From the Editors: Do not lower the guard against COVID-19

DO NOT LOWER THE GUARD AGAINST COVID-19: The National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) has warned people not to lower the guard against COVID-19 during the UAE National Day holidays. The NCEMA announced on Tuesday that only vaccinated people will be allowed to attend the UAE’s 50th National Day celebrations held across the country, at a capacity of 80 per cent. The proactive strategy has been adopted as part of the safety measures against the pandemic. Residents and visitors must respect the preventive instructions to ensure safe celebrations by wearing facemasks and keep social distancing. Those who are not vaccinated must avoid going to the National Day celebration gatherings. [COMMENT BY: Ashfaq Ahmed, Senior Assistant Editor]

SOMETHING’S GOT TO GIVE IN LEBANON: Outside the Gulf, Lebanon used to be the most prosperous Arab country. Despite the continuous state of political instability and years of armed conflict, the standard of living of most Lebanese was generally decent. But all that looks like something from another lifetime now. Things have reached a stage where more than half of the families in Lebanon have at least one child who is going without enough food. The UN has spoken about the "dramatic deterioration of living conditions". Eight in 10 people are classified as poor. The state of affairs in Lebanon has reached a point where the situation has become untenable. Something dramatic could happen if the country's hoplessly corrupt political class doesn't get its act together. [COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: TUCHEL’S MAGIC TOUCH WORKING FOR CHELSEA AGAIN: Thomas Tuchel, who guided Chelsea to their Uefa Champions League success, hailed his ‘’amazing’’ team as they booked their place in the last 16 with an imperious 4-0 rout of Juventus on Tuesday. Chelsea are above Juventus on head-to-head goal difference and will guarantee a first-place finish if they win at Zenit Saint Petersburg in their last group fixture on December 8. Meanwhile, FC Barcelona’s luck continues to run out in a post-Messi era as they are facing elimination from race for Europe after being held to a goalless draw at home to Benfica in a rain-swept Camp Nou stadium. The result means that anything less than a win for Barca away to Bayern Munich in the last group game would see them eliminated from the competition if Benfica win at home to Dynamo Kiev. [COMMENT BY:Gautam Bhattacharyya, Senior Associate Editor]

IS IT TIME THE GRAMMYS TO REWORK THE PROCESS? Hours after the Grammy nominations were announced, the trickledown effect commenced with Machine Gun Kelly emerging as the first vocal critic of this year’s process. MGK, who has had a great year in music, didn’t earn a single nomination, while several others were questioning how Jon Bapiste landed in 11 categories when his music has hardly made waves on the music charts. For that matter, while Arooj Aftab’s two noms were a moment of pride for Pakistan, many on social media are asking how an artist, with her only claim to fame being a spot on Barack Obama’s summer playlist, land the best new artist nomination that puts her on par with Olivia Rodrigo who has emerged as the biggest name to come out of music this past year? Perhaps singer Zayn Malik was right when he questioned the Grammys and its nomination process last year, demanding the organisation do away with secret committees and create a more transparent process. After all, the industry deserves this respect. [COMMENT BY: Bindu Rai, Entertainment Editor]