US Senator Bob Menendez visited Cyprus last month to speak at a Cypriot diaspora summit, meet Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and perhaps retrace the origins of his Armenian-American wife Nadine, whose mother was born on the island.
The New Jersey Democrat, who has in recent years often opposed US deals with Turkey while backing Greece and its allies, received an award from the Greek Cypriot church for boosting the Greek Cypriot struggle for justice – the cherry on top of his late summer trip.
But the change in season has brought a change in fortune: federal authorities last week handed Mr Menendez and his wife a three-count federal indictment that evokes the tawdry New Jersey of fictional TV mob boss Tony Soprano, accusing them of leveraging his position in an array of schemes that stretch to the Middle East.
The first charge is that Mr Menendez, the most powerful foreign policy figure in Congress as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), accepted bribes to boost aid and arms sales to Cairo in an effort to encourage the Egyptian government to approve Egypt-born New Jersey businessman Wael Hana’s monopoly over the import of halal meat into Egypt.
Mr Menendez is also charged with seeking to undermine a criminal investigation into businessman Jose Uribe and influence the president’s choice for US Attorney in his district to help his wife’s friend. The indictment suggests Mrs Menendez, who was unemployed when the couple first met at a pancake house in early 2018 and would soon default her mortgage payments, was the main driver of the double-dealing.
The charge sheet details how Mr Hana, who claimed to have connections in the Egyptian government, was Nadine’s old friend, how she allegedly set up Mr Menendez’s meetings with officials from Cairo, and how she pressed Mr Hana for payments for services rendered. The indictment also shows Mr Menendez essentially appearing to do his wife’s and Mr Hana’s bidding.
Expect a quick fall for the 69-year-old whose rise was lightning-fast. The son of Cuban immigrants, Mr Menendez served on a New Jersey school board at 20 years old. A dozen years later, he was voted Union City mayor before moving on to the state senate and US Congress.
Expect a quick fall for the 69-year-old whose rise was lightning-fast
Since becoming a senator in 2006, he had regularly pushed for recognition of the “Armenian Genocide” as it is described in the US – an effort that succeeded a few years ago. But beyond that, his pre-2018 positions evinced no favouritism towards Armenia or Greece or animus towards Turkey.
Given her apparent influence on him, one starts to wonder if Mr Menendez’s defining policy stance over the past five years may have been driven in part by his wife, an Armenian with links to Greek Cyprus. Back in 2009, he even criticised then-Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias, pointing out the contradiction in the Cypriot leader’s denunciation of Turkey’s human rights violations in Cyprus while ignoring similar violations in Cuba.
A decade later, Turkey’s rivals had become the apple of his eye. In mid-2019, Mr Menendez introduced the Eastern Mediterranean Security act to strengthen ties between the US, Israel, Greece and Cyprus, and lift the long-standing arms embargo on Cyprus. The Senate passed the bill and Mr Menendez later received the highest civilian honours of both Greece and Cyprus.
Within weeks of Turkey expressing its desire to buy US F-16s in late 2021, Mr Menendez voiced his dissent, citing Ankara’s rights record and ties to Russia. Turkey had been removed from America’s F-35 programme in 2019 for buying a Russian missile defence system and Ankara’s $20 billion F-16 proposal was seen as a face-saving offer from the Nato ally. Yet Mr Menendez has repeatedly called for F-35 sales to Greece while maintaining his SFRC-chair hold on the F-16s, even after National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan cleared the way for the deal after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greenlit Sweden’s Nato accession in July.
As I detailed last week, the US has of late boosted military ties with Greece, Cyprus and Armenia, while levying sanctions against Turkey, even though entities in all these countries seem to have enabled Russian sanctions evasions. As SFRC chair, it’s reasonable to expect Mr Menendez had some influence on these policies.
The long-time senator may have come to his regional views on his own, and perhaps in time they will be proven correct. It’s worth mentioning that some of Turkey’s leaders are alleged to have dabbled in graft, notably in a 2013 corruption scandal that felled three ministers and a series of accusations two years ago from an exiled convicted criminal.
Yet Mr Menendez has his own history of influence peddling and illicit dealings. In 2010, he urged Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke to rescue a New Jersey bank run by executives who were big donors – a move one bank regulator called “grotesquely inappropriate”.
