From the Editors: Eid gift for UAE citizens

EID GIFT FOR UAE CITIZENS: His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on Sunday ordered housing loans worth Dh2.21 billion for citizens ahead of Eid Al Fitr. The housing loans will be distributed to citizens in Abu Dhabi, while retirees and families of deceased mortgagors will be exempt from loan repayments. A total of 1,656 citizens will benefit from the initiative. UAE citizens are always grateful to their leaders for the unabated support to ensure comfortable living for all. [COMMENT BY: Ashfaq Ahmed, Senior Assistant Editor]

MILITARISED? As registrations come to a close for candidates in Iran’s June 18 presidential elections, an alarming development has come to light: Too many potential candidates have a military background. Among Iranians and others in the region and beyond, this has raised concerns over a further militarisation of Iran’s foreign policy, which is already hard-line. There is nothing new about candidates with a military background. What is different this time is that most of these are serving members. And many are from the most hard-line section of the Iranian establishment: the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which analysts already see as a state within a state. Despite the fact that Iranian law forbids the military from interfering in politics, the Guards do it, directly or indirectly, as a matter of routine. For Iran’s neighbours, this development does not instill hope. [COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]

JOINT EFFORT TO HELP ANIMALS IN DISTRESS: Amid the fight against the pandemic, two stories on helping whales that have been stranded have grabbed the attention of the media. A young gray whale lost in the Mediterranean, thousands of miles away from its natural habitat in the Pacific ocean, is desperately seeking its way home. But biologists are worried it may not survive as it has stopped eating. And then, rescuers worked into the night on Sunday to free a small whale stranded in the River Thames in southwest London. Both rescue missions showed how combined human effort can help a species in distress. This is good news and encourages us to work together, even in times of difficulty. [COMMENT BY: Alex Abraham, Senior Associate Editor]

DÉJÀ VU FOR RED BULL AS HAMILTON REELS IN VERSTAPPEN AGAIN: Max Verstappen’s Red Bull race engineer realised immediately what was going on when Lewis Hamilton, running a close second to the Dutch driver, suddenly pitted for fresh tyres 23 laps from the end of Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. “It’s like Hungary all over again,” he said. In 2019, Verstappen led for 67 of 70 laps at the Hungaroring but not the ones that mattered most after Mercedes took a tyre gamble and brought Hamilton in for a winning early second pit stop. On Sunday, Verstappen seized the lead at the start but ultimately lost out when the champions pulled off the same gambit. Hamilton, now 14 points clear of his rival at the top after four close races, said he had been “really conflicted” about the strategy and could have ignored the call but put his trust in the team. [COMMENT BY: Matthew Smith, Sports Editor]

FANS MOURN THE DEATHS OF TNR, RAHUL VOHRA: The Telugu industry is mourning the loss of screen legend and TV anchor T Narasimha Reddy or TNR as he was popularly called by his colleagues and fans. Media reports state the actor succumbed to his death following complications after he tested positive for COVID-19. News of TNR’s death on Monday comes close on the heels of another actor who died due to virus. Rahul Vohra, a TV star and YouTuber, sent out appeals for help on Facebook but finally made peace with his fate in a final post before his death. As the second deadly wave continues to cripple India, the loss of two talented names is a blow for all. [COMMENT BY: Bindu Rai, Entertainment Editor]