Joseph Chamberlain was Britain’s Colonial Secretary at the time of the Boer War in the early 1900s. When the rag tag Boers humiliated British troops in South Africa, and Britain was alarmed by the rise of Germany, Chamberlain lamented: “We have had no allies. I am afraid we have had no friends... We stand alone.” Britain quickly reversed course, changed centuries of hostility towards France, built a new friendship, the entente cordiale, and fought in two wars alongside France to control the threat from Germany’s Kaiser and Hitler.
Now, more than a century later, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is trying to find a role for Brexit Britain as “Global Britain” building new relationships with Australia and the United States – but managing to annoy potential adversaries and also close allies at the same time. The Aukus alliance, as its called, will see the US and UK build nuclear-powered submarines for Australia. But China regards this as a threat and a “Cold War mentality”. Former UK prime minister Theresa May asked Mr Johnson if the UK was being drawn inexorably into any possible military conflict with China over Taiwan.
The Anglosphere is the name given to all those countries in the world where the majority of people speak English as their first language
Andrew Roberts,
historian
France claims it was “stabbed in the back” because Australia is cancelling a £48 billion ($90bn). French contract to modernise its submarine fleet. Paris recalled ambassadors from Canberra and Washington, but French officials sniffed that their London ambassador could stay in post because the UK is merely a junior partner in all this.
The eight proposed submarines will be quieter, better armed and more resilient than current Australian vessels, but the real story is much bigger. US President Joe Biden, like his predecessors Barack Obama and Donald Trump, has signalled a strategic tilt in American priorities from Europe and Russia to the Indo-Pacific and China. Britain has sent a new aircraft carrier to the region. India is involved at various levels of strategic dialogue.
All this potentially goes way beyond anything discussed publicly and begins to sound like a revival of an idea once mooted at the end of the Second World War by Winston Churchill and taken up with enthusiasm by some conservative politicians and thinkers, including the historian Andrew Roberts. Here is Mr Roberts’ description: “The Anglosphere is the name given to all those countries in the world where the majority of people speak English as their first language, almost all of which have similar outlooks and shared values. The four “Canzuk” countries of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK are a prominent historical subset of this larger group, and there is a mounting case that some form of federation among them – with free trade, free movement of people, a mutual defence organisation and combined military capabilities – would create a new global superpower and ally of the US, the great anchor of the Anglosphere.”
Mr Roberts does not specify any concrete evidence for his presumed “mounting case” for an “Anglosphere” creating “a new global superpower” beyond his personal sentiment. But French diplomats are correct to suggest that Mr Johnson is indeed desperate to find some role for Brexit Britain. Mr Johnson has irritated governments across Europe and elsewhere, including in Ireland and the Biden administration. Perhaps Joseph Chamberlain’s lament – we have no friends – is beginning to sound like a description of his own foreign policy difficulties. He did rapidly agree on a trade deal with Australia – although critics say it risks diluting British food standards. And Mr Johnson is also desperate to meet Mr Biden at the White House this week to envelope the US president in some of his famous Old Etonian charm.
But the submarines row points to the fragility of other relations between Britain and our former European Union partners, especially France, which remains the only other nuclear power in Nato in Europe. The French have a significant presence in the Pacific and are incensed that three English speaking allies cooked up the submarines deal without informing them. Other "Anglosphere" relationships also exclude France. The “Five Eyes” intelligence gathering programme brings together the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, although presumably a serious re-evaluation of American, British and Australian priorities in the Indo-Pacific will eventually need to include France, India, Japan and others in some kind of arrangement.
But any future British relationship with the US – as British diplomats well know – has been weakened because Brexit means the UK has much lesser influence in Europe. The French are also correct that the UK is indeed a junior partner in Aukus. Militarily, Great Britain is less than great. Boris Johnson is cutting the British army to 72,500 soldiers by 2025, its lowest level for 300 years. By 2026 the Royal Navy will be down from 13 to 10 frigates. In 2018, the British Council organised a survey of US opinion of Britain which found the UK’s best selling points among Americans were our "cultural and historic attractions". The idea that the UK is regarded by most Americans as a kind of historic theme park helps tourism, but it is hardly a world role for “Global Britain”. But beyond the slogan, what is?
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Third Test
Result: India won by 203 runs
Series: England lead five-match series 2-1
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Results:
6.30pm: Handicap (Turf) | US$175,000 2,410m | Winner: Bin Battuta, Christophe Soumillon (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer)
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (Dirt) | $100,000 | 1,400m | Winner: Al Hayette, Fabrice Veron, Ismail Mohammed
7.40pm: Handicap (T) | $145,000 | 1,000m | Winner: Faatinah, Jim Crowley, David Hayes
8.15pm: Dubawi Stakes Group 3 (D) | $200,000 | 1,200m | Winner: Raven’s Corner, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
8.50pm: Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (T) | $200,000 | 1,800m | Winner: Dream Castle, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor
9.25pm: Handicap (T) | $175,000 | 1,400m | Winner: Another Batt, Connor Beasley, George Scott
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
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Abu Dhabi racecard
5pm: Maiden (Purebred Arabians); Dh80,000; 1,400m.
5.30pm: Maiden (PA); Dh80,00; 1,400m.
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA); Group 3; Dh500,000; 1,600m.
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (Thoroughbred); Listed; Dh380,000; 1,600m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA); Dh70,000; 1,400m.
7.30pm: Handicap (PA); Dh80,000; 1,600m
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HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS EXPLAINED
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last-16, second leg:
Real Madrid 1 (Asensio 70'), Ajax 4 (Ziyech 7', Neres 18', Tadic 62', Schone 72')
Ajax win 5-3 on aggregate
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
