From the Editors: Abu Dhabi Green List updates a welcome move

GREEN LIST UPDATES A WELCOME MOVE: Abu Dhabi’s constant updates of the Green List of the countries, whose passengers will be exempt from quarantine when they travel into the capital, are an exercise that hold the UAE in good stead. The current list, effective from today, includes 73 countries, down from 82 in the previous update on October 8. The close monitoring of the COVID-19 situation around the world in order to keep high-risk countries out of the list is aimed at checking the spread of the virus at a time when the number of cases is spiking globally. On our part too, we would do well to follow whatever precautionary measures the authorities stipulate for us to keep things under control. [COMMENT BY: Sharmila Dhal, UAE Editor]

END OF SOVIET UNION WAS SEMINAL EVENT IN WORLD HISTORY: The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, resigned 30 years ago, bringing an end to a seminal chapter in world history. With him, the superpower that was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) came to an end. The world moved from bipolar to unipolar, with America emerging as the undisputed hegemon. Many around the globe still yearn for a bipolar world in which there was a balance of power. It was a traumatic moment for communists and socialists around the globe. But the USSR was destined to fail. The anemic state-controlled Communist economy would never have withstood the assault of market forces. In the end, the Soviet Union became too big, and too centralised for its own good. [COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]

ENGLAND SKITTED OUT FOR 185 ON DAY 1 OF THIRD ASHES TEST AGAINST AUSTRALIA: England were hade to toil yet again as they were skittled for just 185 in their first innings of the third Ashes Test in Melbourne on Sunday, with Australian captain Pat Cummins and spin king Nathan Lyon doing the damage. Skipper Joe Root top-scored with 50 and Jonny Bairstow hit 35, but it was another poor display in the face of high-class bowling from the home team. Both Cummins and Lyon ended with 3-36. Australia reached stumps at 61-1, 124 runs behind, after David Warner fell late on, taken by Zak Crawley off James Anderson on 38, giving England a glimmer of hope. [COMMENT BY: Matthew Smith, Sports Editor]

ARAB CINEMA FINDS A GLOBAL AUDIENCE: It may have taken years to get here, but it is certainly a time to celebrate as streaming giant Netflix announces that it will produce its first Arabic original film with a little help from the Dubai-based production house Front Row Filmed Entertainment. ‘Perfect Strangers’, which stars award-winning actor-filmmaker Nadine Labaki and Egyptian icon Mona Zaki in the lead, drops on the streamer on January 20, with Netflix also inking a first-look deal with the film studio to work on other possible titles in the future. The movie will be streamed in 190 countries and hopefully pave the way for more such projects to be announced in the coming months. [COMMENT BY: Bindu Rai Entertainment Editor]