Photos: Dubai Ruler & King, Sheikh Mohammed & President Buhari tour Nigeria Pavilion at #Expo2020Dubai

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, yesterday visited the Nigeria Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, where he met President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria.

Sheikh Mohammed and President Buhari discussed efforts to forge closer ties and "build bridges of effective co-operation", Dubai Media Office reported. During his meeting with the Nigerian president, Sheikh Mohammed discussed ways of boosting cooperation with Nigeria for the benefit of the people of both countries. 

Highlighting the distinguished relations between the UAE and Nigeria, the Nigerian president expressed his pleasure at visiting the UAE. Buhari stressed his country’s keenness to advance cooperation between the two countries in various fields, including trade and investment. During his visit to the Nigeria Pavilion, Sheikh Mohammed was briefed on the creative industries and the diverse cultural history of Nigeria’s various states as well as the country’s future projects.

Nigeria's #AriseFashionWeek held in Dubai was LITTY & it featured Naomi Campbell, Akon, Dbanj et al! #Expo2020Dubai

British supermodel Naomi Campbell was in Downtown Dubai last night as part of a one-off show that marked Nigeria’s country day at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Arise Fashion Week took place at Armani Hotel Dubai, set against the backdrop of Burj Khalifa, celebrating the best of Nigerian fashion and music. Some of Nigeria’s most celebrated designers, including Hudayya, Banke Kuku and Odio Mimonet, presented colourful collections, while Akon and rapper D’Banj performed. Campbell modelled a green patterned tunic, a floral embellished suit and a royal blue jumpsuit, as she walked the runway for several of the designers taking part. She was also joined on the runway by designer Huduyya after debuting her collection. The event also featured the launch of ArisePlay, a new streaming service from the Arise Media Group, which will showcase exclusive movies from producers and filmmakers from around the world. Nigeria enjoyed its country day at Expo 2020 Dubai on December 3, with a number of special events, including Arise Fashion Week. At the main Expo 2020 site, there were dual celebrations in the main Al Wasl Plaza, as well the Nigeria Pavilion.

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SAD NEWS! Elon Musk's wealth drops $15bn

Poor Musk!

The richest US tech moguls lost tens of billions in collective wealth as technology stocks tumbled amid fears of inflation and economic tightening. 

Elon Musk’s net worth fell by $15.2 billion on Friday — the most among tech billionaires — after Tesla shares extended losses. That leaves Mr Musk’s fortune at $268.9bn, which is still up 72 per cent for the year, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed. 

Jeff Bezos’s net worth dropped by $2.7bn as shares of Amazon declined 1.4 per cent in New York, while Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison saw his fortune fall $2.6bn. Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth dropped $1.3bn to $114.7bn with his recently rechristened Meta Platforms on the cusp of a bear market after an almost 20 per cent fall from its recent peak. Markets are still reacting to higher inflation and the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will push forward with faster tapering of asset purchases. 

The top 10 US technology billionaires combined hemorrhaged $27.4bn in wealth, the index showed.

Emirates resumes flights between Dubai & Nigeria

Emirates is resuming flights between Dubai and Nigeria.

The Dubai airline will begin flying to the cities of Lagos and Abuja from Saturday. From Dubai International Airport, Emirates will operate to Lagos at 10.30am every day, arriving in Nigeria's largest city at 3.40pm. The return flight is scheduled to depart Lagos just after 6pm, landing in the UAE at about 4am. To Abuja, daily flights will depart Dubai at 11am, landing in Nigeria's capital at 3.40pm. And Dubai-bound flights will leave Nigeria at 7pm with passengers landing in the UAE at 4.35am the next day. Economy class return fares on Emirates cost from Dh2,500 to Abuja and from Dh2,145 to Lagos.

Jack Dorsey to reportedly step down as Twitter CEO

Jack Dorsey, the CEO and one of the founders of Twitter, is expected to step down from his role ... causing the company's stock to make a massive jump.

A report from CNBC says Dorsey -- who is both the CEO of Twitter and Square -- is expected to step down from his executive role with Twitter as early as Monday. After the news, the stock jumped 11%. 

It was just last year when Elliott Management -- the Twitter stakeholder -- had wanted Dorsey to step down, under the belief it was hard for him to effectively run both Twitter and Square at the same time. Both had come to an agreement back then to keep Jack on, but clearly, they've now decided differently.

UAE new law from January 2, 2022: Reform eases restrictions on extra-marital relationships

The UAE has ratified a new and updated Federal Crime and Punishment Law, a move intended to further develop and refine the legislative system of the UAE, the Government Media Office said Saturday.

The new legislation offers enhanced protections for women and domestic servants, strengthens public safety and security provisions and eases restrictions on extra-marital relationships and it will be fully enacted starting from January 2, 2022. 

The new law includes the amendment and revision of a number of areas of legislation, including new criminal penalties for public disorder offences and the de-criminalization of a number of behaviours.

• The new law also prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages in a public place or in unlicensed locations.
• The law also prohibits the sale, provision or incitement or inducement to consume alcoholic beverages to any person below 21 years of age.
• The new law stipulates life imprisonment for the crime of rape or non-consensual intercourse and if the victim is under the age of 18, disabled or otherwise rendered in a condition unable to offer resistance can be extended to capital punishment.
• The new law also addresses the crime of indecent assault with imprisonment or a fine of no less than Dh 10,000 regardless of the victim’s gender. If the use of force or threat is employed in the course of the crime, the penalty shall be imprisonment for a period of no less than five years and not exceeding 20 twenty years.
• The penalty will rise to a prison term of no less than ten years and not exceeding 25 years if the victim is aged under 18, disabled or otherwise rendered in a condition unable to offer resistance. Also, the more severe penalty applies if the crime takes place in a place of work, study, shelter or care.
• The law also punishes with imprisonment for a period of no less than six months, consensual extra-marital intercourse with a person aged over 18 years, noting that a criminal case for this crime is only instituted on the basis of a complaint from the husband or guardian. In all cases, the husband or guardian has the right to waive the complaint, and the waiver entails the expiration of the criminal case or the suspension of the execution of the penalty, as the case may be.
• The new law effectively decriminalizes consensual relationships out of wedlock, providing that any child conceived as a result of the relationship is acknowledged and will be cared for.
• Any couple conceiving a child out of wedlock will be required to marry or singly or jointly acknowledge the child and provide identification papers and travel documents in accordance with the laws of the country of which either is a national, considering the applicable laws of that nation. Failing this, a criminal case would introduce a prison term of two years for both correspondents.
• One of the most important provisions newly introduced by the Crime and Punishment Law is that the law is applied to anyone who commits, or participates in, a premeditated murder that occurs against a citizen of the UAE even if the crime takes place outside the country.

Culled From Khaleej Times.

Malcolm X’s daughter Malikah Shabazz found unconscious & dies aged 56

Malikah Shabazz, a daughter of the civil rights leader Malcolm X, has died.

She was 56. 

Shabazz was found unconscious by her daughter inside their home in Brooklyn on Monday afternoon, New York police said. Muhammad Aziz talks outside the courthouse with members of his family after his conviction in the killing of Malcolm X was vacated on Thursday. 

“At this point in time, working with other authorities, the medical examiner, and speaking to the family, she had been ill for a period of time, and at this point, nothing appears suspicious,” the NYPD commissioner, Dermot Shea, told a local news outlet. Malikah Shabazz and her twin sister, Malaak, were the youngest of Malcolm X’s six daughters with his wife, Dr Betty Shabazz. 

Betty Shabazz was pregnant with the twins when Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights, a New York neighborhood, on 21 February 1965.

Malikah Shabazz is one of six daughters of slain civil rights activist Malcolm X!