US President-elect Joe Biden has named Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a career diplomat with extensive experience in Africa, as his pick for ambassador to the United Nations.
In a statement, Mr Biden's transition team described her as a "35-year veteran of the US Foreign Service" who has served across four continents and led policy on Sub-Saharan Africa during the Obama administration.
The appointment of a black woman to a highly-visible, cabinet-level role shows Mr Biden making good on pledges to promote diversity in his ranks and of reviving a diminished State Department.
In a statement, Mr Biden said he had picked a diverse range of "crisis-tested", "innovative and imaginative" candidates to run world affairs and to "reclaim America's seat at the head of the table".
Ms Thomas-Greenfield served as US ambassador to Liberia and has been posted to the UN in Switzerland, Pakistan, Kenya, Gambia, Nigeria and Jamaica. For two years, she ran human resources for the State Department's 70,000-strong workforce.
Since leaving public service at the start of the Trump administration in 2017, Ms Thomas-Greenfield has led the Africa Practice at Albright Stonebridge Group, a diplomatic consultancy firm chaired by Madeleine Albright, a former top US diplomat.
After her name was announced, Ms Thomas-Greenfield explained on Twitter that, if confirmed by US senators, she would "lead with the power of kindness and compassion to make the world a better place".
In selecting a veteran diplomat, Mr Biden may be signalling a bid to repair America's global standing, which has been affected by the Trump administration's go-it-alone, "America first" policies.
During his term, President Donald Trump has pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal as well as the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and has announced plans to exit the World Health Organization, moves that have been widely criticised at UN headquarters.
Ms Thomas-Greenfield co-authored an article in Foreign Affairs magazine this month, addressing a "transformation of diplomacy" and "how to save the State Department" after it had been weakened by the Trump administration.
News of Ms Thomas-Greenfield's selection was received positively at the UN, thanks in part to her expertise in Sub-Saharan Africa, with violence in Congo, South Sudan and other hotspots frequently reaching the UN agenda.
Speaking with reporters on Monday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the body's Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would work "very closely" with the new American UN ambassador.
Richard Gowan, a UN expert at the International Crisis Group think tank, said on Twitter that Ms Thomas-Greenfield was "superbly-placed to rectify a sense of drift in US engagement on Africa" under the Trump administration.
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The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 640hp
Torque: 760nm
On sale: 2026
Price: Not announced yet
COMPANY PROFILE
Kareem Shaheen on Canada
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
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Honeymoonish
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F1 The Movie
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Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Tuesday results:
- Singapore bt Malaysia by 29 runs
- UAE bt Oman by 13 runs
- Hong Kong bt Nepal by 3 wickets
Final:
Thursday, UAE v Hong Kong
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About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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Match info:
Real Betis v Sevilla, 10.45pm (UAE)
Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide
Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.
The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.
Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last-16, second leg:
Real Madrid 1 (Asensio 70'), Ajax 4 (Ziyech 7', Neres 18', Tadic 62', Schone 72')
Ajax win 5-3 on aggregate
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Transgender report
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Scores in brief:
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The biog
Born: near Sialkot, Pakistan, 1981
Profession: Driver
Family: wife, son (11), daughter (8)
Favourite drink: chai karak
Favourite place in Dubai: The neighbourhood of Khawaneej. “When I see the old houses over there, near the date palms, I can be reminded of my old times. If I don’t go down I cannot recall my old times.”
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
Kareem Shaheen on Canada
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
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THE SPECS
Engine: 4.0L twin-turbo V8
Gearbox: eight-speed automatic
Power: 571hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,000-4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.4L/100km
Price, base: from Dh571,000
On sale: this week
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
The specs
Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
On sale: now
