Secretary of State Antony Blinken is greeted by staff as he arrives at the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021.AP Photo
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is greeted by staff as he arrives at the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021.AP Photo
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is greeted by staff as he arrives at the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021.AP Photo
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is greeted by staff as he arrives at the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021.AP Photo

Joe Biden's expanding foreign policy team could revive Iran nuclear deal


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A top national security aide to former president Barack Obama will be tapped as US envoy for Iran, a senior State Department official said on Thursday.

If Iran comes back into full compliance with its obligations, the United States would do the same thing

The senior official and several others said Secretary of State Antony Blinken will name Rob Malley as the Biden administration's point person on Iran. The appointment will be formally announced Friday.

The official said Mr Malley would head a dedicated team of “clear-eyed experts with a diversity of views”. Mr Malley, the official said, has “a track record of success negotiating constraints on Iran’s nuclear programme” and that Mr Blinken is confident he “will be able to do that once again”.

Rumours of Mr Malley's potential new post unsettled the insular but highly polarised community of Iran experts in recent days.

Mr Malley runs the International Crisis Group. Those who advocate a tougher policy position on Iraq were reportedly shocked by the move, believing him to be a key architect of the 2015 nuclear deal from which former president Donald Trump withdrew.

They fear President Joe Biden wants to rejoin the Iran deal at any cost and may be willing to sacrifice the security of Israel and the Gulf Arab states to do so. The so-called foreign policy hawks regard Mr Malley as less than fully supportive of Israel.

Iran deal supporters praised Mr Malley for his expertise and sprung to his defence, praising him as a measured, long-time Middle East hand who has served several presidents and who has significant expertise in the region. Mr Malley was one of several senior national security council officials involved in the 2000 Camp David peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians and the 2014-2015 Iran deal negotiations.

Mr Blinken, to whom Mr Malley would directly report, has been coy about how he will pursue any engagement with Iran and has refused to discuss specific personnel he would want to lead such an effort. Others noted that several previously named Biden administration officials – Wendy Sherman, the nominee for deputy secretary of state, and Jake Sullivan, Mr Biden's national security adviser – played major roles in the Iran negotiations.

Like Mr Biden, Mr Blinken has said repeatedly that the US would resume its obligations under the Iran deal by easing sanctions if Iran returns to full compliance with the accord. Only at such a point would the administration return to the deal or embark on an effort to lengthen and strengthen it.

“If Iran comes back into full compliance with its obligations under the [deal], the United States would do the same thing and then we would use that as a platform to build, with our allies and partners, what we call a longer and stronger agreement and to deal with a number of other issues that are deeply problematic in the relationship with Iran,” Mr Blinken said on Wednesday. “But we are a long ways from that point.”

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

GIANT REVIEW

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Rating: 4/5

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What is the FNC?

The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning. 
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval. 
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
 

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Udinese 0-0 SPAL
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Juventus 1-0 AC Milan

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  • Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
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  • Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
  • Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
  • Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
  • Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
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Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz

Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

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The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

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Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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What is a black hole?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

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