Like sunlight, the cleansing effect of global growth is sustaining the fortunes of political leaders who have struggled to win elections in recent months.
As new governments emerge, the brightening spots obscure the underlying turbulence that is bound to return.
In The Hague, a coalition government was formed last week after a leisurely 208-day interlude after the general election. Crisis, what crisis? Meet the new guy, same as the old guy. Mark Rutte, a pleasant liberal, was handed the seals of office for the third time.
Mr Rutte has been helped by the economic winds. The Netherlands economy has just pushed past three per cent growth for the first time in a decade.
The hot-button issue of migration has been dealt with through a pact to take welfare from refugees. Geert Wilders, the far-right Islamophobe, has been strangely accepting of his party's exclusion from office despite taking second place at the polls.
As with the Dutch, the Germans are still dealing with the fallout from an election that saw voters rush to the extremes.
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More from Opinion
In Syria, Assad might be winning the war, but he is far from winning the peace
Why Donald Trump is prepared to ditch the Iran nuclear deal
With China rising and America looking inwards, what is Europe's grand vision?
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Three weeks after the result that humbled Angela Merkel, there is not much to say. It is possible and probable there will be a new government by the turn of the year. Equally the devil is in the details and Mrs Merkel could be still in limbo until early 2018.
At the heart of Europe, Henry Kissinger's provocation "who do I phone" remains the key and unanswered test.
Raring to go on the sidelines is the French president Emmanuel Macron, who is still the dominant force in French politics.
His honeymoon after beating the far-right in May and leading his new party to a parliamentary majority in June has a wasting shelf life Within Europe his agenda has gone nowhere. Like a hotrod in the desert, he is designing pretty circles in the sand but making up no ground for all his noise.
Even without the British decision to leave and the Catalan secession crisis, the EU faces big make-or-break decisions. The slow but sure political talks are no harbinger of success.
Two big pan-European decisions could determine the credibility of the block. Restricting the rights of non-nationals, particularly from eastern Europe, to move west is Mr Macron's best chance of keeping the far right permanently in the shadows. Brexit proved that a naive acceptance of continent-wide labour movement is a hiding to disaster. Populist eastern European politicians are cunningly stoking a counter-reaction designed to forced another wave of exits in a decade or so.
The second big decision is a banking union across the EU. In particular a guarantee of customer bank deposits from Malta to Finland. It is looking like a great undeliverable of upcoming negotiations.
Lurking virtually unspoken behind Europe’s endless cycle of summits is the dawning reality that the project stands or falls on German domination.
Enlargement of the western European club of 12 states to 28 mainly entailed a spread across the regions most bound in to the broad sweep of Germanic history. At root this is why the British had to bolt.
Berlin under the still hand of a dominant but ageing leader is resistant. As Mrs Merkel prepared for coalition talks, a document emerged last week in Berlin from the country’s foreign policy establishment entitled “In spite of it all, America”.
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Read more from Damien McElroy
Europe receives a wake-up call in the battle to counter extremism
America is a troubled place, a country struggling to find the right direction
A new factor has emerged in the ISIL battle: Iran
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Don’t be tempted to think that this should really have been named ‘In spite of Trump, America”. It was a historic call for a standstill against Germany’s untrammeled leadership of the European block.
Berlin was warned to stick with the trans-Atlantic priorities. Divergence into trade wars and migration was depicted as a path to instability. Siren calls to abandon a strategic freeze on ties with Russia was a frightening prospect for the experts.
A Germany that orchestrated European politics would indeed marshal its allies along the lines set out so clearly in the paper. The prosperous states of the eurozone, like France and the Netherlands, are increasing satellites of the German economy. Another band, notably ltaly, is dependent on the ultimate bailout power of the German exchequer. Others like Spain now need Germany's centrifugal force just to maintain their own cohesion.
Angela Merkel has surpassed Mr Rutte to land a fourth term in office. In doing so, she and he are past masters of the art of centrist triangulation that dominated Western politics after the Cold War. The space that was their playground has steadily shrunk. Europe has fractured once and will in all likelihood do so again.
The revival of Europe is not as it seems and the worry is the project remains a bubble. It is strong and whole as long as the sheen holds. It is also fragile and liable to pop.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
The biog
Family: wife, four children, 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren
Reads: Newspapers, historical, religious books and biographies
Education: High school in Thatta, a city now in Pakistan
Regrets: Not completing college in Karachi when universities were shut down following protests by freedom fighters for the British to quit India
Happiness: Work on creative ideas, you will also need ideals to make people happy
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
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Opening weekend Premier League fixtures
Weekend of August 10-13
Arsenal v Manchester City
Bournemouth v Cardiff City
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Huddersfield Town v Chelsea
Liverpool v West Ham United
Manchester United v Leicester City
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton v Burnley
Watford v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton
Results
2.15pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,950m
Winner: Hello, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihi (trainer).
2.45pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,800m
Winner: Right Flank, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
3.15pm: Handicap Dh115,000 1,000m
Winner: Leading Spirit, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
3.45pm: Jebel Ali Mile Group 3 Dh575,000 1,600m
Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,400m
Winner: Ode To Autumn, Patrick Cosgrave, Satish Seemar.
4.45pm: Shadwell Farm Conditions Dh125,000 1,200m
Winner: Last Surprise, James Doyle, Simon Crisford.
5.15pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,200m
Winner: Daltrey, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihi.
Tips%20for%20holiday%20homeowners
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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
Western Clubs Champions League:
- Friday, Sep 8 - Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Bahrain
- Friday, Sep 15 – Kandy v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Friday, Sep 22 – Kandy v Bahrain
The biog
Name: Younis Al Balooshi
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Summer special
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
AL%20BOOM
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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The Lowdown
Kesari
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Anubhav Singh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
HAJJAN
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