The expectation that conflicts are unveiled in fragments is as old as war itself. But as events play out in Eastern Europe, the remarkable thing this time round is that almost the entire sequence is being played out in crystal-clear images.
Rows of tanks and attack helicopters captured from satellites have been displayed. The line-up of jets has been fodder for analysts. The level of troops has been counted higher and higher – for example, from just under 100,000 on January 30 to 190,000 on Friday. Heatmaps have purported to show intense activity at key bases. For its part, Russia showed military equipment on the move for key exercises and then transported shipments back eastward to support its claims that a drawback had been initiated.
The body of information constitutes a digital flood. As a result, questions abound. Fears ebb and flow on a daily basis. The mix of open information and intelligence leaks has so far shaped the crisis as much as it’s been a product of it.
That is not to say that the clear moment of truth has been reached.
At around this time of the year in 2014, before the Ukraine conflict first erupted, I shuttled between the cities of Kiev and Donetsk, as well as Sevastopol in Crimea. On the rain-swept streets, the infiltration and seepage of personnel in the eastern region were perceptible in daily chunks. One day there were the Cossacks, a group of East Slavic Orthodox Christians, with their bandoliers at the demonstrations in Donetsk. Then there was a phalanx of figures in bomber jackets and woolen skull caps. Following a similar pattern, in restaurants in Sevastopol, there was a sudden appearance of many bikers at one point.
It was the genesis of what became known in think tanks as the "little green men". These were the foot soldiers of a distinct new strategy of hybrid warfare designed to destabilise and muddy the information picture in contested spaces. In Donetsk, the presence of plenty of video specialists helped fuel the clamour around the demonstrations. When the Kremlin's move came, the ground had been prepped and seeded for the eventual takeover – and in Crimea's case, annexation.
On the battlefield, putting together pieces is ordinarily an art not a science.
In 2012, I visited war-torn Libya's north-western city of Zintan, which was a rebel stronghold, to meet a contact from the capital Tripoli who had made it to the other side. He took me to a school where there was an operations room with a mix of locals and Europeans working round the clock. The next day, the offensive was on and the road from the mountains through the western suburbs of Tripoli was opening up. In that instance, the rebels battled through to Tripoli and the regime lost control of the capital.
In 2008, in Georgia, the left turn I took from the main road running east-west happened to be a turning into a kilometres-long column of troop carriers from the nearby Russian-allied enclave. I had been delivered behind the lines.
Developments such as these all added up to knowing just when the action was under way. But getting to that point involved far fewer tangible factors.
Comment from The National
The Biden administration's handling of the Ukraine crisis has been likened to the way former US president John F Kennedy orchestrated the Cuban missile crisis in the 1960s. It has been aggressive in its use of intelligence to put Moscow under pressure to justify its actions and claims.
There have been direct revelations that Russian President Vladimir Putin had told his high command to execute an offensive. Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reeled off a list of pretexts for attack including terrorist bombing, mass graves, drone strikes or chemical attacks. Briefings from the Americans and Europeans have also sought to go inside Mr Putin's mind and paint scenarios of multi-pronged invasions along key road arteries in Ukraine. They have been followed by post-invasion plans to round-up or assassinate leading figures in the Ukrainian power structures.
Scenarios around the escalations of the conflict by separatist leaders in the east or cyberattacks on Ukraine have also been painted as plausible points that would trigger sanctions against Moscow.
The Kennedy team held its nerve as it leaked information against the erstwhile Soviet Union, and eventually the pressure was telling. The intensity of the response from the Biden team to the developments on Russia's western frontier, in Belarus as well as in Ukraine, has been far beyond anything seen in the Georgia situation in 2008 or in Ukraine itself in 2014.
Russia's use of video and orchestrated comments have equally provided nodes at which the crisis has moved on. The footage of a burning car in the Donetsk government complex on Friday was out just as soon as the news of an explosion in the city.
The tempo of the imagery and predictions as the crisis has built up has been a key driver to this point. There is no reason not to expect that pace to keep going. And if the projections turn into realities, the events will indeed be as horrendous as both sides have announced.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Haltia.ai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Arto%20Bendiken%20and%20Talal%20Thabet%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241.7%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self%2C%20family%20and%20friends%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The%20Little%20Mermaid%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rob%20Marshall%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHalle%20Bailey%2C%20Jonah%20Hauer-King%2C%20Melissa%20McCarthy%2C%20Javier%20Bardem%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
- US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
- Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
- Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
- Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
- Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
- The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
- Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
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
The Equaliser 2
Director Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Ashton Sanders
Three stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
