An Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft believed to have carried expelled Russian diplomats from the USA stands at the Vnukovo airport, outside Moscow. Uri Kochetkov / EPA
An Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft believed to have carried expelled Russian diplomats from the USA stands at the Vnukovo airport, outside Moscow. Uri Kochetkov / EPA
An Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft believed to have carried expelled Russian diplomats from the USA stands at the Vnukovo airport, outside Moscow. Uri Kochetkov / EPA
An Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft believed to have carried expelled Russian diplomats from the USA stands at the Vnukovo airport, outside Moscow. Uri Kochetkov / EPA

Sixty expelled Russian diplomats arrive back in Moscow


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Sixty Russian diplomats expelled from the US returned to Moscow on Sunday, a result of the biggest tit-for-tat expulsions in recent memory following the poisoning of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England.

Two planes from Washington and New York reportedly landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport carrying US-based diplomats and their families. More than 150 Russian diplomats have so far been ordered out of the US, EU, NATO countries and other nations.

Britain has called it “highly likely” that Russia was responsible for the Skripal attack using the Soviet-designed Novichok nerve agent.

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the world has entered “a new era of warfare”.

President Vladimir Putin is “investing in long-range missiles, boasting about nuclear systems and engaging brazen cyber operations. If we were in any doubt of the danger posed by Moscow, we only have to look at events in Salisbury, where our Armed Forces, including the RAF, have been responding to a cold-blooded chemical attack,” Mr Williamson wrote.

The Organisation for the Prohibition Chemical Weapons is in the midst of verifying a UK analysis of the nerve agents used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, found collapsed on a bench in Salisbury on March 4. Authorities said the highest concentration of the agent was found on their front door. The Skripals remain in hospital.

“This was an illegal and contemptuous use of force against our country by the Russian state, endangering innocent lives. The Kremlin’s response has been to unleash a tidal wave of smears, lies and mockery. The world’s patience with Putin’s malign behaviour has worn thin,” Mr Williamson wrote.

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More than 20 countries have so far said that they would expel Russian diplomats in support of Britain. London expelled 23 Russian diplomats, while the US sent home 60 alleged "spies" and closed Russia's consulate in Seattle.

Moscow responded by expelling diplomats from more than 20 countries including the UK, US, Germany and Canada. Russia also ordered the closure of Britain’s consulate in St Petersburg and the British Council’s operations in Russia.

Russia denies any involvement in the Skripal attack and has warned its nationals to think twice before travelling to Britain, where they could be singled out for harassment.

Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko told Russian television on Sunday that there were “serious suspicions” that British intelligence services were linked to the poisoning.

"They are refusing to cooperate with us and are not giving us any facts. These realities naturally prompt us to conclude that this is a provocation made by the special services," Mr Yakovenko said in an interview aired on NTV Television, Tass reported.

Germany's foreign minister on Sunday said Berlin was open to dialogue with Russia and hoped to "rebuild trust".

"Russia's behaviour in recent years has undoubtedly caused a lot of trust to be lost," Heiko Maas told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

"At the same time, we need Russia as a partner, to resolve regional conflicts, for disarmament and as an important pillar for the multilateral order," he said.

"That's why we are open to dialogue and hope to rebuild trust bit by bit if Russia is willing to do so."

The biog:

Languages: Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, basic Russian 

Favourite food: Pizza 

Best food on the road: rice

Favourite colour: silver 

Favourite bike: Gold Wing, Honda

Favourite biking destination: Canada 

While you're here
Washmen Profile

Date Started: May 2015

Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Laundry

Employees: 170

Funding: about $8m

Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures

The biog

Name: Abeer Al Shahi

Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan

Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.

Favourite activities: Bungee jumping

Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

AndhaDhun

Director: Sriram Raghavan

Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18

Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan

Rating: 3.5/5

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

The Kites

Romain Gary

Penguin Modern Classics

Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

The Brutalist

Director: Brady Corbet

Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn

Rating: 3.5/5

Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Match info

Manchester United 1
Fred (18')

Wolves 1
Moutinho (53')

BULKWHIZ PROFILE

Date started: February 2017

Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: E-commerce 

Size: 50 employees

Funding: approximately $6m

Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Duminy's Test career in numbers

Tests 46; Runs 2,103; Best 166; Average 32.85; 100s 6; 50s 8; Wickets 42; Best 4-47

Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.

Stat of the day - 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.

The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227 for four at the close.