Russia's new ambassador to Finland Pavel Kuznetsov, left, escorts Russian President Vladimir Putin as he disembarks the plane at Helsinki airport in Vantaa, Finland, Monday, July 16, 2018. AP
Russia's new ambassador to Finland Pavel Kuznetsov, left, escorts Russian President Vladimir Putin as he disembarks the plane at Helsinki airport in Vantaa, Finland, Monday, July 16, 2018. AP

Putin jet trespassed in Nato airspace on way to meet Trump



Russian President Vladimir Putin’s jet flew into Nato airspace without authorisation on Monday as he travelled to meet American counterpart Donald Trump in Helsinki, Estonian authorities have confirmed.

Estonia sits at the northeastern tip of the military alliance’s mutual security zone and remains fragile against an increasingly assertive Russia. Moscow has frequently sent its planes into Estonian airspace to send a message to the small Baltic state and the alliance that it remains a part of, but one that Russia views as a threat to its territory.

Authorities released a statement on Tuesday that located the violation as taking place in the region of Vaindloo Island.

“Airplanes stayed in the airspace of Estonia for less than a minute. Airplane transponders were turned on but no flight plan was provided. The aircraft did not have a radio contact with Estonian air traffic services,” the Estonian military statement read.

It said that Russian airplanes had breached Estonian airspace six times this year.

Nato did not respond to a request for comment at the time of writing.

Estonian military spokesman Roland Murof told The New York Times that the event was “characteristic of Russia’s behaviour”.

“Most of these air border violations happen for only a minute, or two minutes maximum,” Mr Murof added.

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The incident took place ahead of a summit between Mr Putin and Mr Trump to discuss deteriorating US-Russian relations.

The US president’s performance was widely panned in Washington after he appeared to side with the Russian version of events about Moscow’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election.

On Tuesday, he backtracked under bipartisan pressure, saying that he misspoke when he said he had no reason to believe that Russia intervened in the vote. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow made clear attempts to manipulate the outcome of the election. So Mr Trump’s comments appeared to undermine their conclusions and side with Moscow.

"The sentence should have been, 'I don't see any reason why I wouldn't, or why it wouldn't be Russia"' instead of "why it would," the president said.

But the American leader had sat through two television interviews and tweeted several times before deciding to correct himself.

He then appeared to question the viability of Nato’s collective defence pledge, citing Montenegro as an example.

Russia was concerned when Montenegro joined the alliance in 2017 and Moscow has had poor relations with the country ever since, amid allegations of a Russian-backed coup attempt there.

Mr Trump seemed to side with Russia in a television interview on Tuesday night, asking why the US should defend allies if tiny Montenegro’s “very aggressive people” started another global war.

Montenegro "may get aggressive and congratulations, you're in World War III," Mr Trump said.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump continued to laud the summit with Mr Putin as a success, despite the uproar around his press conference.

"While the Nato meeting in Brussels was an acknowledged triumph, with billions of dollars more being put up by member countries at a faster pace, the meeting with Russia may prove to be, in the long run, an even greater success,” he tweeted.

"So many people at the higher ends of intelligence loved my press conference performance in Helsinki," the US leader added.

"Some people HATE the fact that I got along well with President Putin of Russia. They would rather go to war than see this," he said. "It's called Trump Derangement Syndrome!"

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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Champions League quarter-final, first leg

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German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Key changes

Commission caps

For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:

• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term). 

• On the protection component, there is a cap  of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).

• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated. 

• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.

• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.

Disclosure

Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.

“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”

Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.

Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.

“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.

Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.

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Directed by: Jeethu Joseph

Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy

Rating: 4 stars

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Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5

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Director: Ruben Fleischer

Stars: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone

Four out of five stars 

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

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The%20specs
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Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

In the Restaurant: Society in Four Courses
Christoph Ribbat
Translated by Jamie Searle Romanelli
Pushkin Press