Mr Menendez reportedly received donations from the People’s Mujaheddin of Iran (MEK) when the US still listed the group as a terror organisation. And the latest indictment comes six years after an unrelated corruption trial ended in a hung jury and 17 years after he faced a federal inquiry in relation to payments from a non-profit group.
Set to appear in a Manhattan court with his co-defendants on Wednesday, Mr Menendez denies all charges. But he has stepped down from the SFRC and faces a tough primary fight in the lead-up to 2024 elections. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and most other state officials have urged him to resign.
Geopolitically, the timing could hardly be better. Turkey and Greece are mending ties, as highlighted by their leaders’ meeting last week in New York. And with Turkey’s parliament expected to approve Sweden’s Nato membership next month, the US could greenlight Ankara’s F-16 purchase now that the deal’s most vocal foe looks set to exit the stage.
In 2021, Mr Menendez told Congress that US foreign policy needed to be centred on “democracy, human rights, and the rule of law”. His departure seems likely to inch Washington closer to that goal.
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- Margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars
- Energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- Infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes
- Many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts
Brief scores:
Day 1
Toss: India, chose to bat
India (1st innings): 215-2 (89 ov)
Agarwal 76, Pujara 68 not out; Cummins 2-40
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Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
Kashima Antlers 3 (Nagaki 49’, Serginho 69’, Abe 84’)
Guadalajara 2 (Zaldivar 03’, Pulido 90')
Notable cricketers and political careers
- India: Kirti Azad, Navjot Sidhu and Gautam Gambhir (rumoured)
- Pakistan: Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi (rumoured)
- Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (rumoured)
- Bangladesh (Mashrafe Mortaza)
Brief scores
Barcelona 2
Pique 36', Alena 87'
Villarreal 0
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
Results
6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh195,000 1,400m | Winner: ES Ajeeb, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Ibrahim Aseel (trainer)
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m | Winner: Al Shamkhah, Royston Ffrench, Sandeep Jadhav
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 1,200m | Winner: Lavaspin, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
8.15pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,200m | Winner: Kawasir, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 1,600m | Winner: Cosmo Charlie, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
9.20pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m | Winner: Bochart, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 2,000m | Winner: Quartier Francais, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
Race card:
6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh195,000 1,400m.
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m.
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 1,200m.
8.15pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,200m.
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 1,600m.
9.20pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m.
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 2,000m.
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
The biog
Name: Greg Heinricks
From: Alberta, western Canada
Record fish: 56kg sailfish
Member of: International Game Fish Association
Company: Arabian Divers and Sportfishing Charters
if you go
The flights
Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.
The tour
Cox & Kings (coxandkings.com) has a 14-night Hidden Guianas tour of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It includes accommodation, domestic flights, transfers, a local tour manager and guided sightseeing. Contact for price.
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
AUSTRALIA SQUAD v SOUTH AFRICA
Aaron Finch (capt), Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
More from Neighbourhood Watch
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, Group C
Liverpool v Red Star Belgrade
Anfield, Liverpool
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Fixtures (all times UAE)
Saturday
Brescia v Atalanta (6pm)
Genoa v Torino (9pm)
Fiorentina v Lecce (11.45pm)
Sunday
Juventus v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Inter Milan v SPAL (6pm)
Lazio v Udinese (6pm)
Parma v AC Milan (6pm)
Napoli v Bologna (9pm)
Verona v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Monday
Cagliari v Sampdoria (11.45pm)
'Avengers: Infinity War'
Dir: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Junior, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen
Four stars
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Profile of VoucherSkout
Date of launch: November 2016
Founder: David Tobias
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers
Sector: Technology
Size: 18 employees
Stage: Embarking on a Series A round to raise $5 million in the first quarter of 2019 with a 20 per cent stake
Investors: Seed round was self-funded with “millions of dollars”
Grand Slam Los Angeles results
Men:
56kg – Jorge Nakamura
62kg – Joao Gabriel de Sousa
69kg – Gianni Grippo
77kg – Caio Soares
85kg – Manuel Ribamar
94kg – Gustavo Batista
110kg – Erberth Santos
Women:
49kg – Mayssa Bastos
55kg – Nathalie Ribeiro
62kg – Gabrielle McComb
70kg – Thamara Silva
90kg – Gabrieli Pessanha
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
TEAMS
EUROPE:
Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olesen, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson
USA:
Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau ( 1 TBC)
Where to Find Me by Alba Arikha
Alma Books
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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More on Quran memorisation:
