Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Israel launched a barrage of attacks across Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon on Wednesday in an escalation set to hinder ceasefire talks scheduled for Thursday.
Israeli drone strikes killed four people near the occupied West Bank town of Tamoun, the Wafa news agency reported, with the men's bodies being detained by the Israeli army. The Palestine Red Crescent said it was blocked from accessing the scene of strikes.
Fighting also occurred in the occupied West Bank, where Israel's military said it conducted a raid on Tubas, near Tamoun. One fighter, a member of the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, was killed.
“Our fighters have been engaged for hours in fierce clashes with the invading occupation forces in Tubas,” the group said, The Israeli army said the raid was “counterterror activity”.
In Gaza, which has been repeatedly bombarded since the war began on October 7, at least 21 people were killed by Israeli fire this morning. Strikes on homes in the central Nuseirat and Maghazi refugee camps as well as in Rafah to the south and Beit Lahia, to the north brought the death toll to more than 39,900.
The war began after a surprise attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants killed about 1,200.
In Khan Younis, Gaza's second largest city, the enclave's civil defence team worked to recover people trapped under the rubble of several homes destroyed by strikes in the east of the city which killed eight and injured 31. More areas of the city were hit by tank fire.
Residents and those displaced to Khan Younis, which had previously been declared a safe humanitarian zone by Israel, were ordered to evacuate several areas of the city again by Israel last week.
Israel said it was responding to Hamas rocket fire towards Tel Aviv on Tuesday and had struck rocket launching pads and militants among 40 military targets over 24 hours, including in central Gaza, Khan Younis, and western Rafah in the south.
In Lebanon, at least 17 people were injured in an Israeli air strike on the town of Abbasiyyah, near the southern city of Tyre.
On Wednesday evening, aerial assaults were reported on the border villages of Blida, Houla and Aita Al Shaab. No casualties were initially reported. Two people were injured in a strike on Rab Al Thalathine, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
It was initially unclear who Israel was targeting, but it regularly hits members of Hezbollah in Lebanese territory. Those attacks frequently incur civilian casualties.
The sudden increase and breadth of attacks came on the eve of renewed ceasefire talks to be held in Doha on Thursday, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an Israeli delegation would attend.
A Hamas representative in Lebanon said the group would not take part, saying Israeli aggression must stop “immediately”.
“Hamas is not concerned with Thursday's negotiations and has not changed its position, and will not attend,” Hamas representative in Lebanon, Ahmad Abdul Hadi told The National on Wednesday.
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How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
