![]() Pope Francis meanwhile canceled his trip to Dubai for the U.N. The White House has said it is sending a climate team, including Special Envoy John Kerry, climate adviser Ali Zaidi and clean energy adviser John Podesta. And I suspect that he’ll continue to work the phones in coming days.” “He was working the phones over the course of Thanksgiving weekend. _įollow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at president has been very much focused on the conflict between Israel and Hamas over the last month or so,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, on Monday. While the Emirati Foreign Ministry described the parliament’s statement as “factually incorrect,” even Expo press staff repeatedly tried to force visiting journalists to sign forms that imply they could face criminal prosecution for not following their instructions on site. “There is systematic persecution of human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and teachers speaking up on political and human rights issues in the UAE,” the European Parliament said. Meanwhile, the European Parliament this month urged nations not to take part in the Expo, citing human rights abuses, the jailing of activists and the autocratic government’s use of spyware to target critics. That’s even as the UAE has one of the world’s top per-capita vaccination rates. In an abrupt change, Expo officials also in recent days announced visitors will be required to prove they were vaccinated or take a coronavirus test before entry. It also remains unclear how many laborers fell ill from the coronavirus. In October 2019, an Expo official acknowledged two workers had been killed on the site, and there had been 43 other “serious incidents” resulting in injuries. After delaying the Expo, the UAE last year went ahead with the recognition anyway.īut the event has also become entangled in politics.Īctivists raised concerns over workers’ rights issues, as low-wage laborers from South Asia have long faced abuse in the Emirates and across the rest of the oil-rich Arab states, working long hours in intense heat and humidity. The Emirates also planned splashy announcements around the Expo, perhaps none bigger than its diplomatic recognition of Israel. “Getting to 25 million visitors under the current circumstances seems like a pretty difficult target to meet.” Mogielnicki, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. “It’s become ‘How do we do the biggest, the best Expo to the world’s ever seen in the Middle East’ to ‘How do we put on an Expo for a very different world?’” said Robert C. In recent weeks, Expo officials have begun referring to an expected “25 million visits” to the site, including those watching events online. But betting on China seems out at the moment as those returning to the country face weeks of quarantines and testing that can include anal swabs. Shanghai’s 2010 Expo saw over 73 million visitors, a record. ![]() The UAE, which has grown closer to China in recent years, likely counted on Chinese visitors to the Expo. While the airline is restarting more flights and hiring thousands of cabin crew members, worldwide travel is still ailing. EY told the AP it hadn’t updated any of its 2019 figures for the Expo.īut that was before the coronavirus pandemic forced Dubai’s long-haul carrier Emirates to ground its fleet of jumbo jets as lockdowns and quarantines seized the world. Relying on a projection of 25 million visitors, EY estimated a $6 billion boost during the event. It had banked on the Expo providing a needed boost to its economy after its real estate market crashed during the Great Recession.Īuditors EY estimated in 2019 that Dubai would spend $7 billion alone on construction projects for the Expo. Milan’s 2015 Expo saw rioting over corruption allegations.ĭubai, which won the rights to host the Expo in the years after FIFA awarded Qatar the 2022 World Cup, will be the Arab world’s first. Expo 2000 in Germany drew 18 million visitors, well short of the 40 million expected. The 1984 world’s fair in New Orleans went bankrupt and required a government bailout. ![]() In recent decades, however, many expos have not received the same attention - or at least not the positive kind.
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