The Republican Party has found a new line of attack against President Joe Biden, the mainstream media and the "woke left": They care more about the people of Palestine than they do the Americans in East Palestine.
Sorry if that is confusing. East Palestine is a village in Ohio that was the scene of a catastrophic derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals on February 3. It is in the Midwest, not the Middle East.
Nobody was killed or injured in the derailment, one of about 1,000 to occur in the US each year.
Initially at least, the fiery crash and ensuing release of dangerous chemicals seemed like a local environmental disaster that would slip from the headlines as crews cleaned things up.
But this being America in 2023, nothing is that simple. In the weeks since the derailment, East Palestine has become the latest front line in the country's ever-intensifying culture wars.
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Critics of Mr Biden have forced his administration on to the defensive over what they say was a slow response to the crash, even though Ohio Governor Mike DeWine initially rebuffed White House offers of federal assistance.
Last week, former president Donald Trump travelled to East Palestine, which overwhelmingly backed him in 2020, and told residents there that the federal response had been a "betrayal".
Democrats, meanwhile, have blasted Mr Trump's administration for loosening rail safety measures and environmental protection when Republicans were in charge, although there's nothing conclusive to show any deregulation contributed to this crash.
Right-wing politicians and commentators have tried to show that the Biden administration wilfully ignored the derailment because East Palestine is a mainly white, blue-collar community that votes Republican.
The Biden administration is thinking, "why lift a finger to help these people. That's what's going on", right-wing radio host Mark Levin told Fox News on Tuesday.
Levin said Mr Biden was more concerned about the Palestinians than anyone in East Palestine.
"Biden is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the Palestinians in the Middle East, who are killing Jews," he said.
"But he won't spend one penny or one minute of time on Palestine, Ohio. It's pretty grotesque."
Other Republican figures tried to take a similar track in recent weeks. When Mr Biden visited Kyiv last week — by train, no less — to show solidarity with Ukraine a year after Russia's invasion, Republican politicians attacked him for focusing his attention on a geopolitical crisis.
"Americans are not Biden's priority," Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert said, insinuating that a US president trying to maintain the post-Second World War international order was somehow less important than visiting Ohio.
At the centre of all this are the people and environment of East Palestine. The Biden administration has provided a timeline of the federal response to the derailment, but there is no question it failed to recognise the rising popular anger over its handling of the crash.
It wasn't until February 23 that Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg showed up at the crash site, nearly three weeks after the disaster, a delay he said he now regrets.
Mr Biden still hasn't visited, and it took him more than two weeks to speak publicly about it. And it is clear that initial local, state and federal assessments about the risks of the chemical spill were too optimistic.
The freight train, operated by Norfolk Southern Railroad, spewed a toxic mess of vinyl chloride and other hazardous chemicals when it went off the rails and exploded.
Several carriages burned for two days before authorities decided to begin a controlled burn of other railcars to prevent an explosion.
That sent a plume of pressurised vinyl chloride, a highly flammable and carcinogenic gas, into the air, forcing the evacuation of East Ohio, home to about 4,700 people.
Thousands of animals have died and locals are complaining of headaches, sore throats, rashes and nausea, with some suffering from respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis.
It is clear that the environmental toll could last years as chemicals seep into local soils and waterways.
But much of the Republican outrage is manufactured and should be called out for its absurdity.
This, after all, is the party that for decades has gaslighted Americans on climate change, angrily rebutting the science even as temperatures soar, rivers dry up and forests burn.
Fox News and other right-wing networks have shown footage of dead fish East Ohio's waterways.
Yet many of the voices blaming Mr Biden for the environmental catastrophe are the same ones who oppose government regulation to protect the environment.
Most Americans can surely agree that train derailments are bad, that locomotives hauling 150 carriages of carcinogenic chemicals through built-up areas should be subject to intense scrutiny, and that local, state and federal officials should pull out all stops to immediately clean up any spills.
But instead of approaching the East Palestine disaster with that common mindset, too many people are trying to score points from it and drive what's left of America's civilised political discourse even further off the rails.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
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
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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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
GAC GS8 Specs
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
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The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?
If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.
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History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
Brief scoreline:
Tottenham 1
Son 78'
Manchester City 0
Results
1.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh50,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Al Suhooj, Saif Al Balushi (jockey), Khalifa Al Neyadi (trainer)
2pm Handicap (TB) 68,000 (D) 1,950m
Winner Miracle Maker, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
2.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Mazagran, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
3pm Handicap (TB) Dh84,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
3.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh76,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Alla Mahlak, Adrie de Vries, Rashed Bouresly
4pm Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Hurry Up, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
WISH
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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
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5