The US House of Representatives has approved a resolution to hold Mark Meadows, who served as the White House chief of staff under former president Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress and recommended that he face federal charges.
Mr Meadows was held in contempt for failing to appear for a deposition with the congressional panel investigating the January 6 assault on the Capitol.
The move late on Tuesday came a week after the Republican politician stopped co-operating with the committee. A lawyer for Mr Meadows said the panel was not respecting the boundaries of executive privilege.
Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who both serve on the House select committee, were the lone Republicans to join Democrats in backing the referral.
Tuesday night's vote came one day after the January 6 panel revealed a series of panicky text messages received by Mr Meadows on January 6. The texts were sent by Republican members of Congress, journalists, Fox News hosts and even Mr Trump's own son, begging Mr Meadows to make Mr Trump end the violence.
"We need an Oval [Office] address," Donald Trump Jr texted Mr Meadows as the president's supporters broke into the Capitol, causing members of Congress, staffers and journalists to flee to safety.
"He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”
Mr Trump Jr added: "He’s got to condemn this [expletive] ASAP."
Fox News host Laura Ingraham said the president is "destroying his legacy".
"Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home," one text reads.
Primetime host Sean Hannity asked: "Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol."
The texts were part of a collection of 9,000 documents Mr Meadows provided to the committee before he stopped co-operating. Members of the panel said the texts raise serious questions about what the White House and Mr Trump were doing as the attack was under way.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday told reporters: "we are all watching ... what is unfolding on the House side. And it will be interesting to reveal all the participants who were involved."
Mr Meadows became the first former member of the House of Representatives since the 1830s to be held in contempt. He also is the first chief of staff to be prosecuted since leaving the position in nearly 50 years.
The charges will now be sent to federal prosecutors who will decide whether to present the case to a grand jury for possible criminal charges.
Bennie Thompson, chair of the House select committee, said history will not consider Mr Meadows a "victim".
"History will be written about these times, about the work this committee has undertaken,” he said.
“And history will not look upon any of you as a martyr."
Mr Meadows's contempt charge is the latest show of force by the House select committee, which has moved rapidly as it investigates the events surrounding the January 6 insurrection.
The committee has so far interviewed more than 300 witnesses and subpoenaed 40 people as it aims to establish the most comprehensive record yet on the lead-up to the insurrection and the violence on Capitol Hill itself.
Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, has already been charged with contempt and surrendered to federal authorities. A federal judge last week set a tentative trial start date for July 18, 2022.
Mr Bannon and Mr Meadows could face up to a year in prison on each charge if convicted.
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
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Stamp duty timeline
December 2014: Former UK finance minister George Osbourne reforms stamp duty, replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 - 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; Over £1.5m – 12%
April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.
July 2020: Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.
March 2021: Mr Sunak decides the fate of SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget, with expectations he will extend the perk unti June.
April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.
Profile
Company: Libra Project
Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware
Launch year: 2017
Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time
Sector: Renewable energy
Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
The biog
Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed
Age: 34
Emirate: Dubai
Favourite quote: "No one has ever become poor by giving"
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
The specs: 2018 GMC Terrain
Price, base / as tested: Dh94,600 / Dh159,700
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Power: 252hp @ 5,500rpm
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Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.4L / 100km
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Match info
Bournemouth 0
Liverpool 4 (Salah 25', 48', 76', Cook 68' OG)
Man of the match: Andrew Robertson (Liverpool)
