Direct Israel-UAE flight makes historic first; Lebanon picks new PM; India-China tensions escalate

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The first-ever direct commercial passenger flight between Israel and the United Arab Emirates landed on Monday in Abu Dhabi, carrying top US and Israeli diplomats. The flight comes after the agreement announcing the normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE, made public on Aug. 13. The El Al plane was adorned with the word “peace” in Arabic, Hebrew and English, and journalists on board were given face coverings embellished with Emirati and Israeli flags.

The airliner crossed Saudi airspace, normally closed to Israeli air traffic. The flight to the UAE was numbered LY971, in reference to the UAE’s international calling code. And the return flight, set to take off on Tuesday, will be LY972 — named for Israel’s calling code.

The US has been facilitating official normalization between the two governments, who had never fought a war and who already had warm relations under the table. On Saturday, the UAE ruler formally issued a decree ending the country’s Israel boycott.

The voyage had special significance for the pilot, who had not worked for several months due to the slowdown in air travel. Captain Tal Becker said the three-hour journey had a “very special feeling.” And with economies ailing everywhere, delegates were hoping to jumpstart cooperation in trade, tourism, medicine and technology.

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Lebanon’s prime minister-designate, Mustapha Adib, was appointed by the country’s president to form a new government after securing the votes of 90 lawmakers in the 128-member parliament. He pledged to put together a cabinet in “record time,” conclude an investigation into the huge explosion that rocked Beirut’s port and implement key reforms in the crisis-torn nation. Adib, who has served as Lebanon’s ambassador to Germany since 2013, is set to lead a country in deep economic and governance crisis.

A statement from India’s defense ministry has said its soldiers had thwarted movements by the Chinese military in a sensitive part of the Ladakh region, amid a heightened dispute between the two growing foes. India said China on Saturday violated previous agreements, but will continue dialogue to resolve border issues.

After months of tense negotiations, Sudan’s transitional authorities have reached a deal with the Sudan Revolutionary Front, a rebel alliance. Officials signed the agreement in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, but some key armed groups have yet to join the peace push to end the country’s civil wars that have lasted decades. New leaders in Khartoum have prioritized resolving multiple internal conflicts.

From The World

In the removal of a Soviet symbol of oppression, Russians see lessons for the US

Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin still dots the Russian landscape — with statues, streets and squares in his honor so ubiquitous they’re mostly ignored. Even Lenin’s Mausoleum on Red Square, where a mummified Lenin still remains, is now mainly a curiosity to tourists, or those seeking a grim (and waxy) laugh.

But as debates in the US rage over the removal of monuments that celebrate a troubled past, some in Russia have been thinking hard about how people there confront their own history.

The Number in the News: 26

Legislators have been fighting to get a National Museum of the American Latino in Washington, DC, for decades. Finally, the proposal is making some headway in Congress; the House of Representatives approved legislation to establish the museum last month. It’s a major victory in a fight that former US Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the first Latina elected to Congress, has been involved with since the beginning. But the fight is far from over.

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Bright spot

India and Russia have been declared joint winners of the Chess Olympiad this year. For the first time, the renown international chess tournament was held online and two Indian players had internet connectivity issues during the final round, subsequently losing time.

“After a 3-3 tie in the first round, where all six games ended in a draw, the second and decisive match was impacted by a global internet outage that severely affected many countries including India,” read the press release from the International Chess Federation. Both teams have been awarded gold medals.

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