DUBAI: Expo 2020 Dubai has logged 2.35 million visits in the first month since it opened its doors with a star-studded ceremony streamed live around the globe.
Almost a third of the visits were made by young people under 18-years-old, but the figure was expected to rise as the Expo School Programme pick ups during the cooler months ahead, organizers said in a statement.
“An impressive 17 percent of the total visits came from overseas, which was notable considering the event takes place when many countries are still operating pandemic travel restrictions,” organizers said, noting the 185 nationalities that have come through the Expo gates.
The top five most popular overseas markets are India, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia and the UK, they added.
More than half of the Expo visitors hold season passes, meaning they intend to visit the site multiple times, while over a quarter of them bought multi-day passes for the event’s run until March 31, 2022.
A total of 5,610 official events were held across the Expo site during the first month including concerts by famous musicians including Amr Diab, Kadim Al Sahir and Sami Yusuf to appearances of major sporting stars such as the Harlem Globetrotters and the Rajasthan Royals cricket team.
Participating countries have flown in musicians and performers as well as held panel discussions featuring business leaders to astronauts.
For November, Nancy Ajram and Ragheb Alama will share top billing for the second of Expo’s Infinite Nights concert series to mark Diwali, as well as early celebrations for the UAE’s Golden Jubilee.
Expo 2020 Dubai reports 2.35 million visits in first month since opening
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Expo 2020 Dubai reports 2.35 million visits in first month since opening
- A total of 5,610 official events were held across the Expo site during the first month
Israel agrees to ‘limited reopening’ of Rafah crossing: PM’s office
- The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza
JERUSALEM: Israel said Monday it would allow a “limited reopening” of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt once it had recovered the remains of the last hostage in the Palestinian territory.
The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza.
Reopening Rafah forms part of a Gaza truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October, but the crossing has remained closed after Israeli forces took control of it during the war.
The Israeli military also said it was searching a cemetery in the Gaza Strip on Sunday for the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, a non-commissioned officer in the police’s elite Yassam unit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the reopening would depend on “the return of all living hostages and a 100 percent effort by Hamas to locate and return all deceased hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said on X.
It said Israel’s military was “currently conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate and return” Gvili’s body.
“Upon completion of this operation, and in accordance with what has been agreed upon with the US, Israel will open the Rafah Crossing,” it said.
