Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on Monday that aid to Ukraine will continue, before a planned call with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“On the issue of Russia and Ukraine, there is one thing that we will certainly be doing, and that is less talking about it in public,” Mr Cohen said during his first speech as Foreign Minister under returning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Nonetheless, our significant humanitarian aid to Ukraine will continue.”
Israel-Russia ties expanded significantly under the last Netanyahu government, with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Israeli leader boasting of their close friendship.
Ties have remained cordial despite tension over Syria, where the Israeli air force has launched hundreds of air strikes against Iran-linked targets.
Russia — a close ally of Iran — sent S-300 air defence missiles to Syria in 2018 and deployed more advanced versions of the system to protect its forces in the country. But Russia has not intervened to stop Israel's attacks, which have caused significant damage to military infrastructure and killed Syrian soldiers.
The two countries have been in talks to sign a free trade agreement, with discussions initiated by Mr Netanyahu in 2019.
During his speech, Mr Cohen also spoke about expanding the Abraham Accords.
“The expansion of the Abraham Accords is not a question of if, but when,” he said referring to the bilateral agreements between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco between 2020 and 2021.
In a tweet, Mr Cohen also said he had spoken with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about the importance of the accords.
During the phone call, Mr Cohen also said Israel's relationship with the US remains its “top priority”.
“We will continue to strengthen the special relationship between the countries,” Mr Cohen said.
The next summit between Israel and its Arab allies will take place in Morocco in March, Mr Cohen said.
Last March, Israel hosted a similar meeting with signatories and supporters of the accords in the Negev. Participants included the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt and the US.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
