Venezuela and Russia strike major arms deal


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The United States expressed concerns about a South American arms race after President Hugo Chavez announced an agreement in which Russia will provide Venezuela with a $2.2 billion (Dh8bn) credit line for weapons purchases. Mr Chavez visited Russia last week as part of an 11-day trip that included Iran, Libya, Algeria, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Spain and Italy. Agence France-Presse reported: "The United States voiced alarm Monday that Venezuela's weapons purchases may be fueling a Latin American arms race after a deal between Caracas and Moscow to buy tanks and anti-aircraft rockets. " 'We have concerns in general about Venezuela's stated desire to increase its arms build-up, which we think poses a serious challenge to stability in the Western Hemisphere,' state department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters. " 'What they are looking to purchase and what they are purchasing outpaces all other countries in South America,' he said." The New York Times added: "The missiles, if the deal goes through, would put within firing range locations in Colombia or American military installations on the islands of Aruba or Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles off Venezuela's coast, where the United States operates surveillance flights. But Mr Chavez insisted that the weapons were solely for defensive purposes. " 'We are not going to attack anybody,' Mr Chavez said in a speech from the balcony of the presidential palace... 'These are just defense tools, because we are going to defend our country from any threat, wherever it may come from.' "Mr Chavez did not specify the type of Russian-made missiles that Venezuela hoped to buy, but he said that they had a range of about 186 miles. He also did not say how many of the missiles Venezuela would receive, where they would be deployed or how much they would cost. "If he goes ahead with the deal, Mr Chavez would have to find a way to pay for the missiles while he struggles to meet other obligations. With oil prices dropping sharply from their peak last year, Venezuela owes an estimated $10 billion to $15 billion to a wide variety of foreign companies, including suppliers of basic items like food." In August, Mr Chavez threatened to break off diplomatic relations with neighbouring Colombia in reaction to its plans to give US troops a 10-year lease on its military bases. "Chavez says the US has loosed 'winds of war' on the continent - a position few diplomats share," the Associated Press said. "Even so, the bases deal has created uncertainty about regional stability and provided yet another justification for nations to increase military spending. "Venezuela has poured $4 billion into Russian weapons to counter the threat Chavez sees from the billions in US military aid to Colombia. Ecuador is buying 24 Brazilian warplanes and six Israeli drones to keep a closer watch on its borders. Bolivia has opened a $100 million line of credit with Russia to buy weapons. "These purchases were in the works even before details of the bases deal were revealed last month - and defense spending around the region is up sharply, mostly in the name of routine modernisation. "The 12 South American nations spent about $51 billion last year on their militaries - up 30 per cent from 2007, according to a Buenos Aires research group. "That's low compared with the rest of the world - US spending alone is well into the hundreds of billions - but a steep burden for democracies in a relatively peaceful area that is struggling with growing poverty and economic crisis." China's Xinhua news agency said: "Chavez's trip to Libya, Algeria, Syria, Iran, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Russia and Spain netted the resource-rich country energy deals worth billions of US dollars. "Venezuela and Russia signed an energy deal on jointly producing 450,000 barrels of extra heavy oil from Venezuela's Orinoco Oil Strip. "The two countries also agreed on a technology transfer to help Venezuela produce liquefied natural gas which will be used by high-traction motor vehicles in places of low resources. "Venezuela signed with Iran an energy deal worth 760 million dollars to extract natural gas from the Persian Gulf." BBC News reported: "Chavez has announced the discovery of a vast gas field off the coast of Venezuela. "The find - estimated at 7 to 8 trillion cubic feet, about five times what Spain uses in a year - was made with the Spanish energy company Repsol. "Mr Chavez announced the find while in Spain during a tour of Europe and Asia. " 'What are we going to do with so much gas?' he jokingly asked Repsol's head Antonio Brufau in a joint interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais." The Financial Times said: "Venezuela's announcement was the second major Latin America find unveiled this week. Brazil's Petrobras said on Wednesday that its Guará field contained oil and gas equivalent to 1.1-2bn barrels of oil. At 8 tcf, Venezuela's would equate to 1.44bn barrels of oil. 'A discovery of this magnitude is a massive boost for Venezuela,' said Scott Pearson, Latin America upstream analyst at Wood Mackenzie. "International oil companies and other investors are simultaneously awed and anxious about Venezuela's energy wealth. Mr Chavez sees himself as a revolutionary, has steadily become more authoritarian during his decade in power, and has nationalised various foreign assets, including the local operation of Spain's Banco Santander. "Mr Chavez's announcement, made in the presence of Antonio Brufau, Repsol chairman, was the dramatic finale to a self-invited visit that had Spanish leaders wincing with embarrassment. 'You've grown a beard, like Fidel [Castro],' an ebullient Mr Chavez told King Juan Carlos, the monarch who famously told him in public to 'shut up' after he described a former Spanish prime minister as a fascist at a summit meeting two years ago."

pwoodward@thenational.ae

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Public Service
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Breaking News Reporting
Staff of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.

Investigative Reporting
Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times

Explanatory Reporting
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National Reporting
T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi of ProPublica

and    

Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times

International Reporting
Staff of The New York Times

Feature Writing
Ben Taub of The New Yorker

Commentary
Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times

Criticism
Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times

Editorial Writing
Jeffery Gerritt of the Palestine (Tx.) Herald-Press

Editorial Cartooning
Barry Blitt, contributor, The New Yorker

Breaking News Photography
Photography Staff of Reuters

Feature Photography
Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin of the Associated Press

Audio Reporting
Staff of This American Life with Molly O’Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News for “The Out Crowd”

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Drama
"A Strange Loop" by Michael R. Jackson

History
"Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" by W. Caleb McDaniel (Oxford University Press)

Biography
"Sontag: Her Life and Work" by Benjamin Moser (Ecco/HarperCollins)

Poetry
"The Tradition" by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)

General Nonfiction
"The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care" by Anne Boyer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

and

"The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America" by Greg Grandin (Metropolitan Books)

Music
"The Central Park Five" by Anthony Davis, premiered by Long Beach Opera on June 15, 2019

Special Citation
Ida B. Wells

 

Monster

Directed by: Anthony Mandler

Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington 

3/5

 

While you're here
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Fifth ODI, at Headingley

England 351/9
Pakistan 297
England win by 54 runs (win series 4-0)

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Engine: 6.2-litre V8

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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What is Folia?

Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.

Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."

Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.

In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love". 

There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.

While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."

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Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

The specs: 2018 Audi RS5

Price, base: Dh359,200

Engine: 2.9L twin-turbo V6

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 450hp at 5,700rpm

Torque: 600Nm at 1,900rpm

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WOMAN AND CHILD

Director: Saeed Roustaee

Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi

Rating: 4/5

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ETFs explained

Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.

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