Thousands defy UAE’s searing heat and humidity to be the first into Expo 2020 Dubai

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Updated 02 October 2021
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Thousands defy UAE’s searing heat and humidity to be the first into Expo 2020 Dubai

  • Among the day’s visitors was Dubai Ruler and Prime Minister and Vice President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum who went on a tour of the UAE Pavilion followed by several others

DUBAI: Tens of thousands of ticket holders attended the first day of the Expo 2020 Dubai on Friday despite smoldering temperatures and high humidity levels organizers said.

Among the day’s visitors was Dubai Ruler and Prime Minister and Vice President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum who went on a tour of the UAE Pavilion followed by several others.

An impressive 53,000 ticket holders passed through the gates from 10am onwards on Friday despite temperatures that reached highs of 39C and 50 percent humidity levels.

“Given the high temperatures and humidity, we were pleased with the turn-out,” said an Expo 2020 Dubai spokesman.

The day ended with a series of firework displays to mark the start of the six-month-long expo that was postponed from 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic hit – taking the world by surprise.

This week the Expo will see various events taking place including a conference on biodiversity and a series of special expo national days – the first taking place on Saturday for the French Pavilion.


Israeli military says it struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon

Updated 09 December 2025
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Israeli military says it struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon

  • Lebanon’s state news agency, NNA, reported that Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes targeting several places in the south

BEIRUT: The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it struck infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah in several areas in southern Lebanon, including what it described as a training compound used by the armed group’s Radwan forces.
Military structures and a launch site belonging to Hezbollah were also hit in the attacks, the military added in a statement.
The strikes come less than a week after Israel and Lebanon both sent civilian envoys to a military committee monitoring their ceasefire, a step toward a months-old US demand that the two countries broaden talks in line with President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace agenda.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024 that ended more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Since then, they have traded accusations over violations.
Lebanon’s state news agency, NNA, reported that Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes targeting several places in the south.