It has all the hallmarks of a Cold War-style tit-for-tat that will peter out at some point. However the current crisis between Russia and the western liberal democracies is likely to have surprising staying power and see the Kremlin challenged across multiple fronts in the months ahead.
The US announcement that 63 Russian diplomats would be expelled and a consulate in Seattle shut down was in retaliation for Moscow’s “highly likely” involvement in the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. Britain has already expelled 23 Russian diplomats and intelligence agents and Western European states sent home dozens more.
The Russian embassy in Washington responded in an eye-catching fashion, harnessing Twitter to run an online poll to determine which American consulate in Russia should be shuttered in response.
Days after securing victory in the latest presidential election of his long tenure, President Vladimir Putin is no doubt anxious that the concerted action remains within a well-defined response cycle. Andrey Kortunov, the head of the Russian International Affairs Council, warned Tuesday that some programmes of Western cultural foundations and other non-government organisations, could be shut down, setting the stage for more escalation. “The danger is that you cut channels of communication if you have a crisis like that,” he said. “By cutting these channels of communication we increase the risks. Basically it increases the risks on inadvertent escalation or even a war.
“The level of predictability was higher during the Cold War than it is now. Both sides knew the rules of the game,” he added. “I’m not sure it is the case today.”
Yet there is a groundswell for the retaliation to move into new and more biting phases.
Alexander Vershbow, a former US ambassador in Moscow and Atlantic Council distinguished fellow, told Voice of America that the Skripal attack provided the justification for unparalleled efforts to pressure Mr Putin’s inner circle. “Russian fingerprints were clearly on this attack, and a stiff response was necessary," he said. "I personally think an even tougher response is still justified, including some of the targeted sanctions on the big oligarchs that are close to Putin to show that those who support a system that sponsors aggression of this kind will pay an increasing price if this keeps, if this keeps going.”
As the venue the attack, it falls to Britain to set examples of how much more can be done. As Michael Davenport, the British ambassador to Kuwait wrote on Tuesday, London has taken much solace from the solidarity it has drawn from its friends.
“The whole international community needs to stand together to uphold the rules on which the safety of every nation depends,” the statement said. “If we do not, then the Russian state will continue its pattern of dangerous and destructive behaviour. That is why strong and united condemnation of Russian actions from our friends and allies in Europe, North America and the Middle East has been so important.”
Donald Tusk, the EU council president, has warned Moscow that further measures are certainly not excluded by the countries that threw out intelligence agents this week. Keeping the pressure on allies for more will be a key task for British diplomacy in the weeks ahead.
Francois Heisbourg, one of the leading European strategic analysts, has gone public with his belief that London must tackle the enormous store of wealth that well-connected Russian billionaires have accumulated in London, not least in the ownership of some of the capital’s great properties. “Outside world is also keeping a beady eye on what [the British government] is doing or not doing in terms of cleaning up Londongrad -and I as one am not (yet?) impressed,” he wrote on Twitter.
There is no secret about the properties that could be targeted. One group of activists conducts a bus tour of Russian oligarch-owned homes clustered in west London.
Another avenue is to flush out the shadowy Russian intelligence and disinformation networks. By actively exposing how Russia operates overseas, the British could provide a drumbeat of embarrassment for the Kremlin. As the Russia-hosted World Cup draws closer this summer, Mr Putin would surely be unhappy with the distracting headlines and calls for accountability.
Writing anonymously for the military think tank, Royal United Services Institute, a retired ex-intelligence official proposed an aggressive campaign targeting Russia operatives globally.
“That should include as much as can be publicised about the identities and true duties of those expelled, with illustrative accounts of their operational activities where possible – the Russians publicised film of British intelligence officers working in Moscow when they expelled some of them,” the author said.
“Beyond that, a factually unassailable account of Russian assassination policy and practice should also be issued, including those that have occurred in recent years in Qatar, Dubai, Istanbul, Montenegro and Vienna."
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alaan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Parthi%20Duraisamy%20and%20Karun%20Kurien%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247%20million%20raised%20in%20total%20%E2%80%94%20%242.5%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20and%20%244.5%20million%20in%20a%20pre-series%20A%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
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.
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
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
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
Fixtures
Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs
Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms
Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles
Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon
Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon
Adele: The Stories Behind The Songs
Caroline Sullivan
Carlton Books
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.
In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.
