From the Editors: Follow all COVID-19 protocols at the New Year's Eve

LET’S BE GRATEFUL, RESPONSIBLE: Yesterday’s announcement of the extensive arrangements made by the authorities to help residents watch the fireworks in various locations across the UAE to ring in the New Year was reassuring as always. But what makes it more commendable this year is the extra mile that they are going to ensure all will be well amid the pandemic. It is now for the public to do their bit, follow all COVID-19 related precautionary measures, including wearing masks and maintaining adequate social distance, for their own safety. As we welcome 2021, may the sense of hope be coupled with gratitude and responsibility too. [COMMENT BY Sharmila Dhal, UAE Editor]

RESCUE IN THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK: At the end of a dreary year, what are you looking back on? Hope or hopelessness. The story of a group of travelers in Australia who walked more than 50km over 12 hours to seek help for a father and son who were marooned in floodwaters gives us renewed hope to take on the new year. Walking through remote country for half a day they managed to reach a police station and share the coordinates of the trapped family, helping organise a rescue team. Giving, sharing, helping and caring for others will be required of all of us in the coming months as we fight the pandemic together. [COMMENT BY: Alex Abraham, Senior Associate Editor]

WHAT’S IN AN ACCENT, YOU SAY? ASK HILARIA BALDWIN: The last few days have unraveled like a true crime podcast over the internet as social media sleuths worked overtime in debunking the theory that Hollywood star Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria (or Hilary, depends on who you’re asking) Baldwin is of Spanish descent. The case has been murky from the start with interview footage of Hilaria showing the yoga instructor seemingly contradict her own background, which placed her formative years in Spain and in Boston. Whether or not there is any truth to the story and her ever-changing accent (she addresses it in an Instagram video saying it simply changes depending on how much Spanish she has been speaking in the recent past), Baldwin’s ‘truth’ comes at a time when cultural appropriation is a reality many have to deal with. Journalist Aura Bogado doesn’t mince words in her tweet, writing: “Being an actual immigrant, having an actual accent, those are things that exist and are particular to certain people. Immigrants of color with accents find it even more challenging. It’s beyond offensive that @hilariabaldwin pretended to be someone she’s not.” Meanwhile, Baldwin has stated she is a ‘white girl from Boston’. [COMMENT BY: Bindu Rai, Entertainment Editor]