"Russia is doing in public what other quartet members are doing off the record."
With these words, the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, responded to his critics about his meeting with the Hamas political bureau chief, Khaled Meshaal, in Damascus in presence of the Syrian president Bashar al Assad, wrote Areeb al Rantawi in a comment piece for the Jordanian newspaper Addustoor.
Russia is not opposed to the demands of the other three members of the Quartet, though. It still asks Hamas to recognise the state of Israel, to accept previous agreements, and to stop violence. These are part and parcel of the Russian foreign policy regarding the Palestinian issue and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general.
Moscow, however, stands quite apart from other Quartet members in that it believes in the possibility of achieving these demands by means of dialogue with the Islamic movement and also by integrating Hamas into the Palestinian political system, including the peace process. "In this, the Kremlin does not require of Hamas to immediately comply with these demands as preconditions to open a dialogue."
The Russians tend to take into account many geopolitical factors surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. It also gives an opportunity to Hamas to ponder on how to reconcile adopting an open policy and maintaining its resistance programme.
Seatea Noureddine, in an opinion article run by the Lebanese newspaper Assafir, commented on a seminar organised by Carnegie Middle East Centre on the Swiss experience in political and cultural pluralism management.
Noureddine quoted the former Swiss president, Pascal Couchepin, addressing the three sources of violence that hit Switzerland during the 18th and 19th centuries.
They were the sectarian violence between Catholics and Protestants, social violence between rich and poor, and also between the rural areas and the city, in addition to violence involving population of various origins: Germans, French and Italians.
Mr Couchepin stressed in his speech that he did not intend to dictate to the Lebanese which path to take. Nor did he aim to provide the Lebanese with a ready-made recipe, He simply mentioned that he wanted to dissect how the Swiss experiences evolved to produce a federal system that is still maturing.
Yet his message got through: priority should be given to nationhood at the expense of other considerations. This means that the Lebanese need to probe into things that would unify them and to reject those that potentially could promote sedition.
He did not put it the discussion into the right political context: the presence of Israel, which has obstructed in one way or another Lebannon's natural growth.
In an opinion piece for the UAE newspaper Al Khaleej, Saad Mehio highlighted what he described as the most serious statement about the nature of the next Israeli war.
He deplored the lack of interest by Arabs in such remarks by the Israeli air force commander Ido Nehoshtan in a conference held recently in Herzliya. Nehoshtan said Israel can deter both Hamas and Hizbollah, but he did not know whether military action would continue in the coming years.
He added that two organisations should bear in mind they have obligations towards themselves and citizens, "but it seems they care mostly about maintaining power", he said.
This implies two scenarios: First, Mr Nehoshtan called for immediate military action against Hizbollah and Hamas to prevent them from building up their missile arsenal. This is only possible now because once they completed their military structure, it would be hard to defeat them.
Second, Nehoshtan looked at these two organisations as no longer ordinary resistance movements, but rather ones with large popular support. This means the war may target civilians under the pretext of drying up a potential source of popular support. This can also take the form of removing the population from their homes or destroying vital infrastructures. For these reasons Hamas and Hizbollah must first care about the civilians' fate.
In a lead article for the London-based newspaper Asharq al Awsat, Tariq al Homayed warned against hidden war strategies adopted by Iran in the region. Al Homayed referred to recent reports on movements of leaders of Al Qa'eda to and from Iran, Saudi Arabia and remote tribal areas of northwest Pakistan.
Iran is reportedly reviewing its policies in anticipation of a potential military confrontation with the US or Israel, or likely economic sanctions. Many fear that Tehran may resort to supporting terrorist operations through sleeper cells in many areas. This is reflected in the many successive news articles about the active existence of Iranian spy networks across the region.
A well-informed Iranian source told Asharq al Awsat that Tehran had intelligently used al Qa'eda in Iraq and Afghanistan to harass the US presence in the region. And because of the present situation, Iran might again devise new tactics with the movement in other areas.
Many Arab countries, and especially those in the Gulf, tend to belittle these reports to avoid escalation with Iran, yet a pressing question is what is our strategy to avoid uncertainty?
* Digest compiled by Mostapha El Mouloudi
@Email:melmouloudi@thenational.ae
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
The Case For Trump
By Victor Davis Hanson
THE SPECS
Engine: 4.0L twin-turbo V8
Gearbox: eight-speed automatic
Power: 571hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,000-4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.4L/100km
Price, base: from Dh571,000
On sale: this week
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20Profile
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Itcan profile
Founders: Mansour Althani and Abdullah Althani
Based: Business Bay, with offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India
Sector: Technology, digital marketing and e-commerce
Size: 70 employees
Revenue: On track to make Dh100 million in revenue this year since its 2015 launch
Funding: Self-funded to date
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
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Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
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
Cricket World Cup League Two
Teams
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
Fixtures
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Oman
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
'Skin'
Dir: Guy Nattiv
Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
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
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'Nightmare Alley'
Director:Guillermo del Toro
Stars:Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Rating: 3/5
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Ukraine
Capital: Kiev
Population: 44.13 million
Armed conflict in Donbass
Russia-backed fighters control territory
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