We're so pleased this morning to welcome special envoy for Yemen, Tim Linderking, for a discussion behind the scenes diplomacy that led to the offloading of more than a million tons of oil from the decaying sapphire tanker in the Red Sea. We're also honored to be joined this morning by Yemen's ambassador to the US, my good friend ambassador Elhadrami, welcome. And to the former US ambassador to Yemen, my good friend Barbara Bodine, Barbara, very nice to have you here. Sapphire has been a major international issue for a number of years with very high stakes. Everyone who was involved in the issue knew that if the oil that was on that tanker was not offloaded, one of the world's largest maritime ecosystems would almost certainly be destroyed. And what everyone knew would be a catastrophic environmental disaster. This didn't happen. And the reason it didn't happen is because of diplomacy, determined, creative diplomacy that involved enemies who were at war with each other, multiple international stakeholders, and tens of thousands of environmentalists who, amongst other things, crowdsourced enough funds to pay for this operation. What we want to do this morning with a special envoy is to look more deeply at this kind of creative diplomacy. What we've learned from it and whether this kind of diplomacy is a model for preventing future crises and future efforts to coordinate across the international system. Before we start, just a few words of introduction. Special Envoy Lendrking is a career member of the senior Foreign Service. Prior to his current role, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Peninsula Affairs in the Near East Bureau at the US Department of State. I was very privileged at that time to be in Tim's orbit. And all of us who had that privilege regarded you as one of our finest counterparts. Special Envoy Lendrking, before that, from 2013 to 2016, served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Riyadh. Tim, welcome. Thank you. With your permission, we would like you to set the scene. And to do so based on your deep, rich experience in the region, hopefully you can not only explain the context within which the evacuation of oil from SAFRA occurred, but also with your permission, all of us want to know what your thoughts are on the war between Israel and Hamas and the regional implications of that crisis. Starting off with a tough question. But thank you, Elise, so much for hosting me and to all of you for coming and taking time out of your schedule to talk about Yemen. It's not the most obvious topic. There's a lot going on in the region right now. But I know there are a lot of friends of Yemen here and people who are working in your own way to make a difference. It's always an honor to be with Ambassador Hadrami and Ambassador Baudin. When she was ambassador, I was on the other end of some of her phone calls. And so her and you ambassadors being here. But thank you to USIP for hosting us and giving us some time to talk about the very important and dare I say, a lot of positive developments on Yemen, far from perfect, far from over. But the one thought I want you all to take away from this conversation, Yemen has an opportunity for peace. And it must be seized. So that's you and us, the governments pulling together and really concretizing the efforts that have been made over the last year and a half, which couldn't be done. The software is a case in point. Without the conflict parties themselves being willing to talk to each other and problem solve. And that thread really must be pulled on. And when Yemen is facing and the region is facing the kind of challenge from what's going on in Gaza, this is particularly important.  When I was appointed special envoy in February of 2021, right at the start of the Biden administration, Yemen may not have been the most obvious case study in which to appoint an envoy. At that time, 2021, there were more than 400 missiles in other aerial attacks from Yemen into Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries. It was a hot war at that time. Saudi Arabia was striking targets inside Yemen. And so there was constant fighting going on. There was loss of life on a daily basis. Yemen became known least you were there as the world's most dire humanitarian situation. And it still is dire. And given the fact, I think that the toll on the Yemeni people is as great as it has been really underlines the urgency of why this conflict is important. I was very honored that Joe Biden selected me to take this position, having worked on Yemen in the Gulf for a number of years. And I think the progress that we've made is quite significant because up until the Gaza war, let's talk about that over those 18 months since there was a truce in Yemen in April 2022, which we could spend a lot of time talking about how that came about. But the fact that the parties came together agreed on a truce two months at a time, renewed for two months, renewed for two months for six months, till October 2022. And then the truce lapsed. There were some strong demands from the Houthis at that particular time that could not be met. And the truce lapsed. And believe me, here in Washington, DC, on October 3rd, I lived in fear that the war was going to start again that day. It did not because the commitment of the parties, I think, has been significant enough to want to give diplomacy a chance. It's no coincidence that amidst of that period of confidence building that the software started to take move. And here was an issue that had stymied the international community for eight years. And you can read online about the software as a dead ship. There were no staff except for a few very dedicated technicians on board, ticking time bomb, 1.1 million barrels of oil. As Lee said, imagine the Red Sea coated with an oil slick that would have been four times the size of the Exxon Valdez. Many of us remember that as a catastrophic event that took place in Prince William Sound in the 1980s. And what it did to marine life and shipping, 10% of global commerce passes through the Red Sea. You've got the Suez Canal on the north side. Maybe we could show the map of Yemen at this particular time just so everybody can situate what we're talking about here. But you have a situation where there was this decrepit ship, which was in danger of leaking or exploding, being out on the Red Sea, unmanned, unmaintained, and basically rotting out there with all the oil on board. And it's a massive ship. I mean, this thing is the length is four football fields. So just imagine your favorite quarterback trying to throw a pass. You're only going to get a quarter of the way down the software. So I think that was quite significant. You see the map of the Arabian Peninsula there and Yemen and the FSO software, a floating storage ship in red there off the coast. And so I think the fact that in the midst of this period, when the truce was just starting to take effect, is also the time at which the software really started to move. And we jumped in with both feet here to join the UN in leading an international effort, which saw an incredible coalition of countries and individuals, the Yemeni private sector coming forward as the first private sector, companies to make a pledge, school kids from Bethesda, Maryland, who got seized with the possibility that the oil spill was going to damage sea life. And if any of you have been to the Red Sea, you may have scuba dive there. It's a pristine area. There's almost no development on the west side or the east side. It's a spectacular and very raw and beautiful area. And so the destruction would have been massive. It would have crippled the Yemeni fishing industry, which is so vital to the country of Yemen. You see that long coastline on the west side and the south coast. So major implications, 70% of world energy supplies moving through the Red Sea. A slick would have shut down the Babel Mendev at the southern opening of the Red Sea, destroying sea life, marine diversity. So it was amazing to me that the US, and particularly after credit, the Secretary of State said, we have to do this. And he led an effort, I think, for the US to be one of the first funders. And for a while, our $10 million was the biggest donation. And it forced everybody, I think, to get in the game here. This is real. There's an opportunity. Huge thanks to the UN, Lisa, your successor, all the work that you did to highlight the issue. David Gressley also did a tremendous job signing a memorandum of understanding between the Houthis and the Yemen government and the UN to get this effort done. And we jumped in and helped move it forward. I can keep talking. Tim, did you want to talk about the Israel Hamas War and the implications? Well, I've just come back from the region. And there was a deliberate timing for this visit. Most of my bureau and my colleagues were really seized with the conflict between Israel and Gaza, which kicked off in the most heinous manner with the attack on Israel on October 7. But Secretary Blinken did two things right away. He received the UN envoy, Hans Grunberg in Washington in the midst of all this two weeks ago. And in the pre-brief that I had with the Secretary, he said, we've got to keep the Yemen diplomacy going. I was incredibly grateful that he took time out of his schedule, his sort of full court press on this issue with Ukraine going on, with Afghanistan going on, with Ethiopia going on, to spend time with the UN envoy and reiterate some really important messages about the importance of the UN role, transitioning the important talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis that have been going on that you may have read about.  United States wants to show Yemen's a priority, as the president said back in February. We need to keep this going. I will say that in my trip to Oman and Saudi Arabia in this particular visit, Gaza came up in every single conversation. I mean, there's no question that the Yemenis feel passionately about what's going on. And I think most of us, I imagine, are Middle East people in some respect, and the people who are watching as well. We all feel the impact of the loss of life that is taking place, and that is inexcusable from any either side to perpetuate. So I think the president has waded in a very, very important manner to talk about the importance of humanitarian side, but also to counsel the Israelis about how this might look going forward, or to at least think about American ideas. But this is an issue that I think was felt very strongly within Yemen. I think it was very unfortunate that the Houthis decided to launch missiles and UAVs last Friday toward Israel. My worst fear, of course, is that Yemen gets dragged into another war, and this war is not over yet. So there's no patience on our part to see this happen. There's no tolerance, I think, to see this happen. What we want to, I think what we want to do is move to a better place in Gaza, so it's less emotional for everybody concerned. Because again, I think if you look at the progress that's been made over the last year and a half, there is this opportunity to end this conflict. And we want to do our best as the United States to protect the gains that have been made. I mean, Sunni Airport is flying commercial flights for the first time since 2016. It's a drop in the bucket, folks. I'm not suggesting that everybody can suddenly move around, but it's a start. And more than 100,000 Yemenis have been able to get out of Yemen to Jordan. We want other countries to join and receiving flights of Yemen's national carrier. But God, it was a great moment when that started. We all felt things are starting to move. There was a big prisoner exchange last April. Prisoners from all sides of the conflict with help from the ICRC and other elements to release these. There are many more prisoners that need to be released. But overall, over the last year and a half, you've had an end to those cross-border attacks that were happening at such an alarming clip.  