WASHINGTON // A surprise decision by Evan Bayh, the Democratic Indiana senator, to retire rather than seek re-election is the latest sign that Democrats could be facing sizeable losses in the upcoming midterm elections, including the potential loss of their Senate majority.
Mr Bayh is the fifth Democratic senator to announce retirement, doing so just a month after Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota said they would not seek re-election.
While he faced a tough Republican challenge, many analysts believed Mr Bayh was in a strong position to retain his seat. Now some elections analysts see the Senate race in Indiana favouring Republicans.
"It is unlikely that [Democrats] will be able to come up with a strong enough candidate to compete in a GOP-leaning state in the current political climate," the Cook Political Report, the website of the prominent elections handicapper Charlie Cook, said.
In the 2008 election, Barack Obama won Indiana by a single percentage point. He was the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since 1964.
Each party has 18 Senate seats in play in November, but Mr Cook predicts twice as many Democratic-held seats are vulnerable to a takeover. The Democrats, plus two independents who vote with them, currently have a 59-41 majority in the Senate. As the party in power, Democrats face the brunt of populist anger over high unemployment and an anti-incumbency mood that has swept across the country.
"An open seat is much more difficult for Democrats to hold in the current political environment," the website of another prominent handicapper, Stuart Rothenberg, said. Mr Rothenberg modified his rating of the Indiana Senate race from a "narrow advantage" for Democrats to a "toss-up" between the two parties. "Bayh's decision gives Republicans another excellent takeover opportunity".
In announcing his decision, Mr Bayh, who was considered twice as a potential candidate for vice president, said he was frustrated with partisanship in Congress, ultimately conceding that he does "not love" the deliberative body to which he devoted more than a decade of his professional life.
"For some time, I have had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should," he said at a press conference in Indianapolis, accompanied by his wife and two sons. "There is much too much partisanship and not enough progress. Too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem solving."
Mr Bayh said members of Congress were overly concerned with political manoeuvring and getting re-elected. As proof, he cited the Senate's recent rejection of a measure that would have established a bipartisan panel to monitor the deficit and suggest policies to reduce the country's rising debt.
"The measure would have passed," Mr Bayh said. "But seven members who endorsed the idea, actually co-sponsored the legislation, instead voted no for short-term political reasons."
Mr Bayh's frustration with the gridlock in Washington reflects a broader disenchantment with Congress nationwide. A recent CBS News/New York Times poll showed that 70 per cent of respondents are dissatisfied or angry with the way elected officials in Washington handle the business of the people. Among those surveyed, 80 per cent said members of Congress are more interested in pandering to special-interest groups than in serving the needs of the people who elected them. Only 13 per cent believe that Congress represents the interests of the people.
Mr Obama, whose top domestic priority, healthcare reform, is bogged down in the polarised Senate, has sought in recent weeks to empathise with the public's anger and encourage more bipartisanship, as he did during his campaign.
But the retirement of Mr Bayh, a moderate known for working with Republicans, raises new questions about whether room remains in Congress for legislators situated near the ideological centre.
In a statement, Mr Obama praised Mr Bayh's political career and his record of "reaching across the aisle on issues ranging from job creation and economic growth to fiscal responsibility and national security".
Mr Bayh served two terms as Indiana governor before joining the Senate. His father, Birch Bayh, was a longtime US senator from the state.
The retirement came as a surprise to Democrats, leaving little time for a replacement candidate to obtain the thousands of signatures required to qualify for the primary ballot on February 19.
THE DRAFT
The final phase of player recruitment for the T10 League has taken place, with UAE and Indian players being drafted to each of the eight teams.
Bengal Tigers
UAE players: Chirag Suri, Mohammed Usman
Indian: Zaheer Khan
Karachians
UAE players: Ahmed Raza, Ghulam Shabber
Indian: Pravin Tambe
Kerala Kings
UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Abdul Shakoor
Indian: RS Sodhi
Maratha Arabians
UAE players: Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
Indian: S Badrinath
Northern Warriors
UAE players: Imran Haider, Rahul Bhatia
Indian: Amitoze Singh
Pakhtoons
UAE players: Hafiz Kaleem, Sheer Walli
Indian: RP Singh
Punjabi Legends
UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Sandy Singh
Indian: Praveen Kumar
Rajputs
UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed
Indian: Munaf Patel
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.Â
Company Profile
Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Adil%20El%20Arbi%20and%20Bilall%20Fallah%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EWill%20Smith%2C%20Martin%20Lawrence%2C%20Joe%20Pantoliano%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
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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
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Team Angel Wolf Beach Blast takes place every Wednesday between 4:30pm and 5:30pm
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Australia tour of Pakistan
March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi
March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi
March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore
March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi
March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi
April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi
April 5: T20I, Rawalpindi
