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The US Senate gave overwhelming final approval to a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine as Republicans and Democrats rallied behind the Eastern European country's efforts to fight off the Russian invasion.
The 86-11 vote comes three weeks after US President Joe Biden requested an initial $33bn in military and economic assistance for Kyiv.
“I applaud the Congress for sending a clear bipartisan message to the world that the people of the United States stand together with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their democracy and freedom,” Mr Biden said in a statement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also praised Congress's efforts, heralding the $40bn package as a “significant [American] contribution”.
The House of Representatives approved the aid on May 10 but it stalled in the Senate after Republican Rand Paul refused to allow a quick vote.
Speaking from the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the delay tactic by the junior senator from Kentucky “repugnant”.
He added that the Republicans who voted against the measure were “beyond troubling”.
“It appears more and more that MAGA [Make American Great Again] Republicans are on the same soft-on-Putin playbook that we saw used by former President Trump,” he said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who voted in favour of the bill, said Ukraine's defeat would embolden autocrats, increase US security costs and put at risk the nation's European trading parties.
“The most expensive and painful thing America could possibly do in the long run would be to stop investing in sovereignty, stability and deterrence before it’s too late,” said Mr McConnell, who led a small Republican delegation to Kyiv at the weekend.
Contained in the bundle is $6bn earmarked to help boost Ukraine's armoured vehicle inventory and air defence system.
And nearly $9bn is allocated to ensure Ukraine's “continuity of government”, among other items, including humanitarian aid.
Congress already approved almost $14bn for Ukraine in mid-March, weeks after Russia invaded.
But as fighting has shifted away from the capital and towards the eastern and southern parts of the country, Mr Biden began calling for another round of financial support.
The US president is looking for his country to take the lead in what he views as a struggle between democracy and authoritarianism. But funds already designated for Ukraine are about to run out, he said.
The House of Representatives already approved the $40bn package — the equivalent to the 2020 GDP of Cameroon — last week.
Such bipartisan support is rare in a Congress often divided on party lines.
“When it comes to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, either we pay now or we pay later,” said Republican Lindsey Graham, who earlier in the conflict took to Twitter to call for the Russian president to be assassinated.
Though it originally stuck to sending weapons seen as defensive, Washington has moved on to supplying artillery, helicopters and drones to the Ukrainian army, whose troops are trained to use them in the US or in third countries before heading back to use them at the front.
Another $9bn of the latest package has also been set aside to help the US resupply its own weapons.
The Biden administration on Thursday also authorised a $100 million drawdown that includes 18 155mm Howitzers, 18 more tactical vehicles, counter-artillery radars and spare parts, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Usain Bolt's World Championships record
2007 Osaka
200m Silver
4x100m relay Silver
2009 Berlin
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2011 Daegu
100m Disqualified in final for false start
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2013 Moscow
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2015 Beijing
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
SPECS
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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The biog
Age: 19
Profession: medical student at UAE university
Favourite book: The Ocean at The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman
Role model: Parents, followed by Fazza (Shiekh Hamdan bin Mohammed)
Favourite poet: Edger Allen Poe
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Notable cricketers and political careers
- India: Kirti Azad, Navjot Sidhu and Gautam Gambhir (rumoured)
- Pakistan: Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi (rumoured)
- Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (rumoured)
- Bangladesh (Mashrafe Mortaza)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The view from The National
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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