From the Editors: The National Aquarium – yet another feather in UAE’s cap

THE NATIONAL AQUARIUM - YET ANOTHER FEATHER IN UAE'S CAP: If you love nature and wildlife, you just cannot afford to miss visiting The National Aquarium in Abu Dhabi. The facility, which opened to visitors last week, is home to 46,000 creatures from 330 species, including some that are commonly not seen in this region, such as puffins, bull sharks and capybaras. Whether it is helping rehabilitate turtles, ensuring steps for houbara conservation, providing natural habitats for birds or offering large, open spaces for a wide variety of wild animals to roam around freely in sprawling zoos, the UAE has always accorded a very high priority to conserving and protecting wildlife. The National Aquarium is yet another affirmation of the country’s commitment to let nature and its creations flourish in myriads of ways. [COMMENT BY: Sanjib Kumar Das, Assistant Editor]

DOES ANYTHING EVER WORK IN LEBANON?: The Prime Minister can barely get his Cabinet to even meet. The president announces that he will not give the go-ahead for planned elections in March. Such is the state of Lebanon. Just as some were beginning to hope against hope that a proposed plan for elections in March would set into motion new efforts to get the country out of the abyss, Michel Aoun has thrown a spanner in the works. Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said it is a ‘miracle’ that the average Lebanese citizen has not lost patience yet. Someone needs to break it to him that not only have Lebanese lost patience with their ruling class, they’ve also lost all hope. [COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]

UNVACCINATED PLAYERS NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY IN AUSTRALIAN OPEN: Players who have not been vaccinated will not be allowed to play at the 2022 Australian Open which runs from 17-30 January in Melbourne. Tournament director Craig Tiley made the announcement after there had been some confusion if players who had not received a COVID-19 vaccine could play in recent months but now it is quite clear. Australia has had some of the strictest restrictions on travel and movement during the pandemic. As of October, 35 per cent of male tennis players on the ATP tour remained unvaccinated while world number one Novak Djokovic has said on several occasions that he does not want to publicly reveal his vaccination status. “Novak knows he will have to be vaccinated to play,” Tiley said. [COMMENT BY: Imran Malik, Assistant Editor]

CONCERT SEASON IN FULL SWING: Indian singer Arijit Singh's power-packed performance to a full house at Abu Dhabi's Etihad Arena on Friday night proved that the concert season in the UAE is back with a bang. There was not a single empty seat in that expansive venue or a frown creasing his fans' faces as they drank in the scene of Singh in stupendous form. It was Singh's first performance since the COVID-19 pandemic struck the globe, but his skills at winning over his audiences weren't rusty. Without the usual on-stage histrionics employed by the usual Bollywood singers, this seasoned talent kept his army of fans hooked till the very end with the power of his arresting voice. The resounding success of this concert in the capital was a welcome antidote to all those who wondered whether public concerts are now a thing of the past. Here's a big shout-out to Singh for bringing the shows back on the road. [COMMENT BY: Manjusha Radhakrishnan, Assistant Editor - Features]