In a White House week characterised in part by revolving doors and resignations, there was also the hanging question of Gulf rapprochement as a delegation from Saudi Arabia completed its successful visit to Washington DC.
The rumbling domestic crisis the White House appears to be embroiled in could not drown out the more soothing mood music emanating from Donald Trump's meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The US president described the bilateral relationship as "the strongest it's ever been. We understand each other". Those relations extend to billions of dollars of investment.
As The National reported, the kingdom's foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir spoke about the signing of memorandums of understanding and business agreements at the end of the Crown Prince's visit to Washington and hinted at the possibility of a summit at Camp David later this year to discuss regional affairs. When pressed on the matter of whether Qatar would be on the agenda at such a summit, Mr Al Jubeir was unequivocal. The fracture with Qatar was an "inter-GCC" issue rather than something that required broader international intervention. Referring to a recent terror list released by Doha, Mr Al Jubeir also said: "This is an acknowledgement of a problem ... We hope that Qatar will return to the right path and correct its mistakes."
His words are both frank and realistic. There is, of course, no great expectation among Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that Qatar will fully mend its ways. Doha is linked to multiple extremist and terror groups – it has been described by Mr Trump as a "funder of terrorism at the highest level" – and it is the quartet's view that Qatar has done nothing to stem the flow of funding to extremists since the boycott began. So, until Qatar returns to the "right path" – and that means turning its back on Iran and its deep links to terrorism – the boycott will remain in place.
Separately, Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, tweeted on Friday that "Qatar is confirming the evidence against it and that its support for extremism and terrorism is at the core of its crisis." His remarks were in reference to the same terror list referenced by Mr Al Jubeir. The list includes several names that had previously been identified by the quartet.
Dr Gargash also rightly highlighted Doha’s “obstinacy” in the face of international condemnation. Until Qatar changes its tune, there will be no alteration of position by the quartet. Instead, that obstinacy will be matched by the quartet’s determination to stick to its principled course.
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
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LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Real Sociedad v Leganes (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Real Valladolid (4pm)
Valencia v Granada (7pm)
Eibar v Real Madrid (9.30pm)
Barcelona v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Sunday
Real Mallorca v Villarreal (3pm)
Athletic Bilbao v Levante (5pm)
Atletico Madrid v Espanyol (7pm)
Getafe v Osasuna (9.30pm)
Real Betis v Sevilla (midnight)
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Honeymoonish
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PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Freedom Artist
By Ben Okri (Head of Zeus)
Results
4pm: Al Bastakiya – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Dirt) 1,900m; Winner: Panadol, Mickael Barzalona (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)
4.35pm: Dubai City Of Gold – Group 2 (TB) $228,000 (Turf) 2,410m; Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
5.10pm: Mahab Al Shimaal – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Canvassed, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
6.20pm: Jebel Hatta – Group 1 (TB) $260,000 (T) 1,800m; Winner: Lord Glitters, Daniel Tudhope, David O’Meara
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (TB) $390,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
7.30pm: Nad Al Sheba – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Final Song, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 6 Huddersfield Town 1
Man City: Agüero (25', 35', 75'), Jesus (31'), Silva (48'), Kongolo (84' og)
Huddersfield: Stankovic (43')
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Company%20Profile
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START-UPS%20IN%20BATCH%204%20OF%20SANABIL%20500'S%20ACCELERATOR%20PROGRAMME
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now