Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine
Ukraine called on Monday for immediate sanctions from Europe on Russia to act as a deterrent as tensions on the border push higher, but Western states maintain that a punishing package of measures will only roll out if the Kremlin pushes ahead with an attack.
"We expect decisions," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in Brussels before addressing EU foreign ministers. "We believe that there are good and legitimate reasons to impose at least some of the sanctions now to demonstrate that the European Union is not only talking the talk about sanctions, but is also walking the walk."
Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, said "the work is done" on the sanctions Russia faces while French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the European Union was prepared to bear a significant cost to punish aggression. “We are aware of the consequences for the EU economy,” Le Maire said on Monday. “But the political principle is more important: we refuse any kind of attack against Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
The EU ministers backed plans announced last month for a 1.2 billion euro financial aid loan package for Ukraine, and also agreed in principle to a long-standing Ukrainian request for a small-scale mission of military instructors to help train officers.
Boris Johnson vowed on Sunday that Moscow would be “hit very hard” by any land grab and President Joe Biden has promised President Vladimir Putin that he will have “never seen sanctions like the ones I promise will be imposed”.
The main aim will be to cut Russia off from the global financial system and go after money its oligarchs have squirrelled away in the West.
Of all the countries threatening economic retaliation, Britain has the ability to inflict most pain with more Russian gold in London that anywhere else, spread across both the stock exchange as well as its affluent mansions.
Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, has promised to target anyone “providing strategic support” to Mr Putin’s regime, which carries weight because London is a vital capital-raising centre for oligarchs.
The London Stock Exchange is home to secondary listings for cash-raising to 31 Russian companies including Gazprom and Rosneft, as well as state banks and mining groups, with a total listing of £486 billion ($661.92bn).
In 2020 these entities paid the Russian state £39bn in tax, providing crucial government revenue, especially for the military which has an annual budget of about £41bn.
Parliament has now been given the power to impose sanctions on companies conducting business of “economic significance to the government of Russia”.
Britain also plans to vastly increase the number of pro-Putin Russians that are penalised from the 180 people and 48 entities sanctioned since the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
In the toughest scenario, companies in Britain, the European Union or US could be prevented from making transactions with any sanctioned Russian entity, essentially leading to a suspension of their shares.
Another dramatic move would be for the West to follow Mr Biden’s threat of excluding Russian banks from the international Swift system that is used to make billions of dollars in cross-border transfers.
The US has promised retribution on a Ukraine offensive. “The mother of all sanctions” has been threatened by Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate’s foreign relations committee.
America has a sanctions bill that would hit at least 12 Russian banks as well as oil, gas and mining companies.
If the bill becomes law, unprecedented sanctions could lead to the swift designation of a wide range of people and entities.
But it is in the technology sector that the US could inflict the most pain by blocking exports of key components, particularly those that would affect the defence sector, as well as parts used in phones and appliances, causing widespread difficulties for Russia’s consumers.
While the US and UK appear to have tough penalties in place, the EU’s reliance on Russian energy could undermine a united front, particularly with Germany reluctant to ban the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission chief, on Saturday warned Moscow that its financial and energy sectors would be targeted despite Russia providing 40 per cent of Europe’s gas requirements.
“There's a big financial packet of sanctions that would cut off Russia from the financial markets,” she told CNBC. “A heavy blow for the economy and the export controls.”
She said that while gas exports to Europe “provided half of the Russian budget”, the EU was already looking towards others suppliers including the US.
A united and broad range of sanctions could certainly hurt Russia and cause significant long-term damage, as Europe now understands it has to wean itself off Moscow’s hydrocarbon dependency.
But for them to prove more effective than those imposed on Iran, the West must be ready to suffer its own economic pain. That will be a stiff examination of unity in the face of aggression.
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
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THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Roger Federer's record at Wimbledon
Roger Federer's record at Wimbledon
1999 - 1st round
2000 - 1st round
2001 - Quarter-finalist
2002 - 1st round
2003 - Winner
2004 - Winner
2005 - Winner
2006 - Winner
2007 - Winner
2008 - Finalist
2009 - Winner
2010 - Quarter-finalist
2011 - Quarter-finalist
2012 - Winner
2013 - 2nd round
2014 - Finalist
2015 - Finalist
2016 - Semi-finalist
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The five pillars of Islam
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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SAUDI RESULTS
Team Team Pederson (-40), Team Kyriacou (-39), Team De Roey (-39), Team Mehmet (-37), Team Pace (-36), Team Dimmock (-33)
Individual E. Pederson (-14), S. Kyriacou (-12), A van Dam (-12), L. Galmes (-12), C. Hull (-9), E. Givens (-8),
G. Hall (-8), Ursula Wikstrom (-7), Johanna Gustavsson (-7)
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How it works
A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank
Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night
The charge is stored inside a battery
The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode
A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes
This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode
When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again
The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge
No limit on how many times you can charge
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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