US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Tuesday that the US Navy is moving its giant USS Hershel "Woody" Williams sea-base ship to the Souda Bay military base in Greece.
Speaking from the base on the Greek island of Crete, Mr Pompeo assured Athens of strong defence relations with the US as Greece faces a stand-off with Turkey.
"Today, I have an announcement that the prime minister foreshadowed, where the USS Hershel "Woody" Williams, the US Navy's newest expeditionary sea base … will call Souda Bay home," he said.
“It’s literally the perfect choice in light of the facility’s strategic location and it’s symbolic of a defence partnership that will continue to expand and to grow."
A senior US official said the move was a long-term investment in US military on the Mediterranean.
“We are leveraging the unique asset that Souda Bay provides: its geographic location in this dynamic Eastern Mediterranean region; outstanding support from our Hellenic Armed Forces hosts; and the ability to quickly deploy into an active theatre," the official said.
He said Souda Bay would be used as "a gas station, replenishment site, a place to swap crews while maintaining the operational effectiveness of our military assets".
He spoke of strategic alliances Greece and Cyprus have formed in the Eastern Mediterranean, including those with the UAE, Egypt and Israel.
Last week, the Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces toured Greece as both sides seek to strengthen co-operation.
Lt Gen Hamad Al Rumaithi met Gen Konstantinos Floros, chief of the Hellenic National Defence general staff.
On Tuesday, Gen Al Rumaithi inspected the site of joint military exercises taking place between the two countries' air forces on Crete.
The official would not say that the US was exploring other options to its presence at Incirlik base in Turkey, almost 950 kilometres from Souda Bay.
“It’s apples and oranges in terms of our operations in Turkey, which are important but stand on their own than what we’re doing here in Greece,” he said.
But experts regarded the move as the US expanding its regional presence and reducing its dependency on Incirlik.
“Incirlik doesn’t have any permanent [US] aircraft based there," said Aaron Stein, of the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
"It’s a political base in the sense that it’s a physical thing that connects Turkey and the United States.
"It also hosts US nuclear weapons so it won’t ever be closed. Incirlik stores 50 tactical US nuclear weapons under American control.
"Souda Bay already exists, it's a port for aircraft carriers in the East Mediterranean and it has a runway. It just works. I see it as more of the US building more options."
Mr Stein said it was only partly because of the downturn in US-Turkey relations and was not really aimed at Ankara.
This month, Senator Ron Johnson told the Washington Examiner that the US was looking for alternatives to Incirlik.
“We don't know what's gonna happen to Incirlik," Mr Johnson said. "We hope for the best but we have to plan for the worst.
“We're already looking at Greece as an alternative."
Incirlik air base played a critical part in US flights to strike ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
But after Ankara bought a Russian S-400 missile defence system the S-400, and with its ties to the Palestinian militant group Hamas and pharmaceutical debt to the US, Washington appears to be hedging.
Ryan Bohl, a senior fellow at intelligence company Stratfor, said a presence in Souda Bay might be beneficial for the US Navy.
"It could be a realistic move," Mr Bohl said. "It would still allow the US the operational capabilities it has from Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean without being hamstrung by politics.
“For the US, Incirlik base used to be a potent anti-Soviet operations centre but that's no longer the case.
"The US has kept the base open because it's been useful for its anti-ISIS operations and because Washington has wanted to keep Turkey as close to Nato as possible.”
He said it was unlikely that the US would fully close Incirlik, but expected Turkey to object to a US base in Crete.
“A new US base in Crete could anger Turkey enough that eventually Ankara themselves might consider limiting US presence at Incirlik base,” Mr Bohl said.
The US Defence Department was not immediately available for comment.
Mr Pompeo will also visit Croatia, Italy and the Vatican on his five-day European trip.
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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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Wydad 2 Urawa 3
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Uefa Nations League: How it Works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
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
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 (Gundogan 56')
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (Solomon 69')
TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Results:
First Test: New Zealand 30 British & Irish Lions 15
Second Test: New Zealand 21 British & Irish Lions 24
Third Test: New Zealand 15 British & Irish Lions 15
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%3Cp%3ERohit%20Sharma%20(capt)%2C%20Shubman%20Gill%2C%20Cheteshwar%20Pujara%2C%20Virat%20Kohli%2C%20Ajinkya%20Rahane%2C%20KL%20Rahul%2C%20KS%20Bharat%20(wk)%2C%20Ravichandran%20Ashwin%2C%20Ravindra%20Jadeja%2C%20Axar%20Patel%2C%20Shardul%20Thakur%2C%20Mohammed%20Shami%2C%20Mohammed%20Siraj%2C%20Umesh%20Yadav%2C%20Jaydev%20Unadkat%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Scotland 59 (Tries: Hastings (2), G Horne (3), Turner, Seymour, Barclay, Kinghorn, McInally; Cons: Hastings 8)
Russia 0
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOlivia%20Newman%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Daisy%20Edgar-Jones%2C%20Taylor%20John%20Smith%2C%20Harris%20Dickinson%2C%20David%20Strathairn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
