Lebanon and Israel are closer than ever to signing a deal demarcating their maritime border, opening the door to new oil and gas exploration, after years of US-brokered negotiations.
Both sides have said they are happy with the content of the plan. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said his country had reached a “historic deal” with Beirut. Lebanese President Michel Aoun said it "satisfies Lebanon" but stopped short of confirming the agreement.
The deal is set to ease security and economic concerns in both countries, whose shared history is rife with hostility.
It will resolve a territorial dispute in the eastern tip of the Mediterranean, but does not touch on their land borders, which have yet to be settled.
Lebanon and Israel, formally at war since 1948, have no diplomatic ties and have done little to formally agree on the border between their two countries.
Both claim an approximately 860-square kilometre section of the Mediterranean Sea.
The impetus to agree on where the boundary between the countries stood became more important when Israel discovered and began to extract oil and gas in its waters.
Here's what you need to know.
What is the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel?
The border begins around a rocky cliff overlooking the Mediterranean where a UN peacekeeping force is headquartered.
Areas in Cyprus and Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zones, which border Lebanon’s waters, have proven to be rich in hydrocarbons.
This, along with some seismic assessments conducted by surveyors in Lebanese waters, has raised hopes that the country's seas will also yield significant quantities of oil and gas.
The maritime border agreement is aimed at demarcating each country's EEZ.
What about oil and gas exploration?
Israel has discovered huge deposits of natural gas in its EEZ that is used domestically and exported.
Lebanon has lagged behind. Although licences there were issued for two blocks, no production has happened and other blocks have yet to receive bids.
A sizeable discovery could help ease Lebanon's financial crisis, which has left the state unable to import fuel for its power plants.
But that is not necessarily the case, warn experts who also say that politicians should not pin solutions to today's crisis on a potential windfall from hydrocarbons down the road.
Exploration, they point out, is a long and prospective process. It is impossible to know when gas will be found and whether it will be abundant enough to warrant extraction.
"We cannot know how much a prospective field contains until we drill," Marc Ayoub, an energy researcher at Beirut's Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, told The National in August.
What are the two main energy fields in the disputed region?
There is one gasfield in a southern Lebanese exploration block, called Qana.
It is estimated to be small and has yet to be explored.
Israel said in recent weeks it wants to get a commercial share of royalties from the field as it extends into its waters.
Israeli officials have already met TotalEnergies to discuss a mechanism.
Lebanon's senior negotiator Elias Bou Saab said Lebanon had retained its rights with Qana and that Beirut would not pay "one cent" from its part of the field to Israel.
A second field, Karish, is already being developed under an Israeli licence farther south and is due to come online soon.
Israel said before it will keep the field, which is located below a maritime area known as Line 23, under its control.
Line 23 is the maritime line officially claimed by Lebanese negotiators.
However, complicating the matter is that in 2011 a group of Lebanese army specialists — backed by the UK Hydrographic Office — demarked an area to the south which they said should be Lebanon's boundary, named Line 29.
This would give Lebanon about 1,400 square kilometres more territory than Line 23.
Claiming Line 29 would put part of the Karish gasfield that Israel is planning to start exploiting inside Lebanese territory.
The momentum in negotiations comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions ― Iran-backed Hezbollah has threatened to attack Israel if it continues with its plan to extract gas from the field.
What is Lebanon's 'unified stance'?
Amos Hochstein, the Israeli-born US diplomat mediating between the two countries, has attributed the “positive” direction of the talks to the unified position adopted by Lebanon’s three leaders — President Michel Aoun, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri ― whom he met last week.
The three men are from different political factions and previously had different red lines on any agreement.
The US made it a precondition to resuming the stalled talks that Lebanon agrees on a unified position regarding the negotiations. This essentially means that if negotiators finalise a deal with Israel, it will not then be blocked by a different part of the Lebanese state with its own demands.
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White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
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Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
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Stamp duty timeline
December 2014: Former UK finance minister George Osbourne reforms stamp duty, replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 - 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; Over £1.5m – 12%
April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.
July 2020: Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.
March 2021: Mr Sunak decides the fate of SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget, with expectations he will extend the perk unti June.
April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
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RESULT
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Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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Jetour T1 specs
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5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m, Winner SS Lamea, Saif Al Balushi (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer).
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,400m, Winner AF Makerah, Sean Kirrane, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m, Winner Maaly Al Reef, Brett Doyle, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 1,600m, Winner AF Momtaz, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m, Winner Morjanah Al Reef, Brett Doyle, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,200m, Winner Mudarrab, Jim Crowley, Erwan Charpy
DUBAI WORLD CUP RACE CARD
6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.05pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
8.15pm Dubai Sprint Listed Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group Two $450,000 (D) 1,900m
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,800m
10pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
The National selections
6.30pm Well Of Wisdom
7.05pm Summrghand
7.40pm Laser Show
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8.50pm Benbatl
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10pm: Beyond Reason
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4.35pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $200,000 (D) 1,200m
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5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Conditions $200,000 (Turf) 1,200m
Winner: Jungle Cat, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 $200,000 (D) 1,600m
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6.20pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 $300,000 (T) 1,800m
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6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $400,000 (D) 2,000m
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7.30pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 $250,000 (T) 2,410m
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3.15pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m
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3.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m
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4.15pm: Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Cup Handicap (TB) Dh200,000 1,700m.
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54.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m
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In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
