Slovakia was pitched into the global headlines last week, right when its fate represents a crisis point for Europe.
The attempted assassination of Robert Fico, the veteran and iconoclastic Prime Minister, was a graphic illustration of the tensions roiling the continent as the Russian war on Ukraine endures through a third year.
Mr Fico is a bounce-back politician who has held the Prime Minister’s office before and in his return to the European stage presents Brussels with a challenge that goes beyond the immediate discord over a withdrawal of support to Kyiv.
As he recovers from his life-threatening injuries, there will be a lull period, something underlined domestically by the main opposition declaring a 100-day moratorium on campaigning, even though the European Parliament elections loom next month. Those elections are ever more a faultline for the continent. The backdrop is Russia’s renewed headway along a fresh Ukrainian frontline, and the pressures there can now only be expected to build throughout the European summer.
Meanwhile, the victory of Peter Pellegrini, a Fico ally, in Slovakia’s recent presidential election confirms that the country is deeply polarised.
President Zuzana Caputova, the incumbent who has often clashed with Mr Fico and whose losing campaign portrayed her as an anti-populist candidate, secured more votes in this year’s election than she did in 2019. However, Mr Pellegrini’s victory consolidated the left populist movement’s grip on power in Slovakia.
The last government gave away all of Slovakia’s viable armour and Soviet-era air force equipment to Ukraine, then benefited from modernised western replacements. But when Mr Fico took over as Prime Minister late last year, he announced that all of Bratislava’s support would halt.
This made relatively few waves as Slovakia’s early support had been exhausted. It was his push to introduce reforms (which diminished the metropolitan elite institutions) that was causing greater ructions.
What binds Fico and Orban at this moment in history is the alignment of relationships with the Kremlin
The EU’s Foreign Affairs Council last week issued a report warning Brussels against punishing Slovakia for its lurch away from the bloc’s norms and standards on the judiciary and press freedom. The reason given in the report is that Slovakia could still fit into a trend of the awkward member.
Once synonymous with how then prime minister David Cameron tried to position the UK to ward off Brexit ahead of the 2016 election, pulling the lever marked “take back powers” is a fact of life in modern Europe.
Geert Wilders, the far-right Dutch kingmaker, has just backed a new government in The Hague based on just that governing programme. Mr Wilders wants the Netherlands to exit EU migration policies to launch mass deportations of migrants, some of whom could soon have their visas revoked.
Mr Fico himself is a post-communist politician who is pursuing an agenda that overlaps with other renegade EU leaders who have bucked against the reins of Brussels.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, once a hero of the barricades who rose alongside the liberals driving the downfall of the communists, is the stocky exemplar of this type of politics. But there is a handful of other leaders going down the same track.
What binds Mr Fico and Mr Orban at this moment in history is the alignment of relationships with the Kremlin. European policy at its most ambitious is being held up. While western aid isn’t being crippled like it was during former US president Donald Trump’s four years in power, it is steadily more handicapped.
Mark Mobius, the celebrity investment guru for Fidelity International in the 1990s, used to appear in an advertisement asking if the viewer knew their Slovenia from their Slovakia.
At that time, then US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, born in neighbouring Czech Republic, called Slovakia “the black hole of Europe”. It was briefly so out of line with the post-Cold War Eastern European trajectory that it was taken off the accession path to Nato.
Political violence is not something that has only now reared its ugly head in Slovakia.
During Mr Fico’s last term in 2018, an investigative journalist was shot dead by contract killers who also murdered the journalist’s fiancee for good measure. The ensuing protests brought down the Fico government. Back in the hot seat, the Prime Minister has taken on liberal media again and is attempting to shut down the state broadcaster RTVS, seeking to replace it with a new outfit under tighter regulations.
Europe’s make up is undergoing more structural change than at any time since the late 1990s. The trends are not new, but the war in Ukraine has heightened the tensions around the shifting politics.
The position of the continent’s neutral countries has not been insulated from these pressures either. Some like Sweden have repudiated the neutrality status despite decades of evolving the doctrine to suit their national defence.
When Ireland revealed that its top general, Sean Clancy, was poised to be installed as the head of the EU Military Committee last week, the news raised questions. How could a small nation that spends relatively negligible amounts on its defence take on such a pivotal role? Was French President Emmanuel Macron not calling for the bloc to turn its spending firepower to defence in the face of a world threatened by war?
That Lt Gen Clancy was succeeding an Austrian general, the leader of another neutral force, seemed to reinforce the antiquated nature of the move.
Meanwhile Switzerland, where I just spent a part of last week, is the most famously neutral country. Its officials have spent weeks preparing for a peace conference, to be co-hosted by Ukraine, next month. This is a truly important effort to get talks started for the first time since the spring of 2022.
However, the conference has been scheduled to be held a day after the G7 meeting in neighbouring Italy – and, tellingly, Russia has not been invited.
Day 3 stumps
New Zealand 153 & 249
Pakistan 227 & 37-0 (target 176)
Pakistan require another 139 runs with 10 wickets remaining
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
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.
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UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
if you go
The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow.
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes).
Race card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 (PA) US$100,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
7.05pm: Meydan Classic Listed (TB) $175,000 (Turf) 1,600m
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (D) 1,600m
8.50pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy Group 2 (TB) $300,000 (T) 2,810m
9.25pm: Curlin Stakes Listed (TB) $175,000 (D) 2,000m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m
10.35pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,400m
The National selections
6.30pm: Shahm, 7.05pm: Well Of Wisdom, 7.40pm: Lucius Tiberius, 8.15pm: Captain Von Trapp, 8.50pm: Secret Advisor, 9.25pm: George Villiers, 10pm: American Graffiti, 10.35pm: On The Warpath
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
TO ALL THE BOYS: ALWAYS AND FOREVER
Directed by: Michael Fimognari
Starring: Lana Condor and Noah Centineo
Two stars
THREE
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McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
MATCH INFO
RB Leipzig 2 (Klostermann 24', Schick 68')
Hertha Berlin 2 (Grujic 9', Piatek 82' pen)
Man of the match Matheus Cunha (Hertha Berlin
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 217hp at 5,750rpm
Torque: 300Nm at 1,900rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh130,000
On sale: now
Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
Stage results
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:39:05
2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time
4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t
7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t
9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo s.t
10. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers s.t
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Seven tips from Emirates NBD
1. Never respond to e-mails, calls or messages asking for account, card or internet banking details
2. Never store a card PIN (personal identification number) in your mobile or in your wallet
3. Ensure online shopping websites are secure and verified before providing card details
4. Change passwords periodically as a precautionary measure
5. Never share authentication data such as passwords, card PINs and OTPs (one-time passwords) with third parties
6. Track bank notifications regarding transaction discrepancies
7. Report lost or stolen debit and credit cards immediately
The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
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Formula%204%20Italian%20Championship%202023%20calendar
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Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