Yemenis have been able to move around the country. Humanitarian assistance has been able to get into more remote areas. I think the ambassador would be the expert. But I think Yemenis may sense that there's a moment when this could be the end of the conflict. There's a huge amount of work, as I say, that needs to be done. But we want to make sure that the Yemen effort can go forward. I think what the president has asked me to do and the secretary to support this effort and keep going with the progress that we've made. Tim, thank you. And two things were very striking in your comments. One was the implicit worry, fear maybe, that all of the progress made on Yemen in the last year and a half is at risk with the crisis in Israel and Gaza. And that everything that might be possible could be undermined in a snap of the finger. He also said something very important about those of us who study diplomacy and in one way or another try to exercise it. You talked about the fact that there were confidence-building measures which were made possible because Saudi Arabia and the Houthis were involved in peace talks. The logic that many of us are taught when we go to Georgetown and other institutes of diplomacy is that the way you get to peace negotiations is through confidence-building measures. But you were very clear in the chronology and said, actually, we started to make progress on things like the airport and like SAFR when the two parties were sitting at the table. You want to share your views on the sequencing of confidence-building measures? You are handling one of the most sensitive diplomatic files in the US government. Do you use confidence-building measures to get people to the table? Do you use them when they are at the table? Do you advance them because they're at the table? I mean, I think it's a great question. You have to do all three. I think that there were certain factors, I think that made a truce possible. I think neither side at that point felt that they could impose their will on the battlefield. I think there's a certain point at which when the warring factions can't achieve all their aims, they may take a moment to reflect. I think the Yemeni population is absolutely tired and fed up with this fighting. And they want a chance to get back on their feet and rebuild their country. And we should be 150% behind the effort to support that. And whether it's through humanitarian work or supporting the uplift of the Yemen economy, which is struggling, is vital. But things like prisoner exchanges really make a difference because you don't get that if people aren't willing to cooperate. There is a prisoner's committee. There is a military committee. There are political committees. These committees have been meeting, not always successfully, but they've been meeting. And so the combatants or their representatives have been in the same room together, a little bit of rhetorical throwing of chairs, but no literal throwing of chairs. And that's to be expected because there are very strong emotions, I think, involved. And that's even without the Gaza situation. But I think the commitment of the parties to forge ahead with the truce, which I would say is still holding, right? There have been exceptions to this. There's been some violence. Along the border, four Bahraini soldiers were killed a few weeks ago. But contrast that with the progress that's been made and the fact that Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have had several rounds of talks. Let me not say negotiations or characterize them, but they're talking. And by the way, when President Biden went to Saudi Arabia in July last year, he said to the Saudis, we think that it would be very helpful for you to talk directly to the Houthis. I'm not saying the Crown Prince is doing this because the president asked him to. But when you get to the issue that you raise, Lise, at some point, the combatant parties have to sit down together. Nobody can do the talking for them or the negotiating for them. They have to talk together. And there have been several rounds where Houthis and Saudi Arabia have been in talks before. There was a long peace talks in Kuwait in 2016, 111 days. And it seemed like there was progress. And then the Houthis pulled back. And the role of Iran, I think, also needs to be looked at very closely here. Can they turn for what we feel is a very negative posture toward Yemen, arming and smuggling weapons into Yemen? Can that be stopped in the context of the Saudi-Iran agreement, which was a big deal that happened this spring? So I think we also have to look at the way that regional peace efforts, and leaning toward de-escalation in the region among long-time combatants and leaders who have not gotten along for decades, that can be a net positive. And so I'm counting on these various cushions to help lift us up. But we also need to see tangible results, like prisoners being exchanged in airports open and humanitarian supplies moving through. So there's a long way to go, but I think there's been some very important progress. Tim, everyone looking at the Middle East is aware that one of America's competitors, adversaries, China, is playing an important and increasingly visible role in diplomacy. Whereas the United States would have been one of the lead peacemakers in the region, one of the major diplomatic forces, the landscape is changing. You mentioned the deal between Saudi Arabia, the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran. It wasn't the United States that did that, it was China. As we rethink the U.S.'s role in the Middle East, and as it evolves and changes, how do you see U.S. diplomacy? And specifically, you've been associated with a very special part of American diplomacy. When we're not necessarily the lead negotiator at the table, but when we are the indispensable country making sure that things move forward. Well, I think if you look at the Iran-Saudi agreement, a lot of progress had been made over the year and a half before that, that the Omanis were helping to broker that there were talks in other countries as well between the Saudis and the Iranians. So that effort was well underway, I think when they were able to reach or to announce an agreement in Beijing. And what I've found so far is that, you know, the United States officially welcomed this. And in fact, we have good cooperation with the Chinese on Yemen. And we have what we call P5 meetings. For example, last week in Riyadh, we had a P5 meeting that's the members of the Security Council, the permanent members, U.S., Russia, China, the UK and France. And we're all in the room together. And most of what we're talking about is totally convergent between the five of us on Yemen. We don't have that in many other venues within the P5. But the Russians want a political solution to Yemen. They do not want a military solution. The Chinese want a political solution. They do not want a military solution to Yemen. Believe me, when I think of the tools that we have in our kit to push toward this effort, I look at something like that and I say, that's an important asset to have. And it needs to be maintained because none of these things are on some kind of autopilot. You have to keep maintaining these contacts, these relationships, these discussions. We don't publish the photos from these meetings. We don't tweet about them. But we do it quietly, until I announced it to all of you. We do it quietly because it's effective and you've got to have coalitions supporting you. We've got to have the Security Council behind us. There could be, if all goes well, a moment when the UN is going to step in and take over this effort, which is what we're driving toward, with two goals in mind, a durable ceasefire. So we move from the truce that we have to a durable ceasefire and Yemeni-Yemeni political talks. And the latter I just have to say, that's the most important thing that we can do is find a way to bring the Yemenis back together in one place with their leaders negotiating the future of their country. And that's what the United States is committed to, nothing short of that because that conversation, nobody, no outsider, not us, not the Saudis, not the Emiratis, not the Iranians, not the Chinese, the Russians, none of us can make those decisions for Yemenis. And it is their country and we want to see that effort go forward in the near term. I feel that the sooner we can get to the Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue, and I don't underestimate how difficult that is. I've mentioned the confidence-building measures, but there's eight years of hostility and lack of trust and lack of confidence and vilification of both sides. And that has to be pulled back for the combatants to move forward and make decisions. And when we talk about a Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue, we mean women, Yemeni women too. We don't just mean a group of PLC, Presidential Leadership Council representatives and Houthi representatives. We mean a more comprehensive and inclusive Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue. You look back at the national dialogue that took place in Yemen in 2014, which is a moment of hope. It's my first trip to Sana'a. And it was a wonderful time that got bulldozed or hijacked, but Yemenis know what to do. Let's get them together. So they can make the decisions about their country. Tim, one of the reasons we were so excited about having you come to the Institute was to talk about creative diplomacy. And one of the aspects of creative diplomacy is that people who wouldn't typically be involved in negotiations or in a diplomatic initiative become so. You mentioned in your introduction that oil companies were involved in the offloading from software, that the private sector was involved, that school children from across the river were involved, that a broad coalition of international actors were involved, that's extraordinary. Can you say more about how that coalition came together and what we're very interested in is how did you ensure from the perspective of the US that it was all gonna work in harmony, that they would all be coordinated? How did you help to make that happen? I mean, I think there was something appealing to multiple audiences about the software. I mentioned the school kids, they got fired up because of the effects on marine life and fish and sea turtles and the sea coast. But there were others, I think, there was an environmental, there was support from environmental organizations who wrote letters and jumped in on the campaign. We felt there was a particular need for oil companies to support this effort and several did. We'd like to see more because there's still as a funding gap that needs to be filled before the effort is really brought to conclusion. Right now, we'll put up the picture of the two ships side by side, the software on the left with the Nautica, which was the new ship, that received the oil from the software. You could see how decrepit the software looks, but a massive ship and the oil was piped from the software onto the Nautica. But it's interesting, we didn't do a lot of naming and shaming, but we got, I think we inspired a number of countries to come forward. Why? Because so many countries benefit and participate in world commerce through the Red Sea. And you, so the coalition was everything from South Korea to Norway to Switzerland to Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, the Germans, the Dutch played a tremendous role and they played our leadership role in this effort. And I mentioned the sort of broad coalition. The fascinating thing here, and this is another important message, I think, for all of us is when you can motivate a coalition like this, you can actually prevent a problem from becoming a crisis. And our world diplomacy is constantly back-footed by responding to the bomb that goes off, the leadership that has just collapsed. When here we all saw that there was a problem that needed to be fixed. And it was just interesting how this story appealed across a number of different sectors. But it also needs to be generated from somewhere. And I think we gave it a huge push from day one. We had an incredible advocate, Ambassador Eladrami. Thank you for all you did, Ambassador. And the government of Yemen also saw that this was a ticking time bomb that was going to be bad for the region, for Yemen, exacerbating the problems that we're already facing. But you got to get the story out. And a couple of journalists got seized with this. They helped us. And so this was a motivator. And by the way, I would just add that there's a lot of skepticism about multilateralism, that it can't be used to address a crisis. This is an exception. It can be, the power of nations can be harnessed. And I'm especially pleased that in the midst of everything that was going on in the world, there was a Russian war in Ukraine. There are problems in the Middle East, but folks fixated on this and said, we've got to get it done. And that's why we were so excited to explore this with you. Because if you look at the television every morning and you see military build-ups, US military build-up with us deploying carriers and warships and other strike capabilities, not only in the end of Pacific, now in the Mediterranean, and other parts of the world, and then you have this effort. They couldn't be more different. You have the manifestation of US military superiority, and then you have American soft power. So you sit on that cusp, on that tightrope between them. Can you share your reflections about what you think is more effective? I think there's a time for both. I mean, obviously, my career, I'm someone who's spent time in Iraq, as you did at least two years working there. And I generally, in my career, don't gravitate toward the lovely countries. I mean, I do want to at some day drink Chardonnay and look at the glaciers in New Zealand, but that's not the moment. And so I appreciate that there are times when American power has to be used, but I think let's not overuse it. And that's not always, the hammer is not always the best tool for the nail. And I think there are moments here where we're trying to demonstrate, and the software is just a good sort of symbol of this, that coalition-building multilateral efforts, the UN, which gets such a bad rap in many different environments. But I think the UN has delivered big in Yemen, both with this effort on the humanitarian side and what is going to come from a UN-led peace process. And so those institutions exist for a reason. But again, I think it takes leadership to pull them together and not to resort to the barrel of a gun. And we are in a moment, I think in Yemen, where things like this can happen. And I'm, as I said at the beginning, I am afraid of what would happen if the Gaza conflict grinds on and we see more inflammation in the region and pressure on actors across the spectrum to get involved. I said, I talked to a lot of Yemenis on this last trip. And even though Gaza came up in every single conversation, not one of those people said Yemen should get drawn into the war. Yemenis do not want to get drawn into another conflict. I mean, I think we're all trying to work to get out of this conflict. And this conflict has a long way to go and needs a lot of help still, needs a lot of international support, and it needs a full-on engagement and support of the US, of the United States. In this particular context, we are looked at as a very important, very important actor. I think we need to use how to, we know how to, we need to know how to use the tools wisely and carefully. So Tim, one of the things that this institute does is to work particularly with young, aspiring diplomats, mediators and negotiators and talk about the actual mechanics of how you bring belligerents together, war and parties together, people who have grievances that are unresolved, how do you get them together? And how do you actually, when you're all sitting at the table, progress toward a solution? This is an example of where that was done. Many of us who know about this know it would never have happened without US determination and the kind of leadership Tim that you personally exhibited and pushed. Can you comment on what it's actually like at the table and how it was possible to bring people who didn't want to agree, who were fighting each other to a common understanding of what needed to be done? How'd you do it? I mean, I think there are a couple of ingredients. One is you have to have the backing of your leadership and having the President and Secretary of State support what we're doing on Yemen is critical. And the fact that the President announced Yemen so early in the administration, that caught me by surprise, believe me. And I was given a little bit of a heads up that they wanted me to do this assignment. Hell yeah, I said right away I wanted to do it. Because I saw it as an opportunity for the United States to have a positive impact. I didn't necessarily feel that the conditions in Yemen were right. As I said, at that time there was a hot war going on. But I felt we needed to give it our best shot. I think relationship building in my particular case had spent a lot of time working in the Gulf and knew the Saudi leadership and many of the Yemeni leaders, the Emirati leaders, et cetera. But you gotta be able to deal with the full spectrum. You've gotta deal with the people who hate America. And ultimately that's part of what has to happen. And I think you have to set aside a lot of personal perspectives. You're representing the United States, you're in a meeting or a conversation or negotiation as a representative of the United States. It's not there, I'm not there as Tim Lenderking. And I find that despite what is commonly said, the United States has a lot of influence in the Middle East still. And I think again that the various parties in Yemen are looking toward us to use it in a positive and balanced way. And I think there's scope. One of the things that we did very early on with our team is start moving around the region, the Gulf region, sort of enlisting everybody in this effort. Hey, you just got a moment from President Biden saying the US thinks we should work hard on this war in Yemen. So just getting everybody's attention, I think was one of the first challenges. But everybody's tired of this war. The Emiratis are, the Saudis are. And as I said, nobody more than Yemenis. But being able to call on their influence. And Oman, I think particularly as a neighboring country of Yemen, playing an important role here, has been essential to building the kind of international coalition to push for a Yemen peace effort that can be sustained. Yemen's had peace efforts before and been in and out of war. I think our hope is that we can work with Yemen to get it on a more stable path so we can talk about a durable resolution of the conflict. Not something that lasts five years. And then the parties tip back into it because things are set on a house of cards. No, I mean, that's why the Yemeni-Yemeni conversation is so vital to this. This is their country and they have to be the ones to make the key decisions. I know that you have been a champion as you represent the United States on this file. You've been a champion of the role of women in the peace process and the role of civil society. Not all American diplomats are. American diplomacy is often known for being tone deaf to the role of civil society, the role of women. But you're not like that. Can you share with us why you think the role of women in civil society is so important?  That's what experts say. And I know that talking to Yemeni women of which there are many, many fine and wonderful and very energetic Yemeni female leaders living in different countries outside of Yemen but also in Yemen, they are so eager to be involved and to have their voices heard. And I think they bring an essential perspective to the table.  Some of it has to be virtual. Our ability to move around in Yemen is very constrained. I mean, we haven't had an embassy there since 2015. So we don't have a diplomatic presence. I'm able to get to Yemen a couple of times a year but these tend to be short visits and we can't spend a lot of time on the ground. But we meet with civil society when we do that. When we go to Aden, we talk to Yemeni women leaders from around a southern Yemen who, yeah, they'll spend the three hours or the four hours to get to the place and get inside and meet us. It's a vital conversation. So I can only say that we are, you know, we're very much committed to that. I think, you know, I've worked in other battle zones. Before I joined the Foreign Service, I worked in Afghanistan. And so I think having some experience with other conflicts in my early days, I worked on the Thai Cambodian border with refugees, you know, interviewing them for resettlement in the United States. So I would only say that I've tried to bring the experience that I have to bear on this current situation. And I think it's helpful to me. I've always been as a diplomat sort of, you know, my priority has been get to know the people. Don't hang at the embassy and in the fancy housing. Get outside the castle walls, go and meet people, go and talk to people and, you know, try to make a difference because at the end of the day I think it's, you know, to answer your previous question, you don't have impact if you don't have the relationships and you don't get the relationships by jetting in and out for a day. You have to build them, you know, over a long period. You have to drink tea. You have to, you know, break bread together. And you find that you can break bread with your enemies.  A final question, Tim. You people who look at you as diplomacy are aware of one unshakable fact. The role of the United States and the world is changing. We're not the sole superpower. Our diplomacy for the last several generations has been premised on that superpower status and the kind of diplomacy that we've engaged in has been a function of that. How do you see American diplomacy now changing? What do American diplomats have to do differently so that things like this can happen? I mean, I think we're going through a sea change, honestly, at American diplomacy where, you know, we've long passed the Cold War period. We have moved into an era of great technology and social media and, you know, with what used to be called Twitter, everybody has a voice, right? And suddenly everybody's voice is equal with everybody else's and so you hear things from people that were maybe shut out of the dialogue before and what comes with that I think is a lot of negativity as well and criticism and so forth. But I think, you know, diplomacy is now about using a variety of tools. But I come back to what's the most important which I think is the personal relationships. That's never gonna change. We're not going to be as effective if we do everything virtually. You've got to sit with people. You've got to hear their concerns. So I think that's the nucleus. At the same time, you know, the relationships have changed in the region. Every one of the countries in the Gulf, I could say, has a vision 2030 or a vision 2040 and they're trying to move out and their young leaders by and large. And they have visions for their society and they include economic development. They include generally strong elements of tolerance even though there are, you know, persistent acts of intolerance that still exist. And we would be wise to understand those new leaders, emerging leaders. In the Gulf in particular, there's a tremendous amount of wealth that can be, you know, harnessed. But everybody wants, from what I see, with a few exceptions, wants to see peace in the region. Now, there are huge hurdles to that. But again, I come back to the point I started with. There is a moment of, this is a moment for Yemen to seize peace. And it will take the Yemenis but also the coalition of actors array. If the Chinese want to play an important role, most welcome. If the Russians want to play an important role, I mean a positive role, bring it on. That's good. So where we can get support for driving a peace effort, we want to look at all those corners because I think it's going to take that, Lise. I think it's going to take, it's a broad and multifaceted effort. Tim, with your permission, we have time for two, three questions. Please. Colleagues, may we invite questions from the floor? Chris. Curious, I'm watching the conflict in Sudan really closely. And I'm curious what advice you would have for our diplomats negotiating in that conflict to have kind of these kinds of solutions. The only reason I'm even going to hesitate, I mean, going to attempt and answer that because I worked in Sudan some years ago. But I don't think the conflicts are similar, right? Sudan and Yemen, they may share some fundamental similarities. I think one is the role of the outside actors, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the Sudan conflict. Now, the fact that we as diplomats cannot assume that because countries work together on one conflict that they're going to work together harmoniously on another conflict. And so, the kind of international coalition building that we're seeing on Yemen, it doesn't necessarily exist with those same countries on another problem set. And so again, I think you fall back on the basics. Who's going to go out and build the relationships? Is there a clear mandate from the leadership to bring the conflict to an end? Is there a will on the parties inside? And I don't see that in Sudan. Again, I'm not the expert, but I don't see the will on the part of the Sudanese leaders on the ground to end this. I think I see attempts to gain more influence, more territory. It's vital in the Yemen context, I think, to prevent a return to fighting. And that's why I think the diplomatic effort is so important right now and so timely. Other questions? Sir. Yeah, thank you so much. So you mentioned, thank you, I shouldn't introduce myself, I guess, Tyler Pry with Safer World. So you talked about Houthi and Saudi talks, and sometimes that seems to get conflated at least in the media with peace in Yemen. But then you talked about Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue as the way to get to that. Is this a sequencing question to some degree, like get the Saudis to pull out, get them to support it, then we can do Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue. Can we do it both together? And how can we bring some of the creative diplomacy to the Yemeni-Yemeni side, so we're not just relying on Houthi-Saudi talk, but then we can get a bigger table for ultimately Yemeni, intra-Yemeni peace process. Thank you. Thank you. I think the talks that the Saudis and the Houthis are having are vitally important. And from what I hear, not being in the room, I think they're making some progress. And the rounds of what's reported in the papers of Houthis going to Saudi Arabia and Saudi leaders going to Sanaa is extremely important. But you're absolutely right. That doesn't equate from our point of view what they can do together to peace in Yemen. They can make progress, but then the progress that they attain has to be passed over to an international process. And that's where I think the UN has such an important role to play as sort of the rallier of the international community. We can do a lot of that, but it's very helpful to have a competent UN envoy as we have in Hans Grunberg, who I think could help marshal the effort, get the security council, set some priorities. But where I think the crucial decisions are made are between the Yemenis. And that, I think, is what we are counting on this process moving toward. And keeping the buffer as strong as we can from whatever outside conflict is going to impinge on Yemen. If it's not Gaza today, it could be Iraq tomorrow. It could be Lebanon the following day. There's always something going on in the Middle East, so it's never a perfect or sanitized environment. But again, that's why the elements of the Yemeni peace effort, I think, have to be pushed and prioritized at this particular time. Good to see you. My name's David Muthana from Washington Center for Yemeni Studies. We have seen the peace talks and the visits between Saudi Arabia and Houthis. So what's the next step? And are there any obstacles? I think the obstacles that you're facing are first and foremost that there's been eight years of fighting between, well, in Yemen. And that's not something that has overcome overnight. But when we talk about confidence building, these two sides spending four or five days in the capital of these countries is quite significant. I'm confident that these conversations will put at least one essential building block into place by getting an understanding between these two important combatants about the way forward. Again, it has to go into a Yemeni Yemeni process for it to be durable and sustainable. So we're at that point, I think, when we're looking for Saudi Arabia and the Houthis to reach agreement on issues between them, which get us into the tent, I think, and into the realm of possibility with the Yemeni Yemeni dialogue. Sir. Hi, Tim. Paul Sutvin from the Global Insights Group. I'd like to go back to the question of the Houthis and Ansar Allah and the conflict in Gaza, seeing a lot of reports of Ansar Allah Houthi threats, as well as the possibility of additional movement of personnel and that kind of thing. How worried are you and what would be a disincentive that could be given for them to stay out of that? I know you once said both the sides aren't interested, but the access of resistance, the pressure of the Iranians, I know the Houthis don't take direction from Tehran, but certainly there's an awful lot of pressure right now given the way this conflict is playing out to take action among that access of resistance. Well, certainly, Paul, I do worry about it and I'll be quite open about it because Yemen sits in a volatile region on a good day. And having this added to our rucksack, which we have to haul up the hill, is very unhelpful. But at the same time, again, I go back to what I'm hearing from Yemenis, that there's no desire to be dragged into this conflict, maybe to convey very strong emotional perspectives, but that's not the same thing as volunteering to fight in that conflict. So I think we just have to do our best to keep the Yemen effort going. I think we have some strong elements in place, as I've noted, we wanna keep moving in that direction and see where we can build. I mean, again, being out in Saudi Arabia and Oman last week had some very, very positive talks about where these two countries and the Yemeni leaders that I met see things going and the work that is needed to get there. So I see a lot of synergy and good cooperation happening. I'm not saying it can totally withstand the pressures of the region, but we have to do our utmost to power forward. Sir. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, and thanks, USIB, for the invite, bringing especially Yemen and Libya quite often to the Washington scene. Two questions, minor questions, if I may ask. Up until 2019, I think the UN was seeking a narrow agreement for a unified government and then look into the longer-term solution for other issues, especially the South. 2019, I think that, in a way, changed and they're brought in the SDC. From a mediation perspective, is this complicating or would this be a positive thing, the participation of the SDC at this stage? From a technical mediation point of view, if you may. The other question is, should we keep on talking to the Hezbollah, to the Houthis and the Hezbollah and the Hamas, should we do that or should we keep on having some kind of limitations in our talk? Thank you. Yeah, I mean Yemen's a very diverse country, so of course there are a variety of perspectives and points of view at various times in its history. It's been two Yemen's. One can debate whether two Yemen's or one Yemen is better. The Southern Transition Council that you mentioned is part of the ruling coalition, the Presidential Leadership Council. We meet with them regularly. Their leader came to the UN General Assembly with the chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council. Last month in September, they met with Tony Blinken. I thought it was fantastic, by the way, that in the first 48 hours in New York, Tony Blinken had three meetings with Yemenis or about Yemen. Again, I come back to the point that that shows the United States, I think, leadership is in this. So it won't be for us to decide whether there's one Yemen or two Yemen's. I think that's squarely in the realm of the Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue. That's a burning question that's on people's minds. And I think the Yemenis have to address that. Your second question, I can't really speak about talking to Hezbollah, but somebody has to talk to the Houthis. You can't just pretend that they're not there. They are a reality. And they have a point of view. And they have some strength on the ground that you cannot ignore. So they have to be brought in to the peace effort. And as I said, there have been some baby steps here, which have led to positive progress. It needs to be built upon. And with the Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue, would of course include the Houthis. Ma'am. Hi, my name is Britt Gleix-Nerhayat. I'm a visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and used to work at USAID, including on Yemen. My question is about your comment on influence, U.S. influence in the Middle East. You mentioned that you think that the U.S. still has a lot of influence. Can you talk a little bit about what you mean by that? And in the conduct of the conversation over the last few years, what lessons have you taken about where U.S. influence can be best applied? Has there been anything that you've learned that has been a lesson about the extent to which it can be applied, the limitations to it, or moments where it actually was more than you thought it might be? Thanks. Thank you. I think we do have influence. I think the Yemen context is a perfect example of that. It doesn't mean that we can make or break a situation, but I think our engagement is noticed, and it's a reference point, and leaders, people respond in some way to the fact that the U.S. is engaged in the symbolism of naming an envoy is one way which we elevate and sort of document the priority that we're placing on a certain conflict. And then again, the support of the leadership is there, but I do think the region is changing, and I think we have to be very smart and very adaptable about how the Middle East is changing. There are a lot of people who don't like the United States, and remember some of the mistakes that we have made over the years in different venues that is not easily forgotten. So we have to adapt also. I think it's very important to listen to voices in the region, and we're not in a position to impose anything on any country, in fact. I like the fact that the Yemen peace effort enjoys support from a cross-section of Yemen society and Yemen's political parties, and the fact that pretty much all doors are open to us to engage whether people like us are done. I think that's very important. When there's a door open for U.S. diplomacy, we have to go through it and do our best to engage to bring about a better situation. Someone like me I think who's spent a lot of time in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Sudan and other war zones acutely aware of where and when and how we do things wrong. Sometimes we have blinders on, we go in all big supporting one side and we find out that that's not resonant with the people in that country and those are pitfalls. So I get back to the point about being smart. There's no cookie cutter approach for every crisis. We have to assess what can work and what doesn't work and apply soft power and in some cases hard power. We're at the end of our discussion. When, like Barbara, I was based in Yemen at the time representing the United Nations, Ambassador Hadrami had done a fabulous job of getting the United Nations very worried about South Fortaker. And I was requested by the United Nations leadership to please send a code cable and an analysis about what we were gonna do on South Fortaker. And I wrote pages and I looked at it from this angle and that angle and from every angle and at the bottom I said, impossible to solve. Tim, you are the antidote to everyone who is ever pessimistic about a difficult problem to solve because of your leadership, leadership of countless people across Yemen, the unsolvable got solved. Thank you. And may we salute your role and your leader for it. Thank you all, thank you, Liz. Thank you for being with us. Thank you all.


