The Middle East peace process is so broken that the parties cannot even talk to each other. The best that can be hoped for is "proximity talks", in which the US special envoy George Mitchell shuttles between sides as a mediator. Before even that can happen, the Palestinians need assurances and clarifications from the United States - in effect, they're talking about what they will be allowed to talk about.
It seems a steep descent from the heady aspirations of a two-state solution within two years, the line that the Obama administration had been proposing. More modest goals may be far more realistic to start. As Mr Mitchell is uniquely qualified to understand from his work in Northern Ireland, the road to peace must be measured in small steps towards building trust. These steps often must be taken despite, not because of, provocations that grab headlines.
The historical injustices, intractable conflicts and deep levels of distrust in the Holy Land would make a stone weep. But it is a story that sounded too familiar to the people of Northern Ireland a little more than a decade ago. After hundreds of years of animosity and three decades of what ammounted to a civil war, Northern Ireland is just now finding stability. Events this past week have shown that the work is ongoing. Catholic and Protestant leaders have been deliberating over the selection of a justice minister after agreeing on Friday on the transfer of policing and judicial powers from London to Belfast.
An agreement on these issues was widely considered to be the culmination of the process that the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 put in place. Of course, Mr Mitchell helped broker that settlement. He is not reticent about drawing parallels between Northern Ireland and the Middle East peace process: chiefly, the deep enmities, the lack of early progress and the widely held perception that no solution was possible. Even after what appeared to have been a wasted year of efforts for Mr Mitchell, the bleak climate for peace has never daunted him before.
The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is right to be wary of this latest diplomatic gambit by the United States. He has been left out in the cold before after the Americans failed to pressure Israel on a real settlement freeze and pushed for an ill-advised delay of the Goldstone report on the Gaza war.
There are also grave doubts about the current Israeli government's good faith. With firebrands like the foreign minister Avigdor Liebermen making statements in support of regime change in Syria, the argument could be made that peace isn't the first priority at present. With very few exceptions, members of the Likud Party have reaffirmed their goal to strengthen Israel's grip on the West Bank, at the expense of the Palestinians.
Mr Mitchell would concede that a breakthrough on a two-state solution is not possible if these hardline positions prevail. But in the years to come - and it is useless to pretend it will be less than years - talks between the two sides is the only way to narrow the gap between them.
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
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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.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
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The currency conundrum
Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”
Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.
This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.
Normal People
Sally Rooney, Faber & Faber
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
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