Antony Blinken calls for Nato troops to withdraw from Afghanistan together


Jamie Prentis
  • English
  • Arabic

Nato troops should leave Afghanistan together, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, a day after it was announced American soldiers would leave the country by September 11.

"I am here to work closely with our allies, with the [Nato] secretary general, on the principle that we have established from the start: in together, adapt together and out together," Mr Blinken said at the headquarters of the alliance in Brussels.

He said Washington wanted a co-ordinated pullback with the alliance from Afghanistan, where about 2,500 US soldiers are in the country as part of a 9,600-strong Nato mission.

“Together, we went into Afghanistan to deal with those who attacked us and to make sure that Afghanistan would not again become a haven for terrorists who might attack any of us,” Mr Blinken said. “Together, we have achieved the goals that we we set out to achieve. And now it is time to bring our forces home.

“We will work very closely together in the weeks and months ahead on a safe, deliberate and co-ordinated withdrawal of our forces from Afghanistan,” he said alongside Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

After talks between Mr Blinken and Mr Stoltenberg, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the two leaders "discussed our collective future in Afghanistan, noting that, as we have consistently said, the Nato alliance went in to Afghanistan together, adjusted to changing circumstances together, and will leave together".

Germany’s defence minister said Nato is likely to follow the US in withdrawing all combat troops from Afghanistan by September 2021, while the UK government did not explicitly deny a report it would also follow the US move.

The foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany and the US will hold talks on Wednesday about Afghanistan, tensions on the Ukraine-Russia border and the Iran nuclear deal.

A UK government representative said: "We are working closely with the US, Nato allies and partners to support a secure and stable Afghanistan.
"For there to be any chance of a lasting peace, the Taliban must engage meaningfully in a dialogue with the Afghan government.
"Any change to our security presence will be made in agreement with allies and after consultation with our partners."

Germany’s defence minister earlier underlined the importance of the alliance co-ordinating its Afghanistan planning with Washington.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was speaking ahead of a Nato defence and foreign ministers conference on Wednesday and after the US government announced it would pull back its soldiers from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

"We always said: we'll go in together, we'll leave together," Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer told German broadcaster ARD. "I am for an orderly withdrawal and that is why I assume that we will agree to that today.”

She said it was vital "for us in Nato to synchronise our planning with the US planning".

After withdrawing, Nato aims to rely on Afghan military and police forces for security, which they have trained and supported with billions of dollars in funding.

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The specs

Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder

Transmission: 7-speed auto

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Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

RESULT

Manchester United 1 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Man United: Dunk (66' og)

Man of the Match: Shane Duffy (Brighton)

Key facilities
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What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Price: From Dh801,800
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

Company%20Profile
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20Z%20FLIP5
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Company profile

Company: Verity

Date started: May 2021

Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif

Based: Dubai

Sector: FinTech

Size: four team members

Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000

Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors

While you're here
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Eagles
Tries: Bright, O’Driscoll
Cons: Carey 2
Pens: Carey 3

Hurricanes
Tries: Knight 2, Lewis, Finck, Powell, Perry
Cons: Powell 3

ENGLAND SQUAD

Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

'Young girls thinking of big ideas'

Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.

“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”

In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.

“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”

Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.

“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”

rpennington@thenational.ae

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
FIXTURES

Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)

Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)

Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)

'Cheb%20Khaled'
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Scoreline

Bournemouth 2

Wilson 70', Ibe 74'

Arsenal 1

Bellerin 52'

The%20Afghan%20connection
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TALE OF THE TAPE

Manny Pacquiao
Record: 59-6-2 (38 KOs)
Age: 38
Weight: 146lbs
Height: 166cm
Reach: 170cm

Jeff Horn
Record: 16-0-1 (11 KOs)
Age: 29
Weight: 146.2lbs
Height: 175cm
Reach: 173cm

The Bio

Name: Lynn Davison

Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi

Children: She has one son, Casey, 28

Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK

Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Favourite Author: CJ Sansom

Favourite holiday destination: Bali

Favourite food: A Sunday roast

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE

Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega

Director: Tim Burton

Rating: 3/5

World Test Championship table

1 India 71 per cent

2 New Zealand 70 per cent

3 Australia 69.2 per cent

4 England 64.1 per cent

5 Pakistan 43.3 per cent

6 West Indies 33.3 per cent

7 South Africa 30 per cent

8 Sri Lanka 16.7 per cent

9 Bangladesh 0

City's slump

L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1

QUALIFYING RESULTS

1. Max Verstappen, Netherlands, Red Bull Racing Honda, 1 minute, 35.246 seconds.
2. Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Mercedes, 1:35.271.
3. Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, Mercedes, 1:35.332.
4. Lando Norris, Great Britain, McLaren Renault, 1:35.497.
5. Alexander Albon, Thailand, Red Bull Racing Honda, 1:35.571.
6. Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, McLaren Renault, 1:35.815.
7. Daniil Kvyat, Russia, Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, 1:35.963.
8. Lance Stroll, Canada, Racing Point BWT Mercedes, 1:36.046.
9. Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Ferrari, 1:36.065.
10. Pierre Gasly, France, Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, 1:36.242.

Eliminated after second session

11. Esteban Ocon, France, Renault, 1:36.359.
12. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, Renault, 1:36.406.
13. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Ferrari, 1:36.631.
14. Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 1:38.248.

Eliminated after first session

15. Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 1:37.075.
16. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 1:37.555.
17. Kevin Magnussen, Denmark, Haas Ferrari, 1:37.863.
18. George Russell, Great Britain, Williams Mercedes, 1:38.045.
19. Pietro Fittipaldi, Brazil, Haas Ferrari, 1:38.173.
20. Nicholas Latifi, Canada, Williams Mercedes, 1:38.443.