DUBAI: The city of superlatives is preparing to add another landmark to its skyline — one that will quite literally float.

The Dubai Arts Museum (DUMA), announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, is set to rise on an island in the heart of Dubai Creek.

Unlike conventional museums anchored on land, DUMA’s design incorporates the waters of the creek into its architectural identity. The museum, conceived by world-renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando, aims to merge minimalist modernism with Dubai’s vibrant cultural narrative.

Sheikh Mohammed described the project as “a mirror of Dubai’s artistic identity and cultural spirit,” emphasising its role in shaping the city’s creative ecosystem.

By floating on the creek, DUMA is not just a museum, but a symbolic statement of Dubai’s ambition to redefine how art interacts with urban space.

The project is being delivered in partnership with Emirati businessman Abdullah Al Futtaim and his son Omar Al Futtaim, highlighting a collaboration between the public and private sectors.

Sheikh Mohammed described their involvement as “a bright example of how private enterprise can contribute meaningfully to the city’s cultural and creative economy.”

Officials indicate that DUMA will host a mix of contemporary and classical art, while its architecture will allow the museum to function as a public space, promenade, and cultural hub, providing residents and visitors with a unique vantage point of Dubai Creek.

Construction is expected to begin later this year, with completion projected within three years.

• Early voting to continue until November 2.
• Mamdani has 47% New Yorkers’ support.
• Lawmaker top Democrat endorses Mamdani.
  

Early voting for New York’s next mayor begins Saturday with an outsider Democratic Party candidate the favorite to upend the city’s politics and face down President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly attacked him.

The twisting race has seen state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani, a self-described socialist, surge from the political wilderness to become the frontrunner in a campaign in which the current mayor bowed out and the onetime Democratic favorite lost his own primary.

The 34-year-old Mamdani’s once unlikely campaign has been turbo-charged by eager campaigning by young New Yorkers in particular.

An emphasise on the soaring cost of living has also resonated, with the Queens-based lawmaker promising to freeze rent for two million New Yorkers in rent-stabilised properties.

In the latest twist, scandal-tainted current mayor Eric Adams backed the second-place candidate, 67-year-old former state governor Andrew Cuomo — after previously calling him a “snake and a liar.”

Early voting allows New Yorkers to cast a ballot from Saturday until November 2, with Election Day on November 4 and the winner taking office in the New Year.

Mamdani had 47% support and led Cuomo by 18 points in the latest citywide poll, conducted by Victory Insights between October 22 and 23. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, 71, was at 16%.

Adams, who has been mired in corruption allegations linked to his term in office, dropped out of the race on September 28 but did not initially endorse a rival.

“You can’t freeze rent, but you are lying and telling people you could — we’re fighting against a snake oil salesman,” Adams said Thursday with Cuomo at his side.

“Gentrifiers have raised the rent in the city… and (Mamdani’s) the king of the gentrifiers.”

It is unclear what impact Adams’s endorsement will have on the race.

“It is possible, but extremely unlikely, Cuomo can catch Mamdani,” said Lincoln Mitchell, a political science professor at Columbia University, saying the former governor’s “tough guy persona” dates from another era.

‘Affordability crisis’

The race has been dominated by the issue of cost of living, as well as by how each candidate would handle Trump, who has threatened to withhold federal funds from the city where he made his name as a property developer and reality TV star.

Trump has branded Mamdani, who wants to make bus travel and childcare in the city of 8.5 million people free, a “communist.”

“I was always very generous with New York, even when you had opposition there,” Trump said this month.

“I wouldn’t be generous to a communist guy that’s going to take the money and throw it out the window.”

Mamdani has said he would cooperate with Trump if it brought down the cost of living in the city, while Sliwa has said he would seek to “negotiate” with the president and Cuomo has said he would “confront” the commander-in-chief.

“I’ve lived in New York for 10 years almost. I’ve always been… not necessarily always struggling, but trying to hustle and get things together,” Mamdani supporter and tenant organiser Lex Rountree, 27, told AFP.

“It feels strange to kind of think about what it would look like to have some of that ease” under Mamdani, Rountree added.

Mamdani’s campaign received a lift on Friday when Hakeem Jeffries, a New York lawmaker and the top Democrat in the US House of Representatives, endorsed him.

“Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy,” the leading Democrat said.

Mamdani will bring star firepower to the table Sunday when he appears alongside leftist Senator Bernie Sanders and lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio Cortez at a “get out the vote” rally in Forest Hills Stadium in Queens.

The International Press Institute (IPI) has urged states and world leaders to demonstrate political will to address the global crisis of impunity for crimes against journalists, warning that the lack of accountability has emboldened attacks on the press worldwide.

According to a press release, the IPI members unanimously adopted the resolution on October 15, 2025, during its 74th annual General Assembly, later presenting it at the IPI World Congress held on October 25 in Vienna, Austria.

“Around the world, journalists are threatened, attacked, and killed — and in nearly all cases, these crimes go unpunished. This impunity prevails despite international commitments by states to ensure accountability for attacks on the press,” the press release stated.

The resolution noted that the situation is most evident in Gaza, where at least 235 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of the war two years ago — without a single credible or independent investigation.

It added that beyond Gaza, journalists in Haiti, Sudan, Somalia, and Mexico face killings, intimidation, and kidnappings with near-total impunity, representing a “global breakdown” of laws and norms protecting press freedom.

“These cases highlight the global nature of the crisis of impunity and accountability in which blatant violations of laws and norms by the powerful have become routine, and perpetrators face little or no risk of justice,” it added.

The IPI stressed that the entrenched impunity for crimes against journalists is eroding the rule of law, empowering authoritarianism, and weakening democratic freedoms, calling on states to uphold their legal obligation to investigate and prosecute such violations.

‘Human-made journalism must be prioritised’

The institute also adopted another resolution, reaffirming the value of human-made journalism as a cornerstone of democratic societies and a guarantor of truth in the public interest in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).

It urged policymakers, technology companies, and global stakeholders to safeguard the future of human-made journalism amid the rapid rise of AI, emphasising that responsible innovation must not replace the essential human role in news production.

The IPI warned that AI-driven algorithms, controlled by a few technology companies, increasingly dictate what people read and share, prioritising divisive content over material of genuine public value.

It also voiced concern over the misuse of AI to spread disinformation, create deepfakes, and harass journalists — trends that, it said, “undermine public trust and corrode democratic debate.”

Reaffirming its commitment to human-centred reporting, the IPI said such journalism remains indispensable in an era where “fact and fabrication are increasingly difficult to distinguish.”

‘Independent media cornerstone of free societies’

The global network of media professionals also called on states and world leaders to reaffirm their commitment to independent media as a cornerstone of free societies and a safeguard against authoritarianism.

In a resolution adopted by its General Assembly, the IPI underscored that the media — alongside the judiciary, academia, and civil society — plays a vital role in holding power to account and protecting public rights and freedoms.

The institute warned that journalists and media outlets worldwide face escalating threats, including legal harassment, censorship, surveillance, and smear campaigns aimed at discrediting professional journalism.

The IPI urged political leaders to defend independent journalism and uphold the right of journalists to report freely on matters of public interest, describing it as “a bedrock of free society and a free world.”