One Iraqi soldier had already been killed when a concrete block was dropped on his head. His two comrades looked on in terror fearing the crowd of 2,000 fellow Iraqis would turn on them next.
It was shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and Doug Beattie had just witnessed the murder in the centre of Al Madina and knew something “absolutely wrong” was about to happen.
Using his rifle butt, elbows, and on one occasion his bayonet, he pushed, shoved and jabbed his way through the mob to save the two men.
It was an extraordinary act of bravery for which he received a deserved decoration. But, today, the depth of the challenge he faces as the new leader of the Ulster Unionist Party is potentially more daunting.
The party that ruled Northern Ireland for most of the 20th century finds itself in a politically barren land, bereft of all Westminster MPs, only a handful of representatives in the Stormont Assembly and a shrinking support base.
Mr Beattie, 55, is the sixth UUP leader since David Trimble, the formidable architect of the Northern Ireland peace agreement who left office in 2005.
The former soldier’s endurance on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, where he was also awarded the Military Cross for bravery, suggests the party may have settled upon someone with the resilience to resurrect its fortunes.
Unlike the more hard-line Democratic Unionist Party, the married father of two grown-up children has been quick to appeal to a broader base of supporters, away from the traditional religious tribalism.
"I want to make the UUP a more agile party fit for the 21st century," he told The National. "It's simple things that need to be done, such as attracting more women and young people and being more dynamic than we have been."
Undeterred by the workload of overhauling the dominance of the ruling DUP, Mr Beattie – known by former army colleagues for his “extremely stubborn streak” – believes the major focus should be on preventing the UK from falling apart, with both Scotland and Northern Ireland’s ties weakening.
With Ulster’s cross-border trade threatened by the Brexit agreement and the 1998 Belfast Agreement in danger of unravelling as a result, the new UUP leader insists keeping the UK together is key.
“Unionism is going through momentous change due to mostly Brexit. For me in Northern Ireland, we have to be as inclusive as possible to try and protect the union and to create a union of people who want to live and work together.”
It is partly his experience of witnessing a country’s cohesion broken that has impelled him to take up the post. Following the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq, the country tore apart along Sunni and Shia lines, much as Northern Ireland had between Roman Catholics and Protestants during the 30 years of the Troubles.
Mr Beattie was on hand to witness the Iraq blood-letting when just a few days into the invasion the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment, entered the town of Al Madina, north of Basra.
Commanded by the former SAS officer Col Tim Collins, the battalion captured the town without a shot being fired, despite Saddam Hussein’s army having a large number of armoured vehicles that far outmatched the British four-ton trucks.
At first, all seemed peaceful until the rumbling of a gathering crowd drew Regimental Sgt Major Beattie to the central square.
After witnessing the death of the first soldier, Mr Beattie made the instant decision to get to the remaining pair, despite being on his own.
“I was not really thinking, I just fought through this crowd of 2,000 people with my rifle. I was pushing, hitting people with my rifle butt and once I had to jab somebody in the calf with my bayonet. I got to where they were holding these Baathists and pushed away the people doing them harm. But I suddenly realised that I was alone and thought ‘oh goodness me, what am I going to do now?’ Then, all of a sudden, like the Red Sea parting, a phalanx of British soldiers, led by a colour sergeant, just cut through the crowd like butter until they got to me and they were able to grab these hapless individuals.”
One of the Iraqi soldiers, a grey, unshaven man in his late 30s, turned to Mr Beattie with both hands together, as if in a Christian prayer of thanks, while the other, who was much younger, looked terrified.
Reflecting on his actions 18 years on, Mr Beattie knew it was extremely dangerous taking on an unruly mob close to descending into a riot.
“I knew that I had just a moment where I had the ability to calm them and that the right thing to do was to save the lives of those two individuals who were about to get killed. It was a spur of the moment decision, a strange decision and probably wasn't the right one, in a military context.”
That courage and determination, which was recognised by a Queen’s Commendation for Bravery, will certainly be tested as he seeks to make the UUP a political force once again.
Decency, argues Mr Beattie, along with the right policies, will be the starting point.
“It doesn't matter people’s religion, colour, ethnic background or their cultural identity, if you just make Northern Ireland a place where people want to live. Because you learn a lot from serving in places like Iraq and Afghanistan and seeing the division that you have between different groups, what that does to people and what it means when they come together.”
As the DUP lurches to less tolerant policies, the middle ground might open up for Mr Beattie’s more progressive approach. But in the coming period it may seem that wading through a crowd of 2,000 angry people was an easier path to take.
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The specs: 2019 Audi A8
Price From Dh390,000
Engine 3.0L V6 turbo
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 345hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy, combined 7.5L / 100km
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle%20front-axle%20electric%20motor%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E218hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E330Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20touring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E402km%20(claimed)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh215%2C000%20(estimate)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeptember%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa
MATCH INFO
Everton 0
Manchester City 2 (Laporte 45 2', Jesus 90 7')
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
|
THE SPECS
Jaguar F-Pace SVR
Engine: 5-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 680Nm
Price: Dh465,071
A Dog's Journey
Directed by: Gail Mancuso
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Josh Gad, Marg Helgenberger, Betty Gilpin, Kathryn Prescott
3 out of 5 stars
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C200 Coupe
Price, base: Dh201,153
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 204hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 300Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
