Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
A belief that peace will come to Gaza and the war will finally end sustains a tiny group of Christians who remain in the north despite sustained Israeli bombings and a trickle of food supplies. Christmas celebrations will stay focused on Mass, with prayers for the end of the conflict as parishioners remember family and friends who died when Israeli strikes hit church buildings they believed were safe.
All Christmas celebrations were cancelled in Palestine last year after the war began. Muted festivities indoors for children have been planned this year by about 600 Christians who shelter in two churches in Gaza, out of respect for families who have lost everything in the devastating 14-month conflict.
Among them is a father who lost three children, aged between 12 to 14 years, and 12 relatives in an October 19, 2023, Israeli air strike on the centuries-old Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza, where hundreds of Christians and Muslims were sheltering.
"We believed the church to be a safe haven that would not be targeted. I lost three children who used to pray with me and visit religious sites,” said the man, 47, who asked not to be identified. “Our loss is immense.”
The children will not have a party, no Santa Claus, no gifts, only bombs. I tell people pray for life for us
Ibrahim Jahshan,
who shelters with his family in the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza
He remembers previous “joyous” Christmas celebrations when his family helped to light up the church and visited friends and relatives. “The war has stripped us of all those experiences and left us with wounds and pain that time will never erase," the Gazan father said. "The holidays can never be the same, not this year, nor in any future.”
Gaza resident Ihab Ayad was in the church that day and can never forget the explosions that killed 17 people and injured dozens. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Pope Francis and the World Council of Churches condemned the attack on a "sacred compound" that had offered sanctuary to 450 people.
“I survived but both Muslims and Christians lost loved ones,” Mr Ayad said. “This war has been catastrophic for all of us in Gaza. Everyone has faced death, bombardment, destruction and loss."
Mr Ayad recalls travelling with family to Bethlehem and visiting the holy sites during the holidays before the war broke out in October 2023. But 14 months into the bombardment and ground invasion by Israel, sparked by a Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, more than 45,300 Gazans are dead and 70 per cent of buildings demolished.
“This year will be limited to prayers and activities for children to provide some relief from the tragedies and harsh scenes they have witnessed during the war,” he said. “I hope by next year the war will be over, peace will prevail and everyone will be able to celebrate religious holidays without fear or terror."
Don’t forget us
The future appears bleak to Christian families who have split themselves between the Greek Orthodox and the Holy Family Catholic church located nearby to increase their chances of surviving Israeli bombing.
Ibrahim Jahshan lives with his wife and children in the Orthodox