the laps of informal waste collectors who dismantle devices at grave personal risk, the MI report adds. It points out that despite playing an outsized role in India’s waste management, informal workers lie outside the country’s formal recycling governance framework. A big reason why e-waste collection and processing stay with the informal sector is because formal facilities lack the capacity to process the sheer volume of e-waste generated in the country. Typically, waste collectors pick up solid waste and segregate it and sell to various scrap aggregators.The MI report states that according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India has 7226 e-waste producers, who manufacture, sell or import electrical and electronic equipment under their own brand name. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) under the E-Waste Management Rules makes it mandatory for producers to register themselves on a central portal, fulfil specific e-waste collection and recycling targets, and file compliance returns. For these 7000-odd registered producers, there are 295 official recyclers, who dismantle and extract metals and minerals from e-waste, and 53 refurbishers who repair and renovate the used item for reuse. Together, they process just 5-10% of the total e-waste produced by the country. Since the informal sector has a higher reach and a larger functioning network of cheap labour, the formal sector depends on actors like the informal workers for the collection and segregation of e-waste. But the EPR process excludes them. With no direct benefit from the formal system, these informal workers prefer to sell to informal recyclers and find working outside the system to be more lucrative, as they are not required to keep a paper trail. Working outside the system gives them operational anonymity while avoiding banking costs. Cash transactions also give them immediate liquidity while buying or selling.Certain NGOs, the MI report highlights, like Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group of Delhi and SWaCH (Solid Waste Collection and Handling) of Pune have been working with waste collectors and informal workers to divert e-waste to a formal recycling chain. However, such initiatives are rare in the country. The lack of legal recognition of the role informal waste collectors play is a hurdle. Also, besides being a health and environmental hazard, dismantling e-waste without proper equipment and tools could lead to the wastage of minerals and metals that are gaining increasing importance in the circular economy. E-waste is a ready source of critical and rare earth minerals, like lithium and cobalt, which are used in EV batteries, renewable energy systems and other electronic items. According to some estimates, India’s e-waste contains precious metals and critical minerals worth $4.9 billion. The Indian government has launched a critical mineral mission incentivising extraction from e-waste recycling. Increasing skills in these workers and integrating them into the process could not only help build the country’s formal recycling capacity but also unlock the value in e-waste.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Meena Janardhan]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[Opinion ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/26/bridging-indias-informal-waste-collectors-and-the-legal-system]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2026 19:33:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Missing People launches WhatsApp crisis support]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/missing-people-launches-whatsapp-crisis-support-712145]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[As she sat in the woods, feeling scared and alone, 19-year-old Ros didn't know who she could turn to for help. The teenager had been self-harming and was afraid she might hurt herself more seriously. Just a few days before, officers found Ros at a bridge after she had disappeared from home. She didn't want to talk to the police again out of fear they might detain her over concerns for her mental health, according to The Independent.Ros received a message from the Missing People charity, which let her know she had been reported missing to the police. The charity explained she could speak to its staff confidentially, and they were there to give her the help she needed. Missing People spoke with Ros about what she was going through and helped her avoid self-harming further. She eventually agreed to contact the police for help.Ros is one of the tens of thousands of young people going missing each year in the UK, who now have a lifeline following the launch of SafeCall — a free and confidential support service designed to keep children and young people safe. Thanks to the generosity of The Independent's readers, Missing People has this week launched a new WhatsApp service, as another part of its SafeCall offering, to reach more young people in moments of crisis. It allows children to send the charity a quick message if they do not want to talk on the phone.The Independent set out last November to raise the vital funds needed to create SafeCall and spread awareness of children who have gone missing, and remain missing, today. The helpline was launched in January after an incredible £165,000 was raised. Our mission has drawn the support of several high-profile figures, including prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, former footballer Sir David Beckham, Childline founder Esther Rantzen, TV presenter Sir Stephen Fry, and mother of missing Madeleine, Kate McCann.As part of the campaign, we heard from the parents living with the heartache of having a missing child, as well as those who were once missing and are now dedicated to helping young people in the position they were once in. With the support of The Independent as Missing People's partner, an additional £300,000 was raised for the charity's vital services at its annual gala event.Amy Walker, the charity's head of digital development, said: "Thanks to the support from The Independent and their readers, we have added WhatsApp as a channel for young people to reach us when they need us most. "They have been asking to access our non-judgemental and empathetic team via WhatsApp for years, and it is exciting that we can finally fulfil their request."Our new WhatsApp channel, which we have built completely by ourselves, continues to focus on how important it is for young people to feel in control." The launch coincides with International Missing Children's Day, which aims to raise awareness about child disappearances across the globe. A child is reported missing every 2.5 minutes in the UK, and every week, a missing child will die.The new service allows young people to speak with the charity anonymously and is available between 10am to 10pm every day. Right now, more than 40 per cent of children contacting Missing People's helpline are experiencing poor mental health, while nearly one in four children disclose risks linked to suicide. Some 53 per cent of children who get in touch are experiencing issues with their families or relationships. Among them was a 15-year-old who called the charity earlier this year after being kicked out of their home with nowhere to stay.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/missing-people-launches-whatsapp-crisis-support-712145]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2026 19:40:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Steve Hilton and Spencer Pratt need Latinos, not Trump]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/steve-hilton-and-spencer-pratt-need-latinos-not-trump]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[With less than two weeks before the primary election, Steve Hilton is leading in the polls for governor, and Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt is making the city's progressive class sweat. If the former Fox News commentator and the reality television bad boy move on to November's general election, they'll be running as conservatives in a super-blue state and city where most voters loathe President Donald Trump.The president endorsed Hilton last month, posting on social media that he "is a truly fine man, one who has watched as this once great State has gone to Hell." On Wednesday, Trump said he wants Pratt to "do well ... I heard he's a big MAGA person," before claiming that California elections are rigged and that he would have won the state two years ago "if we had Jesus Christ come down and count the votes" because "I do great with Hispanics."Trump was right about one thing — the importance of Latino voters. If Hilton and Pratt are to pull off historic upsets, they'll need this bloc, which has emerged as a mercurial swing vote in local, state and national elections — but only if stirred into action by anger. And if ever there was a year for Latino anger, 2026 is it.In recent years, Latinos in California have drifted rightward as they tire of Democratic policies, from LA City Hall to Sacramento. Rick Caruso captured a majority of the Latino vote in his unsuccessful bid for LA mayor four years ago, and there are more Latino Republicans in the state legislature than ever. Some of the most Latino areas in Southern California saw the biggest shifts toward Trump from 2020 to 2024.Hilton has held town halls in small, Latino-majority cities across a state that's about 41% Latino. He frequently appears alongside lieutenant governor candidate Gloria Romero, a pioneer in challenging disaffected Latinos to not always vote Democrat. Pratt has shared AI-generated salsa and merengue songs that hail him as a savior and uses Spanglish when referring to Mayor Karen Bass as "Basura" — trash. He's starting to roll out endorsements from Latino business groups and held a block party in South L.A. this week for which a Instagram post tried to draw supporters with the promise of a taco truck.So if the candidates know that Latinos are essential to their long-shot campaigns, why the hell aren't they running as far and fast from Trump as possible? Two years ago, Trump — the most anti-Latino president since James Polk — grabbed a larger share of the Latino electorate than any Republican presidential candidate ever had. GOP leaders predicted that Latinos were finally theirs. But Trump annihilated that advantage by launching his deportation deluge. Now, he has turned off even some die-hard supporters by starting a war in Iran, which has further strained an already shaky economy.A New York Times/Siena poll released this month found that only 20% of Latinos support Trump — the lowest during his two terms. A Pew Research Center survey, meanwhile, found that only 66% of Latinos who voted for Trump now approve of him, compared to 81% of white Trump supporters.Instead of running away, Hilton and Pratt seem fine with hitching their prospects to this political Titanic. Hilton sought and received Trump's endorsement, arguing that it's better to have a friendly relationship with the White House than the antagonistic path California's elected leaders have chosen. But most voters want no part of Hilton's kumbaya. Proposition 50, a direct rebuke of Trump's gerrymandering efforts in other states, passed with more than two-thirds of the vote last fall. A CalMatters analysis found that Latino-majority precincts voted in bigger numbers for the ballot initiative than for Kamala Harris two years earlier.Hilton can promise Latinos his "Califordable" agenda and eat all the tacos he wants. But our economic malaise was caused in large part by Trump, who recently said he thinks about Americans' financial struggles "not even a little bit." For Hilton not to decry such cluelessness is almost as ridiculous as his recent boasts that he — the British son of Hungarian refugees who became a US citizen just five years ago — is the candidate of "legal" immigrants. That's a callback to the days of Proposition 187, when Republicans obsessed with the state's changing demographics turned off my generation of Latinos by demonising our undocumented friends and family. The GOP was finally starting to emerge from the political wilderness with Latinos, but Hilton cozying up to Trump will drag the party back into that weak salsa place.Pratt has been coyer on his thoughts about Trump, but at least he seems to realize that the president might be a liability. The Republican said his party affiliation doesn't since the mayor's race is nonpartisan. He has portrayed himself as focused solely on improving Los Angeles, telling CBS News, "I don't do national politics. I don't do tribal politics." But for someone who says he wants to make LA a world-class city, Pratt seems unconcerned about Trump's assault on us, including last summer's unchecked immigration raids and temporary occupation by the Marines and the National Guard.]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2026 19:39:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[After (tax) effects]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/after-tax-effects]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/after-tax-effects]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2026 19:37:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Glamorous appearance]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/glamorous-appearance]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[The glamorous appearance of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival once again proved why she remains one of Bollywood’s most admired and beloved actresses. Her royal blue shimmering bodycon gown perfectly reflected elegance, confidence and grace, while her signature royal aura captured the attention of audiences around the world.For many years, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has represented Indian cinema on international platforms with dignity and charm. Her remarkable presence at Cannes not only highlights her popularity but also makes millions of her fans proud and happy. Fashion lovers and movie enthusiasts eagerly wait every year to see her appearance at the festival.Shaheen Ahmed,By email]]></description>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/glamorous-appearance]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2026 19:36:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[People rethink life choices as decades end]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/people-rethink-life-choices-as-decades-end]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[The day I entered my 40th lap around the sun — otherwise known as my 39th birthday — was the same day I checked out of my normal life and checked in for a flight halfway across the world. Starting in Melbourne, I embarked on a five-week adventure, travelling through Australia, New Zealand and Japan like some kind of mad, condensed "gap yah," except grubby hostels were very much traded in for nice hotels with spas.When I returned to the UK, I had another month off work: four beautiful, indulgent weeks of brunches and saunas and yoga classes and drinking frozen beverage in the middle of the day while slowly chipping away at my much-talked-about-but-never-before-started YA novel. It was all a bittersweet taste of what life could've been like, had I only been smart enough to marry rich.Before anyone accuses me of falling prey to a minor midlife crisis, I invite you to take a look at your own life. More specifically, mull on what you did in the 12-month periods preceding your big birthdays. You know the ones: those terrifying numbers with zeros at the end, wheeled out every 10 years to scare the bejesus out of us.The years when we turn something-nine — 29, 39, 49, 59 etc — might, on the face of it, seem like any other year. And yet evidence suggests that age isn't just a number, after all. Dubbed "nine-enders," these are often the points at which we make big decisions or changes, blow our lives up, tick off bucket-list activities and generally Get Done.The "nine-ender" theory was most famously posited by Adam Alter and Hal Hershfield, a marketing professor and a professor of behavioural decision-making and psychology respectively, more than a decade ago. In their 2014 paper, "People search for meaning when they approach a new decade in chronological age," the pair sought proof to support their hypothesis: looking down the barrel of a significant birthday really does make us reflect on our lives, geeing us up and spurring us on.As it turned out, evidence wasn't hard to come by. When they analysed responses from more than 42,000 adults across 100 countries who completed the World Values Survey, they discovered that people whose age ended in nine were more likely than respondents whose ages ended in any other digit to question the meaning or purpose of life.That quest for meaning seemed to lead, in turn, to tangible impacts. Analysing other data sets, Alter and Hershfield found that nine-ender males were more likely than any other age demographic to have registered for an extramarital dating site, for example. In other words, those approaching a new decade were more motivated to seek out an affair.There were other compelling examples: nine-enders of any gender had a higher suicide rate than non-nine-enders. On a more positive note, this cohort was also significantly overrepresented when looking at first-time marathon runners. And a separate analysis revealed that marathon runners tended to complete the course faster in their nine-ender years than they had in the two years previously or in the two years afterwards. For good or ill, those years ending in nine seemed to act as a uniquely powerful driver of human behaviour.Others have tested the theory in the intervening years. A 2019 paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology replicated the results, and also found that imagining entering a new decade caused people to specifically look back, reflect and take stock of their lives. Another landmark work on the "fresh start effect" showed that birthdays, the start of a new week or year, or even the start of a new term, all increase aspirational behaviour. "That literature has replicated across many contexts and now informs real-world interventions, including retirement savings nudges," says Adam Alter. "The underlying psychology is well-supported."I sense instinctively that the next 10 months are going to see seismic shifts that keep rippling outwards. Reflect for a moment, and you might be surprised by just how much the idea rings true. When I mention it to friends and colleagues, I'm amazed by how many of them have their own real-world examples of big shifts that happened on nine-enders. Career changes; relationship milestones; pregnancies; marital breakdowns; relocations or big house moves. Even the quieter, yet arguably just as impactful, alterations seem to coincide with those years. Two different people shared that 29 was the age at which they finally took up the hobbies they'd always dreamed of doing — improv comedy and pole dancing, in case you're wondering.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2026 19:34:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[EU would see UK bid to rejoin as a victory]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/eu-would-see-uk-bid-to-rejoin-as-a-victory]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[One of the arguments against Britain seeking to rejoin the European Union is often phrased as a question: “What makes you think that the EU would want us?”Sandro Gozi, the chair of the EU delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Assembly, has an answer to that. He told The Independent that the EU would see a British application to rejoin as a “major victory for the European project”.Mr Gozi is right. Just as the more candid leaders of the EU admitted that the UK’s departure from the club was a setback for the dream of a more united Europe, so all believers in that vision should welcome the return of the wayward partner, however exasperating we have been, according to The Independent. Mr Gozi insisted that, far from wanting to put obstacles in the way of Britain rejoining, an application would be fast-tracked. “It could be done more quickly than for other candidate countries because there is the institutional memory there from when the UK was a member,” he said. “And there is also already some level of alignment between the UK and EU.”There would be difficult negotiations over the terms of any re-accession, in which the EU side would certainly start from the position of declaring that Britain could not be given the same rebate on its contribution to EU funds that it enjoyed before 2016. But all such negotiations have arrived at a mutually acceptable compromise before, and would do so again.Mr Gozi would like Britain to adopt the euro as a condition of membership, but in practice it seems unlikely that this would be required as long as Czechia, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden keep their own currencies.The real issue is whether the British people want to rejoin, and how the strength and depth of that commitment should be measured. Opinion polls suggest that a large majority now say that leaving the EU was a mistake, and that a majority would vote to rejoin if there were a referendum on the issue. But the findings are sensitive to question wording, and less positive results are obtained if respondents are reminded of EU law allowing free movement of people or of the likely level of British financial contributions.That is why Sir Keir Starmer was right to take a cautious approach to the issue at the last election, committing a Labour government to staying out of the single market and a customs union. The vote in the EU referendum must be respected, and the bar to reopening the question must be set high. In The Independent’s view, the referendum decision could be overturned only if it were undeniable that there was an overwhelming and sustained majority for doing so.We are not there yet. But next month it will be 10 years since the British people voted by a relatively narrow margin to leave, and the Labour Party is justifiably beginning to think about what its position might be at the next election. Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting, two of the contenders for the office of prime minister, have said that they want to rejoin, although Mr Burnham has said he is “not advocating” it in the current by-election in Makerfield.Still, there is now a debate taking place about what Labour’s policy should be after its 2024 manifesto expires at the next election. That is encouraging. We intend that The Independent shall be at the forefront of that debate, in all parties, making the case that Britain should, step by step, remove the barriers to trade that we mistakenly erected. We can then work towards renewed membership of an enlarged EU as a long-term aim.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/eu-would-see-uk-bid-to-rejoin-as-a-victory]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2026 08:37:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[World Central Kitchen resilient on Gaza]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/world-central-kitchen-resilient-on-gaza]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[The World Central Kitchen (WCK) has reverted to the level before last October’s ceasefire for delivering hot meals to Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians. The WCK said the decision to reduce output is driven entirely by financial pressure; it does not reflect any reduction in need. “We will still be delivering hundreds of thousands of hot meals every day to families in need and maintaining one of the largest food relief operations anywhere in the world.”Following the eruption of the ongoing conflict in October 2023, WCK has “invested more than half a billion dollars feeding the people of Gaza.” Gaza Response Director Wadhah Hubaishi stated, “Every meal represents a family that can breathe a little easier. The determination and strength our teams and partners show every single day to reach that goal is extraordinary, and it reflects the spirit of WCK: showing up, together, when it matters most.” Late last year, after Israel closed the border, WCK expanded operations to one million hot meals a day.However, no single non-governmental agency can sustain this rate, especially WCK and other independent agencies which are financed by private donations and respond to need elsewhere in the world. “The people of Gaza have lost their homes and their economy,” WCK founder and head José Andrés said. “The world must step up — not just talk about the plight of the Palestinians. Governments, institutions, and international partners need to commit the sustained, secure funding that this crisis demands.” WCK is partnered by Chef Corps, a global network of over 450 prominent culinary figures.WCK is a “not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation that provides food relief” founded in 2010 by Spanish-American chef and restaurateur José Andrés in response to an earthquake in Haiti. Andrés — who is now 56 — emigrated to the US in the early 1990s at 21 and began a remarkable career building and running restaurants in several American cities. He has won a number of awards for cooking and for WCK. He is the founder of the Global Food Institute at George Washington University where he is a professor. Andrés is credited with introducing to the US small plates of different preparations (tapas and mezze) as well as Mediterranean specialities. He is an outspoken critic of Donald Trump.WCK has delivered food to victims of the 2017 Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana, the 2018 eruption on the island of Hawaii, the 2023 Turkish–Syrian earthquakes, the ongoing Gaza humanitarian crisis, and the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. WCK carries out its mission by setting up multiple local kitchens in stricken areas. In February 2024, the Spanish relief agency Open Arms employed a tugboat to deliver to Gaza a barge loaded with 200 metric tonnes of food and water provided by WCK with donations from the UAE and others. This was the first time in 20 years a vessel landed in Gaza. Open Arms and WCK completed a second mission, but the Israelis intervened to prevent them from establishing a permanent humanitarian aid sea corridor from Larnaca in Cyprus to Gaza.Nevertheless, WCK continues to access Gaza by land from Egypt. In April 2024, seven WCK employees in Gaza were killed by Israeli drone strikes in the city of Deir al-Balah. Andrés rejected Israeli and US claims that the attack was accidental. He said employees who were travelling in a convoy were “targeted deliberately” and killed “systematically, car by car.” The Gaza war, he said, is “not a war against terrorism anymore” but a “war against humanity itself.” He argued Israelis know “food is not a weapon of war. Israel is better than the way this war is being waged” by blocking the entry into Gaza of food and medicine and targeting humanitarian workers.Although regional conflicts have threatened to close border crossings into Gaza, WCK’s Palestinian kitchen staff are currently “receiving just enough trucks to sustain our operations.” But Andrés said, “Every day we need more trucks and more food so we can keep feeding hungry families. We need a constant flow of food and fuel. Every day. This is the lifeline for Gaza, and it needs to stay open.” He was referring to the sole entry point, the Karem Shalom goods crossing with Egypt where the flow of food, medicine, and fuel depends on the Israeli government and military which bans certain items and limits the number of truckloads crossing into Gaza.At least 600 daily loads are needed to sustain the population but according to the UN an average of 150 to 200 aid trucks enter Gaza, but this can drop to fewer than 100 trucks. From time-to-time smaller convoys deliver supplies. For example, last Thursday a convoy of 15 lorries carrying more than 195 tonnes of supplies from a UAE relief operation entered Gaza. The Rafah crossing, which handles Palestinians entering and exiting the strip, appears to depend on the whims of Israeli army officers in charge as well as Tel Aviv’s policies.According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 72,760 Palestinians since October 7th, 2023, including 871 since the oft violated ceasefire began last October. Israel’s army has transformed 60 per cent of Gaza into a “buffer zone” and expelled Palestinians who live in this occupied area, squeezing Gaza’s 2.1 million into 40 per cent of the strip.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Jansen]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[Opinion ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/world-central-kitchen-resilient-on-gaza]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2026 08:33:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Election denier issue creates Colorado political controversy]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/election-denier-issue-creates-colorado-political-controversy]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[It’s entirely possible — as hard as it may be to conceive in these deeply tribal, us-vs.-them times — for two competing notions to be true. Tina Peters personally enriched herself and betrayed the public trust by perpetrating a harebrained scheme to “prove” the 2020 election in Mesa County, Colorado, was rigged against President Donald Trump.The former county clerk and MAGA warrior deserved to go to jail. But the nine-year sentence she received was unduly harsh and, according to an appeals court decision, improperly meted out as punishment for the false and reckless public statements Peters made, a clear violation of her First Amendment rights. The court kicked the case back for resentencing.That’s when Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, stepped in. And stepped in it. Over the strenuous objection of fellow Democrats and many Republicans — including Peters’ prosecutor and a majority of Colorado’s election clerks — Polis commuted her sentence, clearing the way for Peters’ parole on June 1 after less than two years in prison.Which just goes to show three wrongs don’t make a right. Peters, 70, was convicted on multiple criminal counts, four of them felonies, for conspiring to let an unauthorised person access supposedly compromised voting equipment. She then lied to cover up her actions.Trump carried Mesa County, a conservative stronghold, by nearly 30 percentage points, making Peters’ actions — apart from illegal — unaccountably stupid. But her conniving made her a belle of Mar-a-Lago and a celebrity on the election-denial circuit, jetting around the country and spewing cockamamie conspiracy theories. Trump loudly agitated for her release.His corrupted Justice Department sought to get Peters sprung from Colorado prison, presumably to set her loose from a federal facility. The president issued a symbolic “pardon,” though Peters’ conviction on state charges put her beyond his crooked reach. Trump insulted and belittled Polis, suggesting, among other things, he “rot in hell.” More significantly, the vengeful president waged economic war against Colorado. Among the retributive acts, Trump slashed federal funds earmarked for the state, closed a climate research centre in Boulder and moved the US Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs to Alabama.Polis, who has a broad libertarian streak, insisted his freeing of Peters was not a capitulation to Trump, but rather a matter of principle, which seems plausible to the extent the governor could have anticipated the unshirted hell he’s gotten from fellow Democrats. Among the great many infuriated by Polis’ decision are Colorado’s two US senators, as well as other vocal critics up and down the ballot. (One of those indignant senators is Michael Bennet, who is running to replace Polis.) There have been calls, within his own party, to investigate and impeach the governor, who had been spoken of as a potential presidential candidate in 2028.“He was aiming for a national profile,” said Floyd Ciruli, a pollster who’s been taking soundings of Colorado voters for decades. “This makes it much more difficult.” Given Democrats’ molten outrage, that seems like an understatement. The judge who sentenced Peters in October 2024 was unsparing. “You’re as defiant ... a defendant as this court has ever seen,” District Judge Matthew Barrett scolded her. “You are as privileged as they come and you used that privilege to obtain power, a following and fame. You are no hero.... You’re a charlatan who used and is still using your prior position in office to peddle a snake oil that’s been proven to be junk time and time again.”The problem, according to the Colorado Court of Appeals, was that Barrett wrongly punished Peters not just for her illegal actions but for speaking out about alleged election fraud. “Her offense was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud,” the three-judge panel wrote in a unanimous April decision. “It was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud.”The judges — all Democratic appointees — upheld Peters’ conviction and denied her request to transfer the case from Barrett. They ordered him to come up with a new sentence. And that’s where Polis, who placed Barrett on the bench, should have let things alone. Instead, the governor interceded and essentially cut Peters’ sentence in half. “The crimes you were convicted of are very serious and you deserve to spend time in prison,” Polis wrote in his commutation letter. “However, this is an extremely unusual and lengthy sentence for a first time offender who committed nonviolent crimes.”In response, Peters thanked Polis, apologised and expressed contrition.“I made mistakes, and for those I am sorry,” Peters wrote in a statement addressed to the governor. “I have learned and grown during my time in prison and going forward I will make sure that my actions always follow the law, and I will avoid the mistakes of the past.”]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[Opinion ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/election-denier-issue-creates-colorado-political-controversy]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2026 08:30:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Very unfortunate]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/very-unfortunate]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[As Batman said in 1966, “Crime doesn’t pay,” now a fat man or at least an overweight man, Donald Trump, says, “Crime will pay” or at least the Government is planning to pay the Jan.6 rioters.There are very few times when a convicted person should be paid unless by example they were later found to be innocent.The rioters were pardoned or had their sentences commuted by President Trump despite what happened on the day and the number of lives lost. They are not innocent victims. They should not be paid.There were victims, the police killed or injured, the democratic election process, and the credibility of America. America is heading the wrong way.Dennis FitzgeraldMelbourne, Australia]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/very-unfortunate]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2026 08:26:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Streaming now!]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/streaming-now]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[Opinion ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/25/streaming-now]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2026 08:24:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Labour has a good story to tell on immigration]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/23/labour-has-a-good-story-to-tell-on-immigration]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Since its founding nearly 40 years ago, The Independent has argued for Britain to continue to be an open, tolerant nation, welcoming immigrants who contribute to our dynamic economy and our wider cultural life.We celebrated the appointment of Britain’s first Hindu prime minister almost four years ago, and were proud of the absence of fuss about it, according to The Independent.This does not mean, of course, that we favour an open-door policy, or that the number of immigrants is irrelevant. There is an optimum level of net immigration, one that balances the economic advantages and popular consent, although it is difficult to put a precise number on it.It is easier to know how much is too much. Nearly 1 million more people arrived in Britain than left in the year to March 2023. That level of immigration was unsustainable and was the result of the extraordinary incompetence with which Boris Johnson’s government managed the change to a new immigration regime outside the European Union.Most of the reduction since then has been the result of panic measures taken by the Conservative government once the scale of the betrayal of its Brexit promises had become clear. The number of work visas, especially for low-paid social care, was sharply reduced, and the number of dependents that workers and students could bring in was restricted.So it is not entirely justified for Sir Keir Starmer and Shabana Mahmood to claim credit for the reduction in immigration recorded in the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. But the downward trend has continued under the Labour government, and the home secretary has maintained an impressively firm grip on the issue since her appointment in September. If there is one thing we have learned from Johnson’s premiership, it is that immigration control is not as easy as populists claim it to be.In passing, it is worth noting that the ONS refutes the populist claim that the net immigration numbers are coming down only because British citizens are emigrating. The number of British nationals leaving the country to settle elsewhere actually fell last year.So, the reduction is real and is likely to have continued this year. Indeed, one danger now is that the restrictions on immigration overshoot. Some experts predict that current trends will lead to zero net immigration. That would be too low because it would constrain the dynamism of the economy. However, other experts suggest that, because gross immigration numbers are still high, having been partly offset by the emigration of EU nationals, net immigration may go back up again.Ms Mahmood has shown by her record that she would not hesitate to take further action if that does happen. And there have been welcome signs that her realistic policies will be continued despite the turmoil in the Labour Party.Andy Burnham has hinted that she would stay as home secretary if he were to become prime minister — and a YouGov survey of Labour Party members suggested broad support for “Labour’s current approach to immigration”.It is encouraging that, despite unhappiness among liberals about Ms Mahmood’s plans to make recent immigrants wait longer for settled status, the Labour government is likely to maintain progress towards a sustainable and fair immigration regime.The 2024 Labour manifesto committed the party to bringing net migration down — and that is a manifesto promise that this country voted for in a landslide. By that logic, this government has a good story to tell. The question, however, is whether anybody is listening. New research conducted for think tank British Future shows that Britons think net migration to the UK is on the rise, despite it plummeting to its lowest level since the Covid pandemic.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/23/labour-has-a-good-story-to-tell-on-immigration]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Sat, 23 May 2026 20:04:00 +0400</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[The American divide exposes the high GDP fallacy]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/23/the-american-divide-exposes-the-high-gdp-fallacy]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[The American economy is a wonder. The Economist observed that average wages in America’s poorest state, Mississippi, are higher than those in Britain, Canada and Germany. American GDP per capita now runs roughly 40% above western Europe. Post-pandemic productivity growth has been significantly faster than that of the eurozone. The consensus is settled: the American economy is the model. It’s certainly a model. American productivity really is higher than European productivity. But that doesn’t tell us who benefits. America isn’t one country; it’s two. In one, things have never been better, while the other is suffering.There’s no better measure of societal health than life expectancy. And American life expectancy is 3.7 years below other wealthy countries. In fact, the United States ranks 49th in the world and is projected to fall further. Infant mortality is 5.6 per thousand against an OECD average of 4.2. The incarcerated population is about 1.8 million, the largest in the world by absolute count and fifth highest per capita (and even higher than China). And as for Mississippi, those are mean wages, not median. Mississippi’s median household income is far lower than its average, and the median is where the second country lives. Mississippi’s life expectancy is 72.6 years, lower than Mexico and Bangladesh.The American economy generates unimaginable wealth. The question is where it flows. U.S. institutions used to ensure it diffused broadly: Courts, regulators, labor protections, capital markets, and the tax system all combined to ensure that both Americas benefited. But today, the richest one percent of American men live almost 15 years longer than the poorest. For women, the gap is 10 years. Even the wealthiest Americans have shorter lives than the wealthiest western Europeans. In some comparisons, they live no longer than the poorest people living in northern and western Europe.This might sound great if you’re in the first America. Wealthy countries, though, aren’t guaranteed to stay that way. In 1913, Argentina was among the 10 richest countries in the world. It had strong universities, deep capital markets, and seven decades of civilian constitutional government. Underneath the surface, an agro-exporter oligarchy captured extraordinary wealth while suppressing labor protections, smallholder development, and the broad industrialisation that could have built a middle class. For 50 years the arrangement worked beautifully for the people running the system. But they kept pushing, even organising a coup to overthrow civilian rule when it threatened their stranglehold on the economy. The result was Peronism and economic disaster. And Argentina today has a per-capita GDP roughly a third of the United States.The Nobel Prize winners Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson built much of their work on cases like Argentina. They distinguish between inclusive institutions, which create wealth for everyone, and extractive ones, which transfer it to the powerful and well-connected. Extractive institutions haven’t failed. They’ve been perverted. The machinery that should translate wealth into broad prosperity instead concentrates it into a few hands.That’s the story of the two Americas today. It’s always been good to be wealthy — and it should be. That’s the point of having wealth. But the balance has swung more and more to the point that now the issue isn’t what’s illegal but rather what’s legal. The most direct way for the wealthy to capture the government is to influence politicians financially. Fortunately for them, the Supreme Court has given its OK. In the 2016 case McDonnell v. United States, it effectively legalized the Governor of Virginia’s acceptance of a Rolex, designer clothes for his wife, the use of a Ferrari, and approximately $175,000 in loans and gifts from a businessman seeking state favors. In the 2024 case Snyder v. United States, the Court ruled 6-3 that federal anti-corruption law does not criminalise gratuities to state and local officials. Don’t forget to tip your waiter — and your senator.Even tax enforcement is being skewed, at enormous cost. Audits of high-income taxpayers are going to drop by two-thirds next year, at a cost of $860 billion, over a decade, because an hour auditing a taxpayer earning over $5 million yields about $4,900 in additional tax, versus $650 for taxpayers earning around $200,000. That $860 billion has to be paid by middle-class taxpayers who don’t have lawyers and accountants to help them get around the law.The diagnosis is the easy part but fixing the problem will take major reform. Congress could start by restoring the bribery statute. Bills to do exactly that exist. They’ve just been tabled by a compliant Congress. And the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, which used to prosecute corruption, can be rebuilt. It’s been slashed from around 40 prosecutors handling 200 open cases to two prosecutors handling roughly 20 cases today. Public integrity is the foundation of good government, and the Justice Department should treat it that way. That’s just the beginning, of course.But it’s not just up to the politicians. The business community must act too. Inclusive institutions survive when elites are wise enough to defend them instead of capturing them. Too many of America’s business leaders have spent the last decade using their resources and their influence to distort the system in their favor. Instead, they need to spend to preserve it — and hold each other accountable when they do the opposite.This is critical because America’s business elite aren’t innocent bystanders to extraction; they’re its primary beneficiaries — and the people with the most to lose if the system breaks. Argentina’s oligarchs were doing extraordinarily well until they pushed too far. We should pay more attention to their example. Extraction doesn’t work in the long run, even for the extractors.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[gulftoday]]></dc:creator>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2026/05/23/the-american-divide-exposes-the-high-gdp-fallacy]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Sat, 23 May 2026 20:03:00 +0400</pubDate>
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