Durham, a city in north-eastern England, is not the first place that anyone would turn to for reading the runes of how Russia's war in Ukraine is going. Yet, it's where Fiona Hill found some talking points on the conflict.
The former US National Security Council senior director for Europe and Russia is a native of Durham and took two instructive lessons from a visit to her homeland.
The coal-mining city was twinned with Donbas region in Ukraine during the heyday of the industry. Ms Hill was shown the records of a visit by a delegation from the English mining region in the 1920s to the area, where there is currently an all-out war to solidify Moscow's control of the south and east of Ukraine.
Informed by the post-industrial structures of Durham, Ms Hill explains that the reason that Moscow has affinity with the Donbas is the socio-economic make-up of the region. Its deep mines, established in the late 19th century by miners from Wales and England who travelled to the sparsely populated Don river basin, still yield the rich black treasure of the Earth. That is becoming increasingly rare.
Well-rewarded work underground has disappeared in many other parts of the world, turning whole swathes of regions into rustbelts. For the Russians, one of the aims of the conflict is to co-opt these industries. The Kremlin openly talks about protecting the Russian-speaking people in the areas and their way of life.
France's Marine Le Pen has capitalised on alienation and her supporters want their grievances to be heard
When it first launched the operation to seize Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk in 2014, it was capitalising on the alienation in the area from the pro-western tilt of the population in Kyiv and elsewhere in western Ukraine. In these places a modern economy had emerged to replace the Soviet-era structures.
In drawing a parallel with the two regions, Ms Hill notes that the north-east of England had undergone a revolt of its own against the established political order. This was done by repudiating the century or so of reliable Labour party voting and joining the so-called Red Wall that defected to the Conservatives in the 2019 general election in the UK.
The British-American adviser who has long specialised on Russia and worked for former US presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump on security policy, said the backlash among traditional societies was one driving force that had altered the global balance.
She pointed also to the areas where the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen was drawing support in her two-way race against French President Emmanuel Macron. The valleys and rundown towns of northern France have turned to Ms Le Pen’s 2022 presidential election campaign, even though Mr Macron's government has been a pump-priming, big-spending administration.
Ms Le Pen has capitalised on alienation and her supporters want their grievances to be heard. "The working class like us is always at the bottom of the pile," a long-standing Le Pen voter Marcel Bail declared after a lunch with the candidate last week, summing up the great gulf she hoped to exploit in Sunday's vote.
And Ms Hill does not rule out the return of Mr Trump in the 2024 US presidential election based on the same pinch points of rust belt voters – just 70,000 votes in three rundown counties – that catapulted him to the most powerful office in 2016.
The importance of addressing the issues that drive people to hold the views and the demands that result in extreme choices was reflected in another observation from Ms Hill. She was asked to advise Ukraine on how it builds global support as it seeks to shake off Moscow's predations. While Europe and the US have quickly and forcefully imposed sanctions, other parts of the world have held back.
Moscow's messaging that this is a clash between the West and Russia and that it is the outcome of a 30-year unequal struggle has resonated in parts of the East and Global South. For that reason public opinion has been shaped by different considerations outside the wealthiest countries.
Ms Hill, who was in London promoting her book, There’s Nothing for You Here, said the Ukraine government's messaging was – rightly – focused on securing military support from its allies to match the firepower deployed by the Russians. But an alternative narrative exists that Kyiv would be well advised to pursue.
Depicting the assault as an act of colonial aggression would resonate differently and better in Africa and Asia. Making much more of Ukraine's role as a breadbasket for the world has great potential to shift minds and sympathies in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as much of Europe.
Ukraine does punch above its size in feeding the world and the countries that depend on it should associate its troubles with the spiral of rising prices and food shortages. This is the spring planting season and much of Ukraine is not sowing the crops for the 2022 harvest. There is only one reason for that looming shortage.
The second revelation that Ms Hill picked up in Durham was from people with Facebook connections to Russians in a town where a prominent military brigade is based. These linkages again date to Cold War-era exchanges. The English in touch with their friends reported great anger and bewilderment over the losses in the campaign, something that does not surface in news reports from the country.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- 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.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- 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.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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The biog
Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
Favourite TV series: Outlander Netflix series
Favourite place in the UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque / desert / Louvre Abu Dhabi
Favourite book: Father of our Nation: Collected Quotes of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Thing you will miss most about the UAE: My friends and family, Formula 1, having Friday's off, desert adventures, and Arabic culture and people
UAE players with central contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir, Ahmed Raza, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Hayat, Mohammed Naveed and Imran Haider.
The specs
Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)
Power: 276hp
Torque: 392Nm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD
Price: TBC
The Rub of Time: Bellow, Nabokov, Hitchens, Travolta, Trump and Other Pieces 1986-2016
Martin Amis,
Jonathan Cape
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
WISH
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
THE SPECS – Honda CR-V Touring AWD
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Power: 184hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 244Nm at 3,900rpm
Transmission: Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)
0-100kmh in 9.4 seconds
Top speed: 202kmh
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
Price: From Dh122,900
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
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How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
RESULTS
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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.
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
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20profile
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