President Joe Biden inspected part of the US-Mexico border on Sunday, marking his first trip there since taking office two years ago — a visit that Republicans said was long overdue.
Authorities are struggling with record numbers of undocumented migrants crossing into America, and immigration will probably take centre stage in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.
That is even more likely now that the Republicans hold control of the House of Representatives and have the power to launch investigations and hold hearings on the issue.
The trip to El Paso, Texas, was a brief stopover before Mr Biden's visit to Mexico City, where he and the leaders of Mexico and Canada will gather on Monday and Tuesday for a North American leaders' summit.
There are more crossings at El Paso than anywhere else along the 3,145km border with Mexico.
Mr Biden met border authorities to discuss immigration and other topics, including the increased smuggling of synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, that kill tens of thousands of Americans each year.
Local residents Rafael Rodriguez and his sister Lupe Rodriguez waved a Biden sign from the 2020 presidential election as he drove into the complex around the Bridge of The Americas, connecting El Paso to Juarez, Mexico.
“It was a good feeling to have the President wave at us,” said Mr Rodriguez, 66.
The retired El Paso native, who supported Mr Biden in the 2020 election, said the issue along the border must be “taken care of.”
Migrant crossings into the US from Mexico have soared since Mr Biden took office in January 2021, with authorities stopping people 2.38 million times in the fiscal year that ended last September.
It was the first time the number exceeded 2 million.
Outside Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso, where hundreds of migrants are camping, there was a frenzy of activity in the hours leading up to Mr Biden's visit.
El Paso police officers detained several migrants and tried to clean up the area around the red-brick building.
Ingrid Johanna Sagra, a Colombian migrant, had hoped Mr Biden might come to see the conditions she and others have been staying in.
"He should come and find a solution to all this here on the border," Ms Sagra said.
She crossed into the US with her husband and son, 7, but because her husband is from Venezuela, he was separated from the family and she fears will be deported to Mexico.
But Mr Biden did not go past Sacred Heart, much to the frustration of the migrants there.
“He knows that we are and he didn’t acknowledge us,” said Ibrahim Martinez, a migrant from Venezuela.
Mr Martinez said he was unsure where he would go now or what he would do. He just knows he cannot go back.
“We sold everything to come here,” he told The National.
Father Rafael Garcia, the priest at Sacred Heart, said Mr Biden should see the problem for himself.
"I think the more he can see first-hand, it's good," he said.
Joe Barraza, who came to the US when he was 6, said Mr Biden should have seen the migrants.
"This is where the problem is right here," Mr Barraza told The National. "This is ground zero, this is where he should be."
Different political approaches
Publicly, at least, the Democrats and the Republicans take a different tack on immigration, with the Democrats seeking to find legal pathways for people to come to America.
The Republicans take a tougher line, as was seen under the Trump administration, which detained immigrants, many of them children, en masse.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, was dismissive of Mr Biden's visit.
“All he’s going to do down there is rearrange the chairs on the deck of the Titanic," Mr Abbott told Fox News.
"He’s not going to achieve any solutions that will make the border safer, more secure and stop illegal immigration."
Mr Biden spent close to four hours speaking to local officials. While many here were happy that he had finally visited, they was a consensus the trip was too short.
"Not nearly long enough," said Richard Pineda, Director of the Sam Donaldson Centre for Communications Studies at the University of Texas El Paso.
Migrants in El Paso protest before US President Joe Biden's visit - in pictures
The challenge facing the US on its southern border “is something that is not unique to the United States", Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC News.
"It’s gripping the hemisphere. And a regional challenge requires a regional solution."
Mr Biden announced a multifaceted approach to immigration along the southern border last week, which in part would include an expansion of a programme, known as Title 42.
The programme was enacted as a health emergency policy under the Trump administration but has also been used by the Biden government to block asylum seekers hoping to enter the US.
Under the new guidelines, migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti will have an expanded legal pathway to apply for entry into the US if they pass background checks and have a financial sponsor in America.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
What is type-1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
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Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 plus rear-mounted electric motor
Power: 843hp at N/A rpm
Torque: 1470Nm N/A rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.6L/100km
On sale: October to December
Price: From Dh875,000 (estimate)
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m, Winner SS Lamea, Saif Al Balushi (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer).
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,400m, Winner AF Makerah, Sean Kirrane, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m, Winner Maaly Al Reef, Brett Doyle, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 1,600m, Winner AF Momtaz, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m, Winner Morjanah Al Reef, Brett Doyle, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,200m, Winner Mudarrab, Jim Crowley, Erwan Charpy
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
