2020-03-14 The Week Junior

14 March 2020•The Week Junior

This week’s big news

3 3

A

UK court has ruled that one of the most

powerful men in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

kidnapped two of his daughters. Sheikh Mohammed

bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who rules the kingdom of

Dubai, may have broken UK and international laws.

Asheikh isatraditional name foraleader among

Arabic people, who mostly live in the Middle East and

North Africa.

The case dates back to 2000, when the sheikh’s

19-year-old daughter Shamsa disappeared from the

streets of Cambridge, England. She had run away

from herfamily to live with friends.According to the

HighCourt (a senior UKcourt) ruling, it is thought her

father arranged for her to be kidnapped and taken

back to Dubai. Shamsa has not been seen in public

for many years. In 2018, Shamsa’ssister,Latifa, tried

to escape from Dubai, but theyacht shewassailing

on wasstopped and shewasforcedtor etur nhome.

In avideo recorded beforeher escape attempt, she

said that she and her sister weretreated badlybytheir

father.Friends of both women have said they don’t

have muchcontrol of their lives in theUAE.

The information about what happened to Shamsa

and Latifawas revealed on5March inacourtcase

about two of the sheikh’sother children. The judge, Sir

Andrew McFarlane had to decide whether theycould

remain in the UK or not. They moved to the UK last year

with their mother,PrincessHaya, who said that they

might be kidnapped if theyreturned home. The judge

ruled that theycould stay in the UK with their mother.

UK policemight nowreopen the investigation into

Shamsa’sdisappearance.

Sheikh Mohammed is influential and has close ties

with several world leaders, including the Queen. Some

people believe that the HighCourt’srulingcould affect

how theUAEand th eUKwork together in the future.

RECORD-BREAKING ROWER

64 years old, SaraBrewer has become the

dest woman ever torowacrossthe Atlantic

Ocean. Brewer and herrowing partner,Ann

Prestidge, set off from the Canary Islands in

December androwed 3,000 miles toreachthe

shoreofAntigua on7March. They took turns

rowing, switching positions every 90 minutes.

Dubai’s ruler accusedofkidnapping

ON THE

CO
VER:

PA
IMAGES· REX SHUTTERSTOCK

·GETTY IMAGES.

ON THIS

PAGE:BEN DUFFY PHO

TOGRAPHY

·REUTERS

·NASA

·REX SHUTTERSTOCK

·GETTY IMAGES

Harry and Meghan say

farewelltor oyal duties

P

rinceHarry and Meghan Markle, the Dukeand

Duchess of Sussex, have made their final public

appearances as working members of theroya lfamily.

Their last appearancewas on9March, ataservicein

WestminsterAbbey forCommonwealth Day.This is a

celebration of theCommonwealth of Nations,agroup

of 54countries, including the UK andcountries that

oncebelonged to the British Empire.

The couple revealed theywanted to step back as

senior members of theroya lfamilyearlier this year.

After talkswith otherroya ls, it wasagreed they would

stop representing the Queen at public events. From

31 March, they will no longer use their HRH titles

(His/Her Royal Highness) and stoprece iving public

money given to theroya ls by the Government.

One of Meghan’sfinal appearanceswasata

school in Dagenham,London, on6March, whereshe

talk ed about InternationalWomen’sDay.Inaspeech

on stage, she addressed the school’smale pupils,

saying,“Continue tovalue and appreciate the women

in your lives and also set theexample for some men

who arenot seeing it the sameway”.

ABRILLIANT

SURPRISE

An 11-year-old g

from Florida,in

US, has become

first person tore

abionic arm sim

to the arm worn

StarWarscharac

LukeSkywalker.

It isdesigned

in the style of

Skywalker’sdroid

R2-D2. Mark Hamill, who plays Skywalker

in the films, surprised Bella withavideocall

to congratulateher.The new arm worksby

picking up signalsfromBella’s muscles.

GROWING SALAD IN SPACE

Astronauts have successfully grown lettuce

on the International SpaceStation (ISS)

forthe first time. It meansfoodcould be

grown on long spacejourneys in the future.

Researchers at NASA, the US spaceagency,

said the spacelettucehad similarlevelsof

nutrients as that grown on Earth. Astronauts

ate the leaves in tacos and burgers.

SheikhMohammed

withthe Queen.

PrinceHarryand

MeghanMarkle.

AR

At

old

girl

the

the

eceive

milar

nby

cter

.

Brewer (left)

with Prestidge.

SteveSwanson

harvests the lettuce.