Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine
After weeks of summits and strongly worded statements failed to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the diplomatic finger-pointing has begun.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who admitted on Friday that he was deceived by Russia’s Vladimir Putin, is under fire less than two months before an election after his peacemaking mission to the Kremlin came to nothing.
One challenger to Mr Macron, Valerie Pecresse, said the Russian president had “rolled him in flour”, while a spokesman for another, Eric Zemmour, described his diplomatic efforts as a show of “immense weakness”.
Germany is also facing awkward questions after years of efforts to maintain cordial relations with Russia did not give it enough leverage to dissuade Mr Putin from war.
“I’m so angry at us for our historical failure,” said Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Germany’s defence minister from 2019 to 2021, who said Europe had failed to learn the lessons from previous episodes of Russian aggression.
“We did not prepare anything that would really have deterred Putin. We have to be militarily strong enough so that non-negotiation cannot be an option for the other side.”
Since the alarm was raised about a Russian troop build-up late last year, western diplomats had scurried across Europe and faced off with Russia’s leading officials at a series of summits in Brussels, Geneva and Moscow in a bid to make peace.
The threat of “massive consequences and severe costs” became a catchphrase for European leaders. Although they refused to contemplate Mr Putin’s proposals to curb the expansion of Nato, they were heartened by Russia’s offer of talks on secondary issues such as arms control.
Mr Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reported some progress from talks around Mr Putin's famous long table at the Kremlin.
But those negotiations were seemingly killed off when Mr Putin ordered troops into Ukraine and the long-feared invasion began by air, land and sea early on Thursday. Nato and EU leaders meeting in Brussels hours later were challenged to explain why nothing they did had worked.
“There was duplicity,” said Mr Macron of his discussions with Russia. “There was a deliberate, conscious choice to launch war when we could still negotiate peace.”
Czech President Milos Zeman, usually friendly towards Russia, admitted that he too had been blindsided by what he said was an “unprovoked act of aggression”. Russia's stated commitment to the Minsk peace process was also seemingly torpedoed by the invasion.
From left and right, some politicians suggested Nato’s intransigence on the question of its future expansion was partly to blame, although European leaders were quick to counter that the responsibility for war was Mr Putin’s and that his reasons for invading were spurious.
Francois Fillon, a conservative former prime minister of France with business links to Russian energy, said the West had failed to take on board the Kremlin’s concerns about Nato troops moving closer to its borders.
On the left, Greece’s former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said Mr Putin was to blame for the invasion but said Nato “must be condemned for creating the circumstances” in which Russia attacked.
Nato, in turn, has repeatedly said it is a defensive alliance only and that if Mr Putin wants fewer US-allied troops on his borders then he should pull back his own forces from Ukraine.
In Britain, meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there were two main reasons for the West’s weakness towards Russia: oil and gas.
Russia is the main gas exporter to Europe and, with coal out of favour and opinion divided on nuclear power, the continent expects to rely on gas plants for the foreseeable future until renewable energy can keep the lights on.
Mr Scholz moved this week to suspend the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia, a project which his predecessor Angela Merkel had long defended, but this did not prove a deterrent to a Russian invasion.
In a statement, Mrs Merkel said the invasion was unjustified and a "profound turning point" in modern European history but did not address criticism of her own policies towards Russia.
Mr Johnson said the West had "learnt a bitter lesson about how to deal with Vladimir Putin" as he chided Europe for failing to learn the lessons from previous Russian ventures in Georgia and Crimea.
While Mr Johnson believes Britain is ahead of the game on the energy front, he is under pressure to go further in chasing questionable Russian money out of London after decades of relative hospitality for Kremlin-friendly oligarchs.
Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer went further than Mr Johnson in saying there would be “economic pain” involved in ridding Britain of Russian money and energy.
But he agreed with the prime minister that a “failed approach” to deterring Russia had led Mr Putin to believe that the benefits of aggression would outweigh the costs.
“For too long, our country has been a safe haven for the money that Putin and his fellow bandits stole from the Russian people,” Mr Starmer said. “It must now change.”
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
The Old Slave and the Mastiff
Patrick Chamoiseau
Translated from the French and Creole by Linda Coverdale
Key facilities
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Match info:
Manchester City 2
Sterling (8'), Walker (52')
Newcastle United 1
Yedlin (30')
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
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Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
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The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
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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
SQUADS
Bangladesh (from): Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed
Afghanistan (from): Rashid Khan (capt), Ihsanullah Janat, Javid Ahmadi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Afsar Zazai, Shapoor Zadran
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
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Sunday's fixtures
- Bournemouth v Southampton, 5.30pm
- Manchester City v West Ham United, 8pm
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
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Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
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Major matches on Manic Monday
Andy Murray (GBR) v Benoit Paire (FRA)
Grigor Dimitrov (BGR) v Roger Federer (SUI)
Rafael Nadal (ESP) v Gilles Muller (LUX)
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) Novak Djokovic (SRB)
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
The Bio
Favourite Emirati dish: I have so many because it has a lot of herbs and vegetables. Harees (oats with chicken) is one of them
Favourite place to go to: Dubai Mall because it has lots of sports shops.
Her motivation: My performance because I know that whatever I do, if I put the effort in, I’ll get results
During her free time: I like to drink coffee - a latte no sugar and no flavours. I do not like cold drinks
Pet peeve: That with every meal they give you a fries and Pepsi. That is so unhealthy
Advice to anyone who wants to be an ironman: Go for the goal. If you are consistent, you will get there. With the first one, it might not be what they want but they should start and just do it
