Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Gazans are eager to ensure their children are vaccinated as a large-scale campaign against polio looks set to continue into a second day, a top UN official told The National, in hope of preventing a full-scale outbreak in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israel agreed on Thursday to pause its bombardment of certain areas of Gaza for eight hours a day to allow for more than 2,700 health care workers to attempt to immunise around 640,000 Gazan children under the age of 10 after the strip reported its first case of polio for 25 years.
Regional director of Unicef's Middle East and North Africa office, Adele Khodr, said the first day of the vaccination campaign, which started in central Gaza and will move both north and south next week, went well.
“If we can have the same level of humanitarian pause tomorrow [Monday] and maintain that pause, and we are very optimistic that, yes, it can go on. All that we are asking for is five days,” she told The National in an exclusive interview. "This is not too much for children, right? So we hope that it will continue tomorrow and it will hold on."
The oral inoculations will be offered at 160 sites, including schools, hospitals and medical centres.
Glimpse of hope for Gazans
Gazans are enthusiastic to get their children vaccinated, after routine immunisations were disrupted by Israel's war with Hamas, which has been raging since October. More than 40,700 Gazans have been killed in the conflict, triggered by a Hamas attack on southern Israel in which the group killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 251.
The first polio case declared was a 10-month-old baby, who lost the use of one of his legs after contracting the disease. People with polio often experience no symptoms, but for those who are hit hardest it can paralyse. There is no cure.
"The communities are really worried about the health of their children... they cannot protect them from many other things, but at least they want to protect them from polio," Ms Khodr said.
She said the take-up of vaccines also showed hope for the future after living under Israeli bombardment for 11 months.
"It really is a symbol of how much the community is looking forward to a normal life for their children," Ms Khodr said.
Israel allowed around 1.3 million doses to be brought into the territory last month, which are now being held in refrigerated storage in a warehouse in Deir Al Balah. Another shipment of 400,000 doses is set to be delivered to Gaza soon.
The most important element to us is the pause in fighting, this has to be respected
Adele Khodr
The polio virus that sparked this latest outbreak is a mutated virus from an oral polio vaccine. The oral polio vaccine contains weakened live virus and in very rare cases that virus is shed by those who are vaccinated and can evolve into a new form capable of starting new epidemics.
Unicef, along with the World Health Organisation and the UN's Palestinian Refugee agency, UNRWA, have a five-day window of opportunity to complete the first round of vaccinations.
"For us if this is missed, then this is the biggest challenge, and it will be a failure of the campaign," she said.
But once on the ground, other problems may arise for medical teams, from continuing fighting to devastated roads and hospitals shut down by the war. Around 90 per cent of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, with hundreds of thousands crammed into squalid tent camps.
But Mr Khodr said she is hopeful medical teams would be able to reach all the children they needed to.
"I am sure that they are ready and able to overcome any logistic difficulties, as long as the team feels they are safe and that they will not be bombed, and that they will be able to have access, but they will find a way of reaching the communities," she said.
"The most important element to us is the pause in fighting, this has to be respected."
Israel did not appear to have struck any areas under the humanitarian pause on Sunday, but did launch an attack on what it said was a "command and control centre" inside a former school in Gaza city, Israel's military said. Palestinian medics said they had so far recovered four dead from the strike and that many others were wounded. In Khan Younis, an Israeli air strike killed two Palestinians and wounded 10 others, according to medics.
Opening Premier League fixtures, August 14
- Brentford v Arsenal
- Burnley v Brighton
- Chelsea v Crystal Palace
- Everton v Southampton
- Leicester City v Wolves
- Manchester United v Leeds United
- Newcastle United v West Ham United
- Norwich City v Liverpool
- Tottenham v Manchester City
- Watford v Aston Villa
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
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.
Voices: How A Great Singer Can Change Your Life
Nick Coleman
Jonathan Cape
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
World Cup final
Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
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Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
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- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
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THREE
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
