From Sharjah Safari reopening to India’s cheetah conservation plan, our editors comment on the top stories of September 18

SHARJAH SAFARI BECKONS: The reopening of Sharjah Safari, the largest safari of its kind outside Africa, on September 21 is welcome news. As residents and tourists look forward to soak in its offerings, they can expect much more than ever before as the Safari has expanded to include 12 diverse environments to help discover the vast African terrain, its animals and birds. Particularly promising is the new addition, Niger Valley. Apparently, the Safari, which is home to 50,000 animals, has also planted 100,000 African Acacia trees, all of which add that many more reasons to make it a must-see destination. [Comment by Sharmila Dhal, UAE Editor]

WORLD'S SECOND RICHEST: India’s Gautam Adani has now become the world’s second richest person, adding more than $70 billion to his wealth so far this year – more than anyone else – while others have seen losses. While one cannot take anything away from Adani’s business acumen, it’s important to note that the top losers on the billionaires’ index are mostly victims of stock market crashes rather than poor decision making. The tech-heavy Nasdaq has lost close to 37 per cent so far this year, the NYSE Composite is down over 15 per cent, while the Dow is down close to 16 per cent. India’s Sensex and Nifty, on the other hand, are down by only about half a per cent each so far this year. The fact that tech stocks such as Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft contribute bulk of the weight to US indices hasn’t helped matters either. Adani’s diversification across sectors like shipping, ports, power and green energy has helped the group weather the economic downturn better than others. [Comment by Anupam Varma, Assistant Editor]

INDIA HAS EXPERTISE FOR CHEETAH CONSERVATION PLAN: India's programme to relocate cheetahs to the country is an ambitious one that has the entire nation watching closely. On Saturday, eight of these wild cats were flown in from Namibia to India as part of an effort to reintroduce them after they went extinct more than 70 years ago. India's conservation effort with tigers has proved that it has the resources and the expertise to make this successful. Yet, much depends on how the cheetahs acclimatise to the new surroundings and the territory they get without being threatened. It may take many years before we see results, but a start has been made. All efforts must be made to ensure the survival of the cheetah in India. [Comment by Alex Abraham, Senior Associate Editor]

TOTTENHAM THRASH LEICESTER, LOOK READY FOR TITLE CHALLENGE: Tottenham showed just why they are being talked about as possible title contenders this season as they ruthlessly tore poor Leicester City apart 6-2 in the Premier League. Son Heung-min finally ended his goal drought with a brilliant 13-minute hat-trick. The striker was relegated to the bench by coach Antonio Conte but when the South Korean entered the fray he was adamant to prove a point. He curled in two superb strikes before completing his hat-trick with a close range finish late on. Spurs had actually trailed the Foxes after Youri Tielemans’ early penalty but took advantage of their poor defending to eventually cruise to victory. They now sit level on points at the top of the table with Manchester City and with the way they are playing, they could be right up there come the end of the season. [Comment by Imran Malik, Assistant Sports Editor]

WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE LINE WITH PAPARAZZI? Hollywood actress Blake Lively is pregnant for the fourth time and is thrilled about the new addition to her family with actor Ryan Reynolds. But the paparazzi waiting outside her door hoping to capture a glimpse of her growing bump isn’t impressing her . They are barking up the wrong door, believes the actress. She posted a series of images of herself to get them off her back and her compound. “Here are photos of me pregnant in real life so the 11 guys waiting outside my home for a sighting will leave me alone. You freak me and my kids out,” she wrote as she posted a series of new images documenting the new phase in her life. It’s unfortunate that stars have to resort to such extreme measures to protect their privacy. Agreed they are public figures, but is it fair de-humanise them? Perhaps, the rampant paparazzi culture that feeds on voyeuristic images should just take a step back and leave the stars and their kids alone. [Comment by Manjusha Radhakrishnan, Assistant Editor Features]