In the space of four days, two cities in Europe have been struck by suicide bombers – and in both attacks the hand of ISIL was detectable. The attacks in Istanbul last Saturday and Brussels yesterday morning are only the latest in what is now clearly a wave of ISIL-linked attacks. The horrific Paris attacks occurred just a few months ago, in November.
In the immediate aftermath of such an attack, it is essential to be cautious. Information is still coming out about what happened in the Belgian capital. But it does look as if the various challenges of the past few years have combined to bring about an incredibly difficult dilemma for the Middle East and Europe, one whose roots lie in Syria but the ramifications of which will be felt globally.
If initial reports turn out to be accurate, the beginnings of the Brussels attacks, like those in Paris, lie in the Belgian city’s deprived district of Molenbeek. But from there the link moves to Syria, where the ISIL stronghold of Raqqa provides an ungoverned space for would-be extremists to gather, train and organise. The mutation of religious instruction they receive convinces them they are doing the right thing. Those who slip back into Europe are unknown to intelligence agencies, or it takes the security services too long to find them.
The result is the tragedy we have seen too often in the Middle East and Europe, and now in the Belgian capital.
For sure there will be questions asked of the Belgian security services, as well as of the airports. “What can be done?” will be the first question most people ask. The answer is hard to hear, because there is a natural limit to what can be done. The answer in the long term lies in the end to the Syrian civil war, the end of the grudges and warped ideas that motivate these young men.
But even in the short term, protecting major infrastructure such as airports will not prove easy. Globally, since the September 11 attacks, the focus has been on preventing bombs getting on to aircraft. But the attacks in Brussels took place inside a terminal in an area usually open to any member of the public. Would it help to move the security checks closer to the airport’s entrance, as happens in some airports? Perhaps, but there would still be large numbers of people gathering there.
In the end, a balance has to be struck between freedom of movement and security. If airports are highly protected, the bombers will shift to train stations; if those are secure, they will look to bus stations, or to malls. There is always a balance to be struck – strike it too far in one direction and we will have allowed the terrorists to change our way of life.
Our hearts go out to the families of the victims in Brussels. We mourn for them, as we mourned for Istanbul’s victims last week and Paris’s victims before that. The global terror threat is one that puts us all at risk.
There are, unfortunately, few simple answers – just a sustained, cooperative, intelligence-led approach that has proven successful in the past and must be refined again for the future.
comment@thenational.ae
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
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
The%20specs
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
'THE WORST THING YOU CAN EAT'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
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Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
Tottenham's 10 biggest transfers (according to transfermarkt.com):
1). Moussa Sissokho - Newcastle United - £30 million (Dh143m): Flop
2). Roberto Soldado - Valencia - £25m: Flop
3). Erik Lamela - Roma - £25m: Jury still out
4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen - £25m: Success
5). Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic - £21m: Flop
6). Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar - £18m: Flop
7). David Bentley - Blackburn Rovers - £18m: Flop
8). Luka Modric - Dynamo Zagreb - £17m: Success
9). Paulinho - Corinthians - £16m: Flop
10). Mousa Dembele - Fulham - £16m: Success