Israeli vehicles are positioned at the entrance of the Nur Shams Palestinian refugee camp near the northern West Bank town of Tulkarm on April 10, 2021. AFP
Israeli vehicles are positioned at the entrance of the Nur Shams Palestinian refugee camp near the northern West Bank town of Tulkarm on April 10, 2021. AFP
Israeli vehicles are positioned at the entrance of the Nur Shams Palestinian refugee camp near the northern West Bank town of Tulkarm on April 10, 2021. AFP
Israeli vehicles are positioned at the entrance of the Nur Shams Palestinian refugee camp near the northern West Bank town of Tulkarm on April 10, 2021. AFP

At least one killed in Israeli drone strike on house in occupied West Bank


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At least one Palestinian was killed and four others were injured in an Israeli drone strike that targeted a house in the Nour Shams camp in the city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian media said on Sunday.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Organisation said that it was dealing with two casualties as a result of the bombing of the house, noting that its crews were unable to enter the property due to the fire the bombing caused.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that four injured people, including two seriously, arrived at Tulkarem Governmental Hospital as a result of the bombing.

Drone strikes – and air strikes in general – used to be a rarity in the occupied West Bank, but have spiked since the Israel-Gaza war erupted on October 7, amid near constant Israeli raids in occupied towns.

Israeli forces also arrested 20 Palestinians in raids carried out over the weekend in Hebron, Tulkarm, Nablus, Ramallah, and occupied East Jerusalem. During the raids, Israeli forces damaged Palestinian homes, severely beat detainees, and threatened their families, the report said.

Among those arrested were three teenagers aged between 15 and 16 from the town of Beit Rima, in Ramallah. Clashes reportedly broke out between them and Israeli forces – which stormed the town and fired live ammunition.

The latest arrests bring the total number in the occupied West Bank to 9,450 since October 7, Wafa added.

Amid the arrests carried out, intense clashes took place between the Israeli army and Hamas fighters in Shujayea of Gaza city, under way since Thursday.

The weekend raids come several days after Israel's ultranationalist finance minister, who is also the leader of a pro-settler party, said the government would promote West Bank settlements as a punishment against the Palestinian Authority, which governs the occupied territory, after several countries recognised Palestine as a state.

Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday said he was working towards revoking "various approvals and benefits" for senior Palestinian officials and approving new settlement buildings.

The European Union condemned the minister's announcement that five outposts will be legalised in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The Gulf Cooperation Council also expressed its strong condemnation and rejection of the expansion of settlements.

The settlements and outposts are communities built on land occupied by Israel since the 1967 war. They are illegal under international law.

Despite seeking punitive measures to take against the Palestinian Authority, Mr Smotrich on Sunday extended a waiver allowing co-operation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank.

The waiver, which was due to expire at the end of the month, allows Israeli banks to process payments and salaries in shekels. Without its extension, the Palestinian economy – which depends on this transaction process – would have suffered.

The Palestinian Authority has suffered from a massive hole in its finances since Israel began withholding tax revenue it collects on the PA's behalf following the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war.

This crisis has decimated entire sectors in the West Bank, including healthcare, limiting the care that hospitals can provide and ultimately jeopardising Palestinian lives.

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%3Cp%3E1.9%20million%20women%20are%20at%20risk%20of%20developing%20cervical%20cancer%20in%20the%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E80%25%20of%20people%2C%20females%20and%20males%2C%20will%20get%20human%20papillomavirus%20(HPV)%20once%20in%20their%20lifetime%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EOut%20of%20more%20than%20100%20types%20of%20HPV%2C%2014%20strains%20are%20cancer-causing%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E99.9%25%20of%20cervical%20cancers%20are%20caused%20by%20the%20virus%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EA%20five-year%20survival%20rate%20of%20close%20to%2096%25%20can%20be%20achieved%20with%20regular%20screenings%20for%20cervical%20cancer%20detection%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EWomen%20aged%2025%20to%2029%20should%20get%20a%20Pap%20smear%20every%20three%20years%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EWomen%20aged%2030%20to%2065%20should%20do%20a%20Pap%20smear%20and%20HPV%20test%20every%20five%20years%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EChildren%20aged%2013%20and%20above%20should%20get%20the%20HPV%20vaccine%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
  1. Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
  2. Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
  3. Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
  4. Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
  5. Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
  6. The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
  7. Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269

*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year

German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

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Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash

Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.

Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.

Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.

Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.

Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.

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Managing the separation process

  • Choose your nursery carefully in the first place
  • Relax – and hopefully your child will follow suit
  • Inform the staff in advance of your child’s likes and dislikes.
  • If you need some extra time to talk to the teachers, make an appointment a few days in advance, rather than attempting to chat on your child’s first day
  • The longer you stay, the more upset your child will become. As difficult as it is, walk away. Say a proper goodbye and reassure your child that you will be back
  • Be patient. Your child might love it one day and hate it the next
  • Stick at it. Don’t give up after the first day or week. It takes time for children to settle into a new routine.And, finally, don’t feel guilty.  
UAE jiu-jitsu squad

Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)

Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

Updated: June 30, 2024, 1:32 PM