A British envoy has travelled to Israel to “promote trade with the UK” days after Britain's government suspended new trade talks with the country.
Ian Austin, an independent peer and former Labour MP, posted details of his visit in a social media post on Tuesday. “Trade with Israel provides many thousands of good jobs in the UK and brings people together in the great multicultural democracy that is Israel,” he wrote.
It is understood that Lord Austin does not have any official talks planned. However, he wrote on social media that he will meet Israeli "businesses and officials" during his trip.
Trade envoys are not involved in trade negotiations, but work to promote and secure investment in the UK.
Last week, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended talks over an expanded trade deal with Israel and imposed new sanctions on settlers in the occupied West Bank.
The measures marked the toughest response to Israel's military campaign in Gaza and its handling of the crisis in the West Bank to date. At the time, an Israeli diplomat dismissed the suspension of new trade talks as "a British loss".
The diplomat added: "It is a lose-lose situation for the UK. Israel should be one of the first partners for tech and all the things we wanted to do together. This is really a British loss. We don't see it as an Israeli loss. It's a punishment to your own people."
Lord Austin, the UK trade envoy for Israel, appears to be at odds with the mood in the Foreign Office. He had expressed his intention to visit the country and “drum up business for Britain” in Politics Home last week, writing that “trade is not just about exports and quotas, it is about our values and our relationships".
He added: “Even without the benefits a new trade agreement would bring to Britain, our message is that we’re open for business, so we’ll still be encouraging British businesses to export to Israel and Israeli businesses to invest in the UK to create jobs here."
He visited the Customs Scanning Centre, the Haifa Nazareth Light Rail project, the Haifa Bayport and the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) on his first day, “witnessing UK-Israeli co-operation at every stop”, a social media post by the UK embassy in Israel said.
A foreign office representative told The National that Lord Austin was in the country to “maintain” existing relationships with Israeli businesses.
"Lord Austin is in Israel this week in his capacity as trade envoy to maintain our relationship with Israeli businesses,” they said.
"We suspended talks with Israel on a new [free-trade agreement] because it is not possible to advance discussions with a Netanyahu government pursuing such egregious policies in Gaza and the West Bank."
The representative did not respond when asked whether Mr Lammy was aware of the trip. The Foreign Secretary accused Israel of “intolerable and repellent” actions in Gaza last week and condemned its renewed offensive on the strip.
Mr Lammy said: “We must call this what it is: it is extremism, it is dangerous, it is repellent, it is monstrous and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
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Results
Men's finals
45kg:Duc Le Hoang (VIE) beat Zolfi Amirhossein (IRI) points 29-28. 48kg: Naruephon Chittra (THA) beat Joseph Vanlalhruaia (IND) TKO round 2.
51kg: Sakchai Chamchit (THA) beat Salam Al Suwaid (IRQ) TKO round 1. 54kg: Veerasak Senanue (THA) beat Huynh Hoang Phi (VIE) 30-25.
57kg: Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Tak Chuen Suen (MAC) RSC round 3. 60kg: Yerkanat Ospan (KAZ) beat Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) 30-27.
63.5kg: Abil Galiyev (KAZ) beat Nouredine Samir (UAE) 29-28. 67kg: Narin Wonglakhon (THA) beat Mohammed Mardi (UAE) 29-28.
71kg: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) w/o Shaker Al Tekreeti (IRQ). 75kg: Youssef Abboud (LBN) w/o Ayoob Saki (IRI).
81kg: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Khaled Tarraf (LBN) 29-28. 86kg: Ali Takaloo (IRI) beat Emil Umayev (KAZ) 30-27.
91kg: Hamid Reza Kordabadi (IRI) beat Mohamad Osaily (LBN) RSC round 1. 91-plus kg: Mohammadrezapoor Shirmohammad (IRI) beat Abdulla Hasan (IRQ) 30-27.
Women's finals
45kg: Somruethai Siripathum (THA) beat Ha Huu Huynh (VIE) 30-27. 48kg: Thanawan Thongduang (THA) beat Colleen Saddi (PHI) 30-27.
51kg: Wansawang Srila Or (THA) beat Thuy Phuong Trieu (VIE) 29-28. 54kg: Ruchira Wongsriwo (THA) beat Zeinab Khatoun (LBN) 30-26.
57kg: Sara Idriss (LBN) beat Zahra Nasiri Bargh (IRI) 30-27. 60kg: Kaewrudee Kamtakrapoom (THA) beat Sedigheh Hajivand (IRI) TKO round 2.
63.5kg: Nadiya Moghaddam (IRI) w/o Reem Al Issa (JOR).
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
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2. Allowance Optional Claiming, Santa Anita Park, June 24, 2016
3. Allowance Optional Claiming, Del Mar, August 4, 2016
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5. Breeders' Cup Classic, Santa Anita Park, November 5, 2016
6. Pegasus World Cup, Gulfstream Park, January 28, 2017
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The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
Six large-scale objects on show
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Company name: Jaib
Started: January 2018
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Based: Jordan
Sector: FinTech
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
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Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
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2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
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Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