Hi, beautiful. How are we today? I'm doing well. Thank you for asking. Today, we're doing one of my favorite things ever, which is watch TikToks. It's gotten worse and worse. The amount of TikTok videos I watch in a day is concerning. I now watch TikTok in place of watching Netflix. I don't know what to do.  I need to stop. I don't know what it is about it, but it really intrigues me. I've curated my list of the best hair TikToks I could find. This took forever. I had you guys tagging me in everything and I was watching all of the videos and then I curated my list of the top videos on TikTok that are about hair and I want to share them with you today so we can have a laugh together and explain what went right or what went wrong in these videos.  They're worse than YouTube. Let's watch some TikToks together and see how badly these people have watched their hair. Let's do it. And yeah, I purposely dressed like a TikTok f*** boy today. I just wanted to stay on theme. No, actually, in reality, it's just how I dress. So I have my phone here. I'm going to prop it up on my computer and let's watch the first video. This one is by a girl named Hi Kayla Marie and she bleaches her hair and it goes terribly wrong. Okay, so this one's not gonna have any sound because it's copyright music all throughout her video, but basically she wants to color her hair blonde to then go pink and she breaks out the new Trees box dye and let's see how that goes. Oh, she has beautiful brown hair. I love that. Okay, so we're doing some kind of hair painting method with her hands and she's basically saying she has no idea what she's doing, which is very evident here. Oh, and then she ran out of box dye because she started with her ends and didn't have enough to do the top of her head. So she ended up just having to like make do with the rest of the box color she had. And this is the outcome. This is what she gets. And then she got more box dye, hit a car and applies more on top of what she just did and ends up with that kind of blonde hair moment. Now we move on to the second video of hers, which explains what happened after. So she's saying that she spontaneously bleached her hair and then she ended up with this weird mess of blonde in her head. But she actually wanted to go pink. Let's see how that pink actually went. Okay, so it's really orange. We love that. Oh, dear. Okay, it could be fine though. Her friends are helping her go pink. See? Oh my God. I've skimmed through all these videos, but I've been like trying not to really watch them through till I see them with you guys. It definitely showed up as more of a red, coppery pink. And actually I'm really into it. I think it's an amazing color on her. I think it really works their skin tone and it looks so good. She actually ended up with an amazing result somehow and I'm a little confused by it, but I'm really happy for her. Like, okay, we love, we love. That wasn't horrible. The process to get to where she wanted to go was horrible, but she got into a good place, I think. I think she's good. That hair color really worked for her. Just make sure it doesn't fade back to orange. Okay, moving on. Up next, we have a girl named Whitehead Taylor. She dyes her hair with box dye spoiler alert again. Okay, let's see how that goes. Great, we got four packs of nutrients. And when I go through crisis, I dye my hair. Every girl and gay man ever. If I'm going through crisis, I'm going to dye my hair. It's just gonna happen. It's going to. So she's starting off with platinum blonde hair. Let's see what else she says. I got two different colors, dark chocolate and sweet coal because I don't want it super dark, but I don't want it super light, so I figured I'd mix them. I don't know. My mom's a hairdresser. She's really mad at me because I do a lot of time bleaching my hair from brown to blonde, but I'm sick of it. Her four mom, she probably spent days making her blonde, and now she's like, you know what? That was fun for like a week and I'm going to go back dark. And I'm going to use box dye. Where's your mom on this one?  That is probably not what you wanted. We shall see though. And we're done. Oh my god. Bangs are a last minute decision. I really like her hair brown better. I'm going to be honest. Like I don't, wasn't really vibing with the blonde on her or just wasn't the right tone of blonde. Love the dark. Love the bangs. It all could have been done a bit better. The reason why we try to not use box dye, box dye in general is so high in ammonia. You don't know what kind of developer you're getting in the box. When you're going over already blonde bleached hair, you don't need any of that lifting agent in your color. So what you're going to want to use usually is a demi permanent color or a very low developer with your permanent color. So like a 10 or 20 volume. I'm pretty sure a lot of these box dyes have like 30 volume in it. That's the part that scares me is you don't know what's in these box dyes. You don't have any idea and you just don't need a lot of ammonia in your hair. Your hair is already lifted to blonde.  You don't need any of those lifting agents that you're going to get with box dye. So that's why we try and stay away from that stuff because it's like a hit or miss. Usually it's a miss. Listen, our hair didn't look mucky or green or whatever and I actually didn't mind it. Overall though, I do like the bangs. I do like the brown. I just wish both of them could have been done a little bit better or maybe ask your mom to do it for you. I don't know.  Why not ask her? I mean, am I missing something here? Okay, moving on. Next video is by it's just asia. This one I have already reacted to on my tiktok brebo no I see if you want to follow me. Yeah, it was rough. So I just watched a video on someone giving tips of how she gets color out of her hair. I have lost the ingredients. So I said might as well try it. I've been trying to get, I don't know if you can see it, this like blue, it's kind of green now out of my hair for a while. Okay, I actually haven't seen this part. So it's two parts. I've only seen the second part, but I haven't seen this and I am already cringing because her hair looks dry and damaged already and her hair is curly. So it's always going to be a bit more dry than other people's hair. And that part she just pointed at that blue part that looks like over processed hair that has like a slight bit of toner on it and putting more lightener on that is just going to literally fry it off, which may or may not happen. The only thing issues 10 volume developer and I only have 30 and 40. I don't know if that makes a difference at all, but I've also been contemplating shaving my head lately. Okay, let me ask you a question. If there was no difference between 10, 20, 30 and 40 volume, why would there be 10, 20 and 30, 40 volume? What would be the need for that? 10 volume has a lot less lifting agents in it. It's not going to lift your cuticle as much as a 40 volume will. 40 volume would be maximum lift and 10 volume will give you the least. You can go a little bit lower than that. 20 volume is like, you know, a little bit of lift. 30 volume is a little bit more of a lift and 40 volume is the most lift. We do here in America usually. So yeah, using 30 volume is going to highly damage your hair. Baking soda, Dawn dish soap, 30 volume. I got two tips.  So what she's trying to do is a bleach bath to get the rest of her color out of her hair. Now I wouldn't do a bleach bath on her. I would probably go in with foils and do every single section because what she has in her hair, there's so many different colors. There's so much going on. She has roots. The roots are going to return orange. There's just going to be so much messiness going on with her hair after this and it's just going to be worse than what she has now for so many reasons. But yeah, I would definitely recommend like going in with foils throughout the entire head and then probably bringing the hair back down to a deeper level. I think what she has now, it would just be a huge corrective color process that a hair stylist would need to do and a very skilled hair stylist. And a bleach bath is just not going to be the thing for her today. It's just not. She ends up with this and then colors it again and all her hair falls out. Surprise. And it looks worse than before. Oh, it's so bad. It's really, really, really, really, really bad. Oh, girl. Put your hair in a damp ponytail in for two years and let's let that grow out or just shave it. I don't know, man. It's going to be a very difficult process to fix this, but I wish you the best of luck. However, I will not be that one fix again. It's a lot. Yeah. Okay. Moving on. Okay. So this next one is a quick one that I have already reacted to you on my TikTok page, but this needs more attention. This is some of the craziest I've ever seen in my entire lifetime of being a hairdresser. This one is by Ashling Amanda. And um, y'all I went bald is her caption. So you can only imagine what goes on here. So she's using a high lift bleach with some kind of, I don't even know.  And then she goes bald. Why? Why? She bleaches one side and makes one side blue and one side just falls out of her head completely. She is not in the least bit concerned about what just happened to her. What is going on here? What is this? That stress me out the first time I saw it. I hope it stressed you out too. You're welcome. Anyways, moving on. Our next series of videos is by Space Boy Maddie. I haven't seen all of these yet, so this should be good. Hi. So, um, pretty much I'm going to dye my friend's hair, bleach my friend's hair. So this is the before she had highlights before, obviously you can see on the sides and stuff. Her hair is pretty. We're going to really go this up. Come on, man. Come on. I'm scared for her. Her hair can almost grow through now and she wants it blur. Blur. In conclusion, we've done the back. She is now ginger. Oh boy. This is the best feature. See how this is light and then this is brown. A streak of brown and then this is light and then this is ginger. And yeah, we're going to wash out the front in like 50 minutes because there's only 20 developer. So they used 20 new volume developer and bleached just went at it and basically missed a ton of spots and it was a mess. The funny thing is that he's using kind of like good techniques. Just the application of the techniques is not the best. She probably needs something more like a 30 volume on her. Maybe not on the scalp, but everywhere else. I don't know. I don't have to see her hair in person, but I mean, she needs some kind of like foil. She needs some kind of incubation of heat. There needs to be something there to lift the hair evenly and nicely. You're setting yourselves up for failure. I like that he washed out the back first because he applied the back first. He knew that it processed fully. He wanted to rinse that off so it didn't over process. However, he ended up rinsing it off and it wasn't processed enough using the right techniques and the wrong application for them. I guess, whatever. Let's see what happens after this. We found a really like solid brown hair and she says it's like she wants to rip it out, but I said, oh my God. Why? Every time it shocks me. Yo, have you ever seen anybody rip their hair out of their head like that? Yeah. I've seen people rip out one piece, but never like 20 pieces at once. Did you hear that sound? Why would you do that to yourself? I was so shook when I first saw that. I was like, why? I still am. I'm just like, how did you just do that? And then she laughed about it. How did her hair rip out that easily is my real question. Like what? It has come out really nice. Like actually, you know, it's not even mad. It does look kind of good. This is the completely finished look. As you can see here, we ran out of box colorant. It's so like red and dark kind of color. And then here is like pinky blonde. It wasn't the worst application. It wasn't the best for sure. If she came into a salon, I would foil probably every piece of her hair individually in tiny little sections. I would probably use 30 volume on those dark bits of hair. And then the rest, I would either not touch with bleach or I would use like a 20 volume developer on them. Making somebody from highlights to a double process platinum blonde is a super annoying thing to have to do. It's so tedious, but the outcome, you know, was decent. You know, it's at home hair color. What are you gonna get? You know, never gonna be perfect. The result was fine, I guess. Let's move on. Our next video is by Maddie the Barbie. Let's see what happens. I'm not sad. No, I'm not having a mental breakdown, but I'm gonna dye my hair. No, it doesn't. Actually, it's kind of good. We are here. The drive.  I love how she points to the developer and goes toner. Girl, that ain't toner. It's developer. I definitely did something wrong. Way too much developer. We're going to have to come back for a part two. I know. Starting at the end. I'm sorry. Oh, I already know this is a bad idea. Okay, come back. It's part two. The bleach is in. My head like itches so bad, but like stop itching. Itching creates little abrasions on your scalp, which is then going to make it itchier because the bleach is going to seep into them. It's just not a good idea to itch. Just try not to do it. You can pat whatever you need to do, but don't itch, especially with those claws of yours, girl. It looks bad. So now we're using like the dye. Okay, she's using 12A. Looks really bad. So what's happening here is her hair was not lifted enough. It's at like a level eight and it looks terrible and it's very patchy and there's a lot going on. So now she needs like a corrective process to fix her hair. Great. And she started off with beautiful hair. So I don't know why she did this, but you know, whatever. Now she's using 12A on her level eight hair to tone it. And toner doesn't lift your hair. It just deposits. So you can't go from a level eight to a level 12 with toner. You need to bleach it again. Okay. So the box dye is in now or whatever. It's not box dye. It's terrible. It's really bad. Oh. Everybody just thinks that purple shampoo is going to save their life. Everybody. I don't know why it's not going to save your life. It's not going to lift your hair either. So you can't go from a level eight to a level 12 with purple shampoo. Okay. Okay. I'm giving a little update because when I was in the shower, all of my hair was falling out. While the purple shampoo is in, I'm sewing clips on my hair extension. Oh my God. Okay. Wait. Like it's not that bad. Yeah. Okay. So that's where it all ends. Maddie. Let's just never do that again. That was tragic. I'm so sorry, but it looked bad. Not a lot of things went right there. First of all, I wouldn't recommend doing that at home. I don't know what to tell you. Next time just don't do it yourself and do it correctly. Good luck fixing your hair. Oh, now this next one just went totally viral and I thought it was really funny, but it really doesn't have any outcome, but we're going to watch it together anyway. Oh my God. They're doing here is using a frosting cap to do their highlights. Wouldn't recommend it. Frosting caps, you kind of just put them on your head.  It's such a random highlight that it gives you. It's never perfect. It's never good that bleach seeps through the cracks of the cap and gives you like lines all over your head, like tiger stripes. It's all around. It's not a good idea. Wouldn't recommend it, but this was a hilarious. I needed to share it with you guys. So now we have Cadet Peanut, more bleach fails. So this one has copyright music on it, but she's an insaney thing. She for some odd reason is brushing her hair out while there's bleach on it. And I can't figure out why what she was thinking at this point when she took a round brush to her hair that already has bleach on it and was like, I'm going to round brush my hair right now. Why are we doing that? What is the point? Then she applies this other color very sloppily. Sloppy? Sloppily? Sloppy? There's nothing good going on with this one, just like all the rest of them. And the outcome was this kind of like blue, purple bang. I don't know how she got there. I don't know why she got there. There's a lot of things. I'm not knowing here. Well, if she likes it, then so do we, right? Next time, don't use a brush while your hair is processing with lightener because when your hair is lightening, it is at a very, very fragile state, okay? When it's lightening, your hair stretches really far, you can easily break it off. You need to be careful with it. Don't use a round brush with ceramic bristles to brush your hair while it's lightening, okay? Section it nicely, get the lightener in there, and you won't have to brush it through, all right? Next time, you better not do that, okay? Our next and last TikTok is by lavaxgirl. I've seen this one, it's a lot. Judge it for yourself.  She's mixing the lightener. They are dancing and applying a lot of lightener, which I actually really like that. She used definitely enough lightener on this. Now has orange hair, she is applying lightener again, which honestly I probably would have done too, and it doesn't look like it's changed color that much. Okay, so they tone it and it looks like, oh, okay, it could be good. And then she ends up with the same exact color. Nothing happened. Nothing happened, and it looked, you think that the toner is gonna do something and then nothing happens. She's fully living her best life. Oh my God. I'm not a fan. I think you're at a good place right now to then go maybe like purple or blue or pink. You have a nice base to work with. I just don't think this is the right blonde for you. It's doing nothing for your skin tone. I think another color would be really great. Purple. Why don't we go with purple since I'm wearing purple today? I think purple would look really good on you. Take it or leave it, all right, hun? Nothing really good went on here. Oh, well, she applied enough bleach, at least. Not a good outcome. That's all it's today, guys. Oh God. That was a lot of TikToks, a lot of hair bleaching. Oh, all right. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed me sharing my favorite hair bleaching TikToks with you today. There are so many more. If you want to see another video like this, let me know. I could do so many TikTok videos. I have so many more videos. I have like a list of 50 videos in front of me right now that I wanted to go over, but we just don't have enough time. They're all really juicy. A lot of stuff goes wrong on TikTok and people love recording it and I'm living for it. I hope you guys found it enjoyment in that and found something funny. I know I definitely did. And while you're at it, follow me on Instagram and Twitter at the same handle, bramondomyc, and we'll be best friends forever basically. You know, that's how that works. Also, make sure you check out my haircare brand, X-Mondo Hair. It is linked below. You can check out the Instagram at X-Mondo Hair. We have amazing, beautiful, fabulous hair products that will make your hair glow from the inside out and just make you feel good about yourself, which is the most important part. And that's all from me today, guys. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for watching. Don't forget to live your extra life and I'll see you next time. Bye.


The dog aging project is ready for takeoff. DAP is an initiative to study aging and pet dogs, which may hopefully lead to treatments to slow down or reverse aging. DAP scientists think dogs are good models for human aging, given how dogs get similar age-related diseases and share our same living environment. DAP is currently preparing to enroll large cohorts of dogs to study the effect of rapamycin on dog lifespan as well as several other health-related endpoints.


What's up everyone it's your girl Kenzie here from Layton Sports Cards and I am ripping a personal here for Chris B. We've got a 2022 top's chrome black baseball hobby. All right Chris thanks as always for hopping in. Best of luck and let's see what we can get you. All right top's chrome black. What's up Randy? We're good. Doing great. I'm good. She's growing more and more every day. It's crazy how fast she's getting. If you were to look at her you would not think she's a two-month-old. She's kind of being picked girl. Is she big? Oh my gosh. How tall was she? She's the 98th percentile for height right now. That's crazy. I said we're gonna have a future basketball star. Is your husband tall? He's six two. Okay that's. And he says we're gonna have a future track star. It's so big on track in Jamaica. Vlad Grower Jr. Yeah same bold. Rookie Otto of Hunter Green for the Reds. And we've got we have here Green Rookie Stephen Kwan. We're Kwan Magnet today. My gosh. 35 and 99. Hit the Kwan. Hit the Kwan. We hit him way too many times not to hit it. Yeah really. What's like what is third or fourth Kwan that we've pulled today? And they've been like good ones too like. Yeah two or five. All right Chris let's see what we got for your Otto. Rookie for the Cardinals. A Wanya Pez. Nice one there. Base autograph. They signed these ones big. I love to see it. Nice big autograph. Alrighty Chris. That will do it for your box. Congrats on those cards. We'll get them right out to you.


What's up, everyone? Take down here. I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for all of your support. I have just hit 500 subscribers on my channel, which I know doesn't seem like a lot. But for me, it is over the past couple months, I have been growing with subscribers and views. And to see me finally hit 500 subscribers, which is a huge milestone for me. Thank you so much for all of your support. For the past couple months, seeing my channel get the subscribers and starting to get the views and my channel to start to do a lot better than it once was. I actually made the goal for the end of 2019 to be 500 subscribers. So the fact that I got my end of the year gold finished by three months, three months early, I'm extremely happy for that. I'm happy that my channel is at 500 subscribers. I'm happy that you guys are enjoying my content. And I'm happy with the content that I'm making. I am going to be giving you guys a update on my channel very soon, hopefully. And in that video, it's going to explain more of my new upload schedule, new videos, what's to come, the fate of my channel, what I'm going to be having to do because of work because of the lack of time to record videos. So it's going to be an interesting video. I have a lot to cover in that video, but I'm hoping it's not going to be too long. But today, I just wanted to say thank you so much. Thank you for helping me get to the 500 subscribers. And hopefully I'll be able to get to 1000 subscribers by the end of 2020. That is my goal for 2020. I just thank you so much. I've just been growing so much learning a lot about my channel about the content that I want to make, what works, what people want to see from me. And that's helped me out a lot knowing that I'm growing and getting the subscribers and basically is helping me know where I need to go and where I need my channel to be. So I'm going to give you guys an update on my channel very soon. But thank you so much for the 500 subscribers. Thank you for watching my content. Thank you for enjoying my content. There's going to be a lot of new stuff to come. And I can't wait to share that all with you in my channel update video coming very soon. Thank you so much. I'm gonna leave this video here. Please take care. Peace.


Ryan, it looked like a couple of the picks today were throws to Dez, and they guys haven't had a lot of time together. Was that a situation maybe where there were some miscommunications on those, some routes that were different? Yeah, I'm not going to get into the details of everything. At the end of the day, it all falls squarely upon me, and I have to be better. Well, we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot, you know? Turnovers, turn around downs. We just penalties. We shot ourselves in the foot all day, and we got to be better. It starts with me. Apart from the route stuff, Ryan, and the first one in particular, were there any points there where they fooled you with the coverage or anything? Or they were giving you a look you didn't expect? No, no, there was no fooling there. Just got to be better. At this point, I know you guys don't want to blame things on injuries, but I mean, the rate of injuries happening in games for you guys is an alarming amount, especially on offense.  Well, obviously it hurts, you know? You want to have your guys out there that you used to playing with and you got reps with, but that's where we're at right now in the season.  And there's some things we still have to work through with that. And hopefully we can get our guys back, and then the guys that are just starting to get reps, so we can get more reps with them. What is the frustration level like, Ryan, when your turnovers come and you're stopping yourself on other drives, and how do you kind of fight through it, and how do you feel like you guys did with that today? The attitude was good, you know? I think the belief was there. You know, we were moving the ball, the confidence was there, we just felt like we just needed to get a score and we'd be rolling. And like I said, we moved the ball consistently pretty much the whole day, except for a couple of drives, and just kept shooting ourselves in the foot.  So a lot of things to clean up and look forward to getting back to work. Was there anything on the sideline in any point or were you in a mode to the guys about to pick? Yeah, I talked to the guys, and they were great, and they supported me and, you know, had my back through everything. But at the end of the day, I expect better of myself and need to be better for this team. So far, you've taken care of the football over the last few years, but this year, you know, the interceptions are starting to pile up a bit. What is that, what is going wrong? What's behind, you know, the uptick and some of the turnovers? It's a story for everyone, right? But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. You have to find a way to take care of it and put the ball in the end zone. Is some of it maybe trying to force things, trying to get as far, trying to lately make some things happen? Yeah, once we're down there late in the game, especially the last one, just, you know, we needed a score. We needed yards, had the short route on the outside, but, you know, we needed to move the ball and get more yards than a five-yard pass. So got a little too aggressive there and tried to make something happen, knowing that we needed two scores there with no timeouts late in the game. Brian, can you, as a terrible low pitch, make some mistakes that killed the drive with a tough opponent coming out of the ring the rest of the season? How crucial do you think they are today to play for you? Yeah, no doubt. Have to be able to make the corrections and then turn the page and then get ready to go again. Obviously, going to a team that's playing really good ball right now, and it'll be a good test for us. So I know I'm excited to get back to work. I have a lot of belief in this team and this offense and what we can do. We've just got to start shooting ourselves in the foot, you know, whatever, whichever which way. You know, we did it every which way today and the good news is that those things are easy to clean up. So we'll clean them up and be ready to go for next week. I know you guys have healthy respect for everybody, but you just beat 16 that have done really well. Two of your three losses have come against the team. Haven't beat many teams yet. Have any kind of feel for life? No, I mean, I don't think we were on an estimated team. No, I certainly wasn't.  They have good players on defense. You know, our energy was good. Our urgency was good throughout the week. Going into the game, you know, in the pregame, felt really good. Just when it came down to it, we shot ourselves in the foot. Not that it's an excuse, Ryan, but it's hard to imagine, you know, the wide receivers like you came into camp with and started to season with and the number that have gone down, you know, at this point, and you guys are playing with barely three healthy guys out there today. It makes it tough. It makes it tough, you know, playing in situations that don't have a lot of reps with guys and causes some issues. So like I said, look forward to getting more reps with those guys and then hopefully we get some guys back.


We have one of your channel trailers to feature in today's episode and we want to ask an important question. Do you speak Hindi? We have been asking you to translate the George show into other languages so people who don't speak English can still benefit from all the tips. Click that I if you didn't catch the French version of the George show by the great Machi. Parles-vous Français? And we also had an Arabic translation and today we're going to do Hindi and Gujarati which is the native language spoken in the Indian state of Gujarat in case you didn't know. Roll it! That was Hindi and now Gujarati a short clip. These were both done by TurboTech who sent the links in the comments below. Thank you very much. He said he kept his promise and did a small fragment of the George show in Hindi and Gujarati and I said I promise to feature your translations on the next episode of the George show. Check. Done. It's amazing how many of you have stepped up and offered translations in your local language for the George show. So much so that Machi created her own channel and I'll hide myself so you can see it. If you go to youtube.com slash freedom scroll down to where it says powered by freedom and click this freedom FR it'll take you to this channel. And as you can see Machi is hard at work translating not just one video but quite a few videos dealing with freedom on this new freedom. Sorry I'm having trouble with the R in French. Can you help translate freedom into other languages and actually create a channel that is devoted to that language? Tell us in the comments below. Now don't just go and do it. Let us invite you to do it because we want to make sure the right people are chosen for each major language that we want to support. And I promised you at the beginning of this episode that there will be a featured channel trailer. Well there is and the channel trailer we're going to feature is by Gaming with Jennifer. She did such an amazing job with her channel trailer. Let's have a look. Hello everybody and welcome back. Hello everybody and welcome back. Hello everybody and welcome back. Hello everybody and welcome to my channel. My name is Jen and I'm here to provide you with all your gaming needs specifically playthroughs and standalone let's plays. How did I by being consumed by another follower? Oh my gosh have we got cannibalism here. Oh look at this is a harsh cat it's camp off. So a few things to notice about her intro. It starts off very quick catches your attention says hello I am hello I am and she's playing different scenes of her favorite videos in those clips and then when she starts speaking she uses the cards feature to help you get right to the videos that she's talking about so that you can see whether you should subscribe to her channel. That is an excellent technique that I recommend all of you to do add the youtube cards to feature your best videos into your channel trailer so people are more likely to find the content you think they will enjoy and subscribe to your channel. So Jennifer you have 357 subscribers currently. Hello everybody and welcome back and now you have 358. I love your channel and let's have a look at what else you've done well. Looking at your thumbnails in your uploads we see that you have very clear thumbnails we know all these videos are about life is strange so many videos and I like how you're using your face in all of your videos it creates a strong branding in your thumbnails so we know exactly who you are and what to expect when we see those thumbnails and on your main channel page you have a good use of playlists so you put all of your let's play games and your top videos from 2015 your call of duty week everything in a playlist on your main page that's amazing I have nothing to suggest to improve your channel except perhaps one thing why don't you add our freedom channel to your channels you should check out don't you think people should check out youtube.com slash freedom of course it's up to you whether you want to add our channel but that's my only suggestion to improve what you already have here which is amazing what do you think of Jennifer's channel tell us in the comments below give her some feedback or constructive criticism if you feel she can improve and we are featuring these channels that have great examples of trailers and uses of position music right on our main page if you go to youtube.com slash freedom and scroll down we are featuring position music used by freedom partners we are featuring obs tips we are featuring channel trailers by freedom partners and if you remember this is the channel trailer that was featured in a previous episode of the george show didn't see it click that i and get right to it we will be featuring a lot more videos by freedom partners so keep sending us links to what you think is your best content down there in the comments below it can be a channel trailer it can be a use of position music in your videos or it can be anything that you feel is an amazing video that you just have to show the rest of the world i will watch everything you send and i will feature the best content in future episodes of the george show and potentially create new playlists here on freedom central to help you get more views and grow faster because say it with me that is the spirit of freedom and today i'm wearing my small freedom shirt we all help each other grow together as a family because that is the spirit of freedom who am i i am papa george george sunpie jerry maguire and a few other names that i've picked up along the way from you i am george ceo and founder of this beautiful family called freedom and you've been watching and we will grow together as a family because this is the freedom family you are part of it we are all part of it and we're all growing together so grow with us and partner with freedom that play now button right there on the video bar is all you need to click to get started


What's up guys, Matt Beck from freesaloneducation.com. I wanna tell you guys about the biggest sale that we have of the year, and that is Black Friday weekend. It's gonna start November 24th, that's Friday, and it's gonna go through Monday, November 27th. We're gonna have up to 30% off tools like the Mizetani scissors that you see in every video that I create. Also Ergo brushes, and the Donald Scott carving comb will also be on there on sale. Plus a big announcement. We're gonna announce all of our classes for the first six months of next year, and those will be at a discount as well. So hands-on classes here in New Hope that you guys can take. So don't forget Friday, November 24th at midnight, the sale starts. It's our biggest sale of the year. Thank you guys so much for the support. I'll see you guys on the next video. Thanks.


We've been hearing a lot about grassland fires over the last few fire seasons. Grassland can burn quickly and intensely, affecting communities in rural areas and in suburbs surrounded by open grassland. By understanding the grassland in your area, we can better predict fire behaviour. This makes it easier for emergency services to set accurate fire danger ratings and to advise you and your communities on how to stay safe. Let's explore grassland in more detail. We all love green, lush grassland. As you would expect, green, lush grassland is unlikely to burn. In Australia, we are also very familiar with grassland that is dry and brown. As you would expect, this grassland is more likely to burn. Grassland curing is the natural process that changes our grassland from green and lush to dry and brown. We measure grassland curing on a scale of 0% to 100%, where 0% is the greenest and 100% is the driest.  The lowest percentages of curing between 0% and 30% tend to be safe and are unlikely to burn. At the higher end, grassland that is 70% to 100% cured is likely to burn rapidly and intensely. The middle levels of curing between 40% and 60% are more significant. If we know the specific level of curing within this range, we can better predict fire behaviour. This helps emergency services set the correct fire danger rating, allocate the most appropriate resources to prevent and manage grassland fires, and send the correct safety messages to your community. We have a network of observers who collect data to help us map the level of grassland curing across Australia. This data, combined with satellite images, helps us to produce grassland curing maps. These maps are used by emergency and land management services to plan and manage our bushfire preparation and response. We rely on volunteer observers to help collect this data. If you live near or regularly travel through grassland areas, agricultural crops, or areas with large paddocks, you could volunteer as an observer. If you live on the outer suburbs that are surrounded by open fields and plains, you could also make an important contribution. Help us keep your community safe by becoming a grassland curing observer. If you want to learn more about grassland curing or find out how to become a grassland curing observer, explore the other resources on this page.


I'm now going to share with you the outcomes of the conference that we've had so far. And I'm going to do two things. Firstly, frame the issue that we've been discussing, which as you can see, the theme is enhancing resilience of urban communities. And then I mentioned a few of what we are calling statements, which are not just recommendations to somebody to do something, but recommendations for somebody to do something and promising an offering to do something about that with them ourselves. So one of the traditions of the CBA conferences is we like to make final statements of commitment, their pledges of things that we pledge to do and not just asking other people to do things, although we do ask other people to do things, but we also pledge to work with them to make them happen. So let me start with the first one. And that's the issue of urbanization. And as you know, the world now is about 50% already in cities and urban areas. And it's going to get bigger. That proportion is going to rise about 50% very, very quickly. And of them, about a billion people live in informal settlements, but sometimes we used to call slums, but now we call informal settlements. And a majority of the fastest growing smaller towns are in Asia and Africa. And so that frames what we are talking about here. But at the same time, cities are very strongly linked to both the rural population, places like Dhaka and others. We have a continuum of people coming in from the rural areas, connected to the rural areas, and to the larger ecosystems within which the urban conurbations sit. So cities are not just confined to themselves. They sit within a larger ecosystem that needs to be taken into account. And the final point is an emphasis on local governance. Very often, particularly in the smaller cities and towns, there is a lack of local governance capacity, which constrains the ability of the municipal authorities to develop a user-friendly, community-friendly city for the citizens of that city. Moving on to the issue of climate change in the context of cities or urbanization or urban areas, very often the most vulnerable people living who are vulnerable to climate change also happen to be the poorest people in a city living in the most vulnerable areas of that city. And this is true as much for cities like Dhaka or cities like, say, New Orleans in the United States, where when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, more than a thousand people lost their lives. All those thousand people were poor people living in the ninth ward of the city, which is one of the poorest and most vulnerable parts of the city. None of the rich people in New Orleans died from Katrina. So even in rich countries, the people who are most vulnerable tend to be poor, and in city contexts they tend to be living in the most vulnerable areas. A lot of cities are on coastal zones, and coastal zones in particular low-lying coasts are now one of the most threatened by long-term climate change impacts like sea level rise, and we are certainly seeing that in Bangladesh now, particularly in the southeast coast of Bangladesh, a southwest coast, sorry, of Bangladesh, around Kulna in that area, and Kulna City, for example, is definitely seeing the impacts of salinity intrusion. The other thing that we can say about cities is that informal settlements in cities are very often the most vulnerable. Even rich people and middle-class people can also be vulnerable, and they also have a role to play. But generally speaking, the poorest people living in the informal settlements tend to be amongst those that are most vulnerable, and hence deserve a special focus going forward. And at the same time, in the climate change context, cities happen to be the places that have very high carbon footprints. They account for a large amount of the emissions, global emissions, and therefore also have a role in reducing those emissions through mitigation. And the last point is the most important point from the point of view of this conference, and we had a lot of evidence presented here from many, many different countries. That much is already happening. Many communities are already active. They're trying to build resilient cities. This is not a blank canvas. We're not starting from zero. There is a lot of work being done that we can build on. We can share and learn from each other, and that's the purpose of this conference, and we can build on going forward. And the third element, again, building on that last one from the previous slide, is about those urban communities. And as I said, they're thriving. They're taking place. The cities all have mixed communities, which include both formal and informal settlements, rich and poor, middle-class inhabitants, all have to come together to do things for the city. Often they do, sometimes they don't, but making that happen is the key. And there are many different groups that include women, children, elderly, disabled, amongst others, ethnic minorities sometimes, and so on. So we need to take account of these differences, but at the same time see how they can all be involved in both planning for the city, going forward and managing the city in real time. And one of the most important things is that many of the communities are already becoming self-organized. We heard examples, and we have actually representatives from a number of those communities in Philippines and in other countries here, that 300 cities in Asia, and well over 600 communities around the world, have active community-led activities, and they include savings groups. So people are funding themselves. They're saving money, they're managing it in collaboration with local government. These are not micro-credit schemes or NGO schemes. These are community-led schemes that are actually putting money together and using it for themselves, for their own infrastructure and betterment. And that these informal settlement communities now are linked both within countries and there are a number of them in Bangladesh that are already there. They form federations at the national level and they have federations at the both regional level in the Asia case for the Asian housing groups and globally with the slum and shack dwellers international, for example. So they are getting their act together. They are moving to scale. And we had a number of examples here and people from these organizations with us over the last few days. And we heard some very good examples of their work. And so that's what we are going to be focusing on as we make our recommendations go forward. So there's three sets of recommendations or statements we're calling them, aimed at different audiences. And as I said, in each case, there are advocacy messages for an audience but supported by offers to engage to make them happen. The first one is with respect to climate finance. And what we are saying is that those who are producing and providing climate finance for adaptation in particular need to find ways of providing support to these informal settlements in the cities. It is not easy to do and by and large, most of them have failed to do it. They recognize it's an important thing to do but they haven't found good ways of actually delivering it. And our proposition is that the best way to do so is to find intermediaries who can actually manage to take money in millions, tens of millions, but provide them to the communities in small grounds. The communities don't need millions. They need maybe 10,000 or 20,000 dollars or euros or whatever the currency is. And so you need an intermediary who can take large amounts of money, manage it, provide it to the communities in smaller amounts and then monitor the effective use of that. And there are such organizations now. I just mentioned two of them. The Asian Housing Rights Group and the Slum and Shackwellers International. And so the final point is with regard to aimed at the Green Climate Fund. And one of the reasons why we have done that is that we happen to have one of the board members of the Green Climate Fund sitting at the table here on the far left of the table from our side Dr. Kamaluddin Amant from Bangladesh who represents the least developed countries group as a board member of the Green Climate Fund and who has been fighting for this cause for some time, I can tell you, from personal experience. And so the recommendation which we would like to pass on to the GCF board through him is that the GCF board should find ways for fast track enhanced direct access for these kinds of intermediary agencies that can deliver to smaller communities on the ground.  The second set of recommendations or statement that we are making is to another group who are actually orders of magnitude more important or larger in terms of their funds which is the infrastructure in the cities and this is particularly relevant for Asia where there are going to be over the next decade trillions of dollars of investments made in infrastructure in cities like Thaka we are seeing that happen right now of the cities in Bangladesh and across the continent from a variety of sources the international development banks the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank the new infrastructure bank that's been created from private sector investments from a variety of sources from national government acceptors huge amounts of money are going to flow into infrastructure Our argument is that in order for that investment to result in resilient cities they need to incorporate the views and the inputs from local communities in the planning phase of those infrastructure development without doing that they are likely to either displace citizens of their own city or not benefit the citizens of their city so if the ultimate beneficiaries are to be citizens of the city then we need to involve those very citizens particularly the more vulnerable in the planning process to make their views into account as much as possible and then finally the final point is again related to what I just said which is that we have not made this investment yet the trillions of dollars I'm talking about are still to be spent and so we can start planning that it gets spent well now if we spend it not properly then retrofitting or fixing things afterwards is a lot more expensive so this actually represents a window of opportunity the right kinds of decisions on investments and for those who are going to make those decisions on investments our appeal is please do ensure that you consult with citizens with the poorer citizens in particular and again we have a variety and a plethora of organizations here from many many cities around the world who can engage and provide that engagement process consultation process and are quite willing to do so the third and I think the final set of recommendations are to do with governments, national governments generally and the recommendation is to focus on local governments and to build the resilient cities often being the constraint often being lack of capacity in local government particularly in the smaller towns and the upcoming towns as it were so across the next decades one of the things that we will see is that what is now considered to be a rural part of a country is going to end up being an urban part of that country that same geography that same place but we're not thinking about how it's going to look we're just letting it happen willy-nilly and then before we know it there's a town where there wasn't only villages before so we need to think about these towns of the future as it were and start putting in some kind of infrastructure that is both useful for the inhabitants particularly from a climate change perspective useful for the most vulnerable inhabitants of those places but do it in a planned manner that then delivers a city or a town that is actually conducive to live in for its inhabitants and the final point being the most vulnerable communities always suffer the most both from poverty and from lack of good governance as well as from climate change impact so the poorest and most vulnerable are always going to be the victims of whatever new risk that emerges whether the risk comes from lack of good governance or it comes from this new emerging issue of climate change