US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's final Congressional appearance saw him draw criticism from Republicans and Democrats, in a contentious hearing that highlighted the departing Biden administration's troubled foreign policy legacy.
The Republican-led House foreign affairs committee hosted Mr Blinken on Wednesday to grill him a final time about the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, as the party prepares for total control of Washington under Donald Trump on January 20.
Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian protesters drew attention to the situation in the Gaza Strip, yelling that Mr Blinken is “the butcher of Gaza" before being escorted from the hearing room.
President Joe Biden's unfettered support for Israel, despite tension with the far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has angered many Democrats. More than 44,800 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched its war after the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200.
“This will be one of the defining foreign policy legacies and I am profoundly disappointed with how it's been handled," Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro said. "What we have seen by the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu has been inhumane. I wish that this had turned out differently, I wish you all had been successful in getting a ceasefire, but when you weren't – I wish you used more leverage.”
Mr Castro asked Mr Blinken if he would have done anything differently on the Israel-Gaza war, but he dodged the opportunity to respond, saying: “There'll be a lot of time to look back and ask ourselves whether we could or should have done anything different."
“I've also been to the region 12 times since October 7. I'm heading back in an hour or two to continue the efforts to get a ceasefire and hostage agreement, to get the hostages home, to get the guns to stop firing, to put Gaza on a better path, and meanwhile to try to make sure that people have the assistance they so desperately need,” Mr Blinken said.
On the hearing's main point, Afghanistan, Brian Mast, the incoming chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, had harsh words for Mr Blinken.
“We insult every single person that served when we come in here and say words like we're sorry the Afghanistan withdrawal wasn't exactly perfect … this place absolutely lives up to being a swamp when we try to cover up the fact that 26 of your diplomats told you directly that if you continued to go down the path you were going, that it was going to be a disaster.”
Mr Blinken again blamed Afghan officials, and a deal signed by the first Trump administration in 2020, for the withdrawal and the Taliban's ultimate takeover of Kabul.
“Even the US government's most pessimistic assessments did not anticipate the Afghan government and security forces would collapse so rapidly in the face of Taliban advances,” he said.
“All of us, including myself, have wrestled with what we could have done differently … even as we work to address the places where we fell short, I firmly believe that President Biden's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was the right one.”
Behind Mr Blinken, a TV screen played a slide show of the images from that chaotic moment in world history – including images of the 13 US troops killed in the Abbey Gate terrorist attack, which also killed at least 170 Afghans trying to flee the country as the Taliban took over.
A 2022 Pentagon report concluded that the attack was “not preventable”, that security precautions were being taken and that intelligence about potential threats circulating that day was “not specific” – despite testimony from survivors that they had warned their chain of command of threats.
But Mr Blinken was not without allies at the hearing. Democratic ranking member of the committee Gregory Meeks said the Republican-led investigation was “politically motivated", defending the departing administration's actions and pointing the finger at negotiations with the Taliban under Mr Trump.
“President Biden ultimately made the right decision to end our 20 year war in Afghanistan,” Mr Meeks told the committee. “No one here has argued our withdrawal was perfect … We owe it to ourselves, and our military, and diplomatic personnel on the front lines to learn from it."
The hearing also caps off a long fight between the committee's Republicans and the Biden administration over Afghanistan – including a bid to hold the US Secretary of State in contempt of Congress for failing to appear for previous subpoenas in September.
The first September hearing was scheduled, notably, when Mr Blinken and senior world leaders gathered in New York for the UN General Assembly.
The State Department paints a picture of a committee making the process difficult, including suggesting dates where Mr Blinken was known to be out of town.
But a representative of the foreign affairs committee majority told The National that the back-and-forth with Mr Blinken was extensive, and that the he had previously offered deputies, who had not worked at the State Department at the time of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, to testify in his place.
The Congressional representative added that the State Department refused to provide any date for the secretary to appear during the month of September.
SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
Memory: 8/12GB RAM
Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
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
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Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
3pm – Supernovas
4.30pm – The Boxtones
5.30pm – Lighthouse Family
7pm – Step On DJs
8pm – Richard Ashcroft
9.30pm – Chris Wright
10pm – Fatboy Slim
11pm – Hollaphonic
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
What%20is%20Dungeons%20%26%20Dragons%3F%20
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The%20Woman%20King%20
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Result
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 – Group 1 (PA) $65,000 (Dirt) 2,000m; Winner: Brraq, Ryan Curatolo (jockey), Jean-Claude Pecout (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (Turf) 1,800m; Winner: Bright Melody, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
7.40pm: Meydan Classic – Listed (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Naval Crown, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $195,000 (T) 2,810m; Winner: Volcanic Sky, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
8.50pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Star Safari, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Meydan Challenge – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Zainhom, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
RIDE%20ON
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Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners
Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)
The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
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MATCH INFO
Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 12’) Liverpool 1 (Minamino 73’)
Arsenal win 5-4 on penalties
Man of the Match: Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal)
Match info
Manchester United 1
Fred (18')
Wolves 1
Moutinho (53')
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 8' (P), Bernardo Silva 19', Jesus 72', 75')
Fulham 0
Red cards: Tim Ream (Fulham)
Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)
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.
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
