As Donald Trump announced his intent to extend the US military role in Afghanistan, he also delivered a harsh warning to Pakistan.
Washington could “no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organisations”, the US president said in the speech on Monday, a charge regularly levelled by Kabul and New Delhi but denied by Islamabad.
Mr Trump threatened to cut financial aid to Pakistan if it does not do more to stop the flow of militants into Afghanistan and appealed to its arch-rival, India, to increase participation in Afghanistan’s economy and broader development.
Pakistan enjoyed special security relations with the United States when it was designated a major non-Nato ally by then US president George W Bush for its contributions to the fight against Al Qaeda. But relations between the two countries have long been strained over Afghanistan.
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Read more:
Trump promises to crush Al Qaeda and ISIL in Afghanistan
Taliban dismiss Trump's Afghan strategy as 'nothing new'
Trump backtracks on Afghan troop pullout
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Though there was no official Pakistani response to Mr Trump's remarks, there has been a mixed reaction from politicians and analysts, particularly regarding his call for India to step up its involvement in Afghanistan.
Abdul Ghaffar Aziz, a central leader of the Jammat-e-Islami, one of Pakistan’s leading Islamist parties, said his country had paid heavy human and economic costs in the US's so-called war on terror.
“Trump ignored atrocities of [the] Indian government in Kashmir and invited it to build Afghanistan,” Mr Aziz said.
A senior official in Pakistan’s foreign ministry said a detailed response to America's stated future strategy would follow after consultations.
"Asking Pakistan to do more is not a new thing. But this time, Pakistan is more concerned [about the US] reaching out to India, which has already been supporting Pakistani terrorist groups from Afghani soil to carry out subversive activities in Pakistan," the official told The National.
But some said the new US policy on Afghanistan was appropriate.
Afrasiab Khattak, a former member of the Pakistani senate and leader of the liberal Awami National Party, said focusing on counter terrorism was the right response as nation-building cannot be done by foreign forces.
“Making an open-ended commitment [to] an anti-terror fight and leaving space for political solution is the type of balance that can pave ground for peace,” he said.
Other analysts, however, believe Pakistan’s military has already been working on flushing out militants from the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network from tribal areas.
On August 19, a team from US Central Command, headed by senior US military official Gen Joseph L Votel, visited North Waziristan. The Pakistani army said the team expressed appreciation for the efforts made by the Pakistani military to re-establish peace in the region.
Hasan Khan, an Islamabad-based analyst who studies Pakistani-Afghani relations, said the Trump administration had for the first time adopted a clear approach towards Afghanistan but should not hold Pakistan responsible for the instability there.
Citing a report by the Special Inspector General of Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar), Mr Khan said 40 per cent of the country's districts were under the control of Taliban or other armed groups.
“It is also making Pakistan concerned because Pakistani militant groups, such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, have been hiding in the sanctuaries in Afghan Taliban’s controlled areas and from there carrying out cross-border attacks,” Mr Khan added.
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Company%20Profile
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RACE CARD
6.30pm: Baniyas Group 2 (PA) Dh 97,500 (Dirt) 1,400m.
7.05pm Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,200m
7.40pm Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,400m
8.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,400m
8.50pm Rated Conditions (TB) Dh 120,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm Handicap (TB) Dh 95,000 (D) 1,200m
10pm Handicap (TB) Dh 85,000 (D) 2,000m
Company%C2%A0profile
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Results:
CSIL 2-star 145cm One Round with Jump-Off
1. Alice Debany Clero (USA) on Amareusa S 38.83 seconds
2. Anikka Sande (NOR) For Cash 2 39.09
3. Georgia Tame (GBR) Cash Up 39.42
4. Nadia Taryam (UAE) Askaria 3 39.63
5. Miriam Schneider (GER) Fidelius G 47.74
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Opening Rugby Championship fixtures:Games can be watched on OSN Sports
Saturday: Australia v New Zealand, Sydney, 1pm (UAE)
Sunday: South Africa v Argentina, Port Elizabeth, 11pm (UAE)
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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Company%20Profile
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Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
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