From the Editor's: COVID-19 - the worst is indeed behind us

THE WORST IS INDEED BEHIND US: “It’s business back to normal” in Dubai, as one official from Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) rightly said the other day. And in one of the most significant and reassuring gestures to corroborate the views on a return to normality post-COVID, the social distancing stickers that were put up all across Dubai Metro trains and stations have been taken off. This is a massive way forward for Dubai and the UAE in helping reassure the public in general and mass transport users in particular about the fact that after more than a year, the worst is indeed behind us. With the inauguration of Expo 2020 Dubai just hours away, the sentiment that ‘it’s business back to normal’ in Dubai couldn’t have been any more of a confidence-booster, a reassurance steeped in the emirate’s and the country’s supremely successful handling of the pandemic. [COMMENT BY: Sanjib Kumar Das, Assistant Editor]

SUSPENSION OF BLAST PROBE INDICATIVE OF LEBANON PARALYSIS: Judge Tarek Bitar, who was investigating the colossal blast in Beirut’s port in 2020, has suspended his probe after an ex-minister demanded his dismissal. The Court of Appeals will decide on whether the dismissal should go ahead. This, alas, is how Lebanon ‘functions’. Nothing seems to work in the country. Over the years, there have been dozens of blasts and assassinations of political, security and media figures. Not one person has been convicted because the judiciary is dysfunctional, and dependent on the whims and demands of the political and security establishment. Many Lebanese believe that Judge Bitar was on to something, given the lawsuits and challenges against him. But, almost certainly, nothing is going to come of this investigation - just as nothing came of all the dozens of other important ‘investigations’ in the past few decades. [COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]

TEAM EUROPE MUST BOUNCE BACK FROM HAMMERING FOR 2023 RYDER CUP IN ROME : The Ryder Cup will be staged next in Rome in 2023, but the big question on everyone’s lips is how will team Europe bounce back after the hammering that they have just taken from the US in the just-completed 2021 tournament? Most are predicting the Americans, who sealed a record 19-9 win with a youthful team, will dominate for years to come. Jon Rahm is the only player who can hold his head high after this debacle but Europe will need more than just the Spaniard to rouse them. They will need to build a team around him, Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy but the pressure will be on and they know they will be up against it as they bid to defend a 30-year unbeaten home record in just two years’ time. [COMMENT BY: Imran Malik, Assistant Editor]

SINGER R KELLY’S GUILTY VERDICT IS A WIN FOR #METOO: It was in October 2017 when actress Alyssa Milano reignited the ‘Me Too’ phrase, first coined in 2006 by sexual assault survivor Tarana Burke. Milano’s tweet, calling out to people who had been sexually assaulted of harassed to change their status to #MeToo, quickly turned into a movement, one that shook the very foundations of the powerbrokers who had been using their might to suppress the weak. Tumbling down like house of cards was the empire ruled by disgraced media mogul Harvey Weinstein, while powerful names such as Kevin Spacey and Woody Allen were also called out in the aftermath. Today, nearly four years later, the landmark decision by a jury that found R Kelly guilty on all nine federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges is not just a victory for the women and minors he physically and emotionally abused over the course of 30 years, but it also serves as a battle cry for women all over who have suffered in silence. While the disgraced R’n’B singer faces 10 years, the mandatory minimum, to life in prison for the charges, his time to exploit others is finally up.[COMMENT BY: Bindu Rai, Entertainment Editor]