Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine
European leaders celebrated a political win on Tuesday after striking a deal on banning Russian oil imports, but signalled they had reached a ceiling in how far they can go to support Ukraine.
A late-night compromise saw the European Union's 27 members agree to stop crude oil shipments but leave pipelines open, in a concession to Hungary and its outspoken Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
EU officials say about 90 per cent of imports will effectively be cut after Poland and Germany offered assurances that they would press ahead with ditching Russian oil, despite in theory being eligible for the pipeline exemption.
Leaders who had lobbied for the oil embargo said they welcomed the agreement on a sixth sanctions package, but the fraught negotiations that tore at the edges of western unity over Ukraine are likely to pose an obstacle to their hopes of pushing Russia harder.
Ukraine and some EU member states have urged the bloc's leaders to tackle the subject of natural gas imports, but the union is particularly reliant on Russia in that field. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said it was time for Europe to pause and watch the effect of the oil ban before venturing into gas.
"As you go from round to round it becomes more challenging, and oil and gas are particularly challenging," Irish leader Micheal Martin said as leaders reconvened for the second day of the summit in Brussels.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who favours a hard line on Russia, said she was pleasantly surprised that an oil agreement was reached at all and said the compromise was better than nothing.
But "gas is of course much more difficult than oil already was," she said. "I think that gas has to be in the seventh package but I’m realistic as well. I don’t think it will be there."
Supporters of energy sanctions say they are necessary to deprive Russia of money for its invasion of Ukraine and loosen the Kremlin's hold over Europe's power grids. Sceptics say the cost to European consumers is too high at a time of runaway fuel prices.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, whose government eventually came round to an oil embargo after initial scepticism, said there was no prospect of a gas ban in a potential seventh package.
On oil, "there are technical problems that were solved with Viktor Orban," he said, after concessions to the Hungarian leader ended a month-long stand-off over the package. "With gas it’s very different."
Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Krisjanis Karins, who on Monday had made clear his frustration at the prolonged negotiations, said the deal was a "fantastic step in the right direction".
"We move as quickly as we can all move together," said Mr Karins, who supports a ban on all Russian fossil fuels.
Mr Orban meanwhile claimed victory after he secured an exemption for pipeline oil and assurances that Hungary's neighbours would step in if there are interruptions in supply.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who initially proposed a ban on all Russian oil, said investment would be needed in Hungarian refineries and an alternative pipeline route from Croatia, but did not say who would pay for this.
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"Brussels' proposal would have been similar to an atomic bomb, but we managed to avoid it," Mr Orban said after the late-night agreement in Brussels.
The oil ban was agreed in principle at a two-day summit in Brussels devoted to the fallout from the war in Ukraine. A more detailed legal text was expected to be considered by diplomats on Wednesday.
The sixth sanctions package will also see European insurers banned from covering Russian shipping, more individuals added to the EU's sanctions list and Russia's Sberbank cut off from international payments system Swift.
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Sole survivors
- 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
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
two stars
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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Teaching in coronavirus times
Analysis
Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.
The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement.
We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.
Results
United States beat UAE by three wickets
United States beat Scotland by 35 runs
UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
Fixtures
Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
Admission is free
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Read more about the coronavirus
Where to submit a sample
Volunteers of all ages can submit DNA samples at centres across Abu Dhabi, including: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City, NMC Royal Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, Bareen International Hospital, Al Towayya in Al Ain, NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
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Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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