Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn after speaking at the Senate on the US's role in support of the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen civil war, on March 20, 2018. James Lawler Duggan / Reuters
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn after speaking at the Senate on the US's role in support of the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen civil war, on March 20, 2018. James Lawler Duggan / Reuters
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn after speaking at the Senate on the US's role in support of the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen civil war, on March 20, 2018. James Lawler Duggan / Reuters
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn after speaking at the Senate on the US's role in support of the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen civil war, on March 20, 2018. James Lawler Duggan / Reuters

Senate blocks Yemen resolution aimed at restricting US military role


Joyce Karam
  • English
  • Arabic

The United States Senate voted on Tuesday to sink a resolution that would have restricted the US military role in Yemen and ended its support for the Saudi-led coalition.

Two hours after Donald Trump’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House, the Senate voted 55 to 44 in favour of tabling the Yemen war powers resolution, blocking its passage.

The bill called to end to all US military operations in support of the Saudi-led coalition, requiring any American forces not involved in fighting Al Qaeda to leave the country within 30 days. Sponsored by Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, Republican Senator Mike Lee and Democrat Chris Murphy, it said "unless and until a declaration of war or specific authorisation for such use of United States Armed Forces has been enacted".

The move to shelve the resolution came after strong opposition from the Pentagon and Defence Secretary James Mattis. Mr Mattis met with members of Congress and sent a letter urging an effort to scuttle the bill and avoid any restrictions on the US military.

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Mr Mattis's letter, first reported by The Washington Post, cautioned that the resolution, if passed, "could increase civilian casualties, jeopardise co-operation with our partners on counter-terrorism, and reduce our influence with the Saudis - all of which would further exacerbate the situation and humanitarian crisis".

Earlier on Monday, Crown Prince Mohammed met members of Congress including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senators Bob Corker and Ron Jonson, Congressmen Ed Royce and Eliott Engel and others.

A read-out from the Saudi embassy in Washington said “the Crown Prince also discussed the situation in Yemen, and how the two countries can work together towards a political solution”. The Saudi side also stressed the need to counter  the “threat posed by Iran and the Iran-backed Houthi militias, particularly the threat of Iranian ballistic missiles, and threats to strategic maritime shipping that threaten to destabilise the Gulf region at large”.

The war enters its fourth year this month. Mr Mattis visited Oman last week in an effort to address arms smuggling to the Houthis and to explore political paths towards possible settlement. Following the visit, Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi travelled to Iran and held talks with Iranian officials.

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Ruwais timeline

1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established

1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants

1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed

1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.  

1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex

2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea

2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd

2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens

2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies

2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export

2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.

2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery 

2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital

2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13

Source: The National

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MATCH INFO

Fixture: Thailand v UAE, Tuesday, 4pm (UAE)

TV: Abu Dhabi Sports

How it works

Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.

Round by round, the player expands their empire. The more land they have, the more money they can take from their coffers for each go.

As unruled land and soldiers are acquired, players must feed them. When a player comes up against land held by another army, they can choose to battle for supremacy.

A dice-based battle system is used and players can get the edge on their enemy with by deploying a renowned hero on the battlefield.

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Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammed Barghash, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Hassan Al Mahrami, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Yousef Jaber, Saeed Ahmed, Majed Sorour, Majed Hassan, Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Khalil Al Hammadi, Fabio De Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Caio Canedo, Muhammed Jumah, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri

Results

Female 49kg: Mayssa Bastos (BRA) bt Thamires Aquino (BRA); points 0-0 (advantage points points 1-0).

Female 55kg: Bianca Basilio (BRA) bt Amal Amjahid (BEL); points 4-2.

Female 62kg: Beatriz Mesquita (BRA) v Ffion Davies (GBR); 10-2.

Female 70kg: Thamara Silva (BRA) bt Alessandra Moss (AUS); submission.

Female 90kg: Gabreili Passanha (BRA) bt Claire-France Thevenon (FRA); submission.

Male 56kg: Hiago George (BRA) bt Carlos Alberto da Silva (BRA); 2-2 (2-0)

Male 62kg: Gabriel de Sousa (BRA) bt Joao Miyao (BRA); 2-2 (2-1)

Male 69kg: Paulo Miyao (BRA) bt Isaac Doederlein (USA); 2-2 (2-2) Ref decision.

Male 77kg: Tommy Langarkar (NOR) by Oliver Lovell (GBR); submission.

Male 85kg: Rudson Mateus Teles (BRA) bt Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE); 2-2 (1-1) Ref decision.

Male 94kg: Kaynan Duarte (BRA) bt Adam Wardzinski (POL); submission.

Male 110kg: Joao Rocha (BRA) bt Yahia Mansoor Al Hammadi (UAE); submission.

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  • 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
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  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
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Greatest Royal Rumble match listing

50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias

Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match

WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura

Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe

United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal

SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos

Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt

Casket match The Undertaker v Rusev

Singles match John Cena v Triple H

Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto

RESULTS

Mumbai Indians 181-4 (20 ovs)
Kolkata Knight Riders 168-6 (20ovs)

Mumbai won by 13 runs

Rajasthan Royals 152-9 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 155-4 (18.4 ovs)

Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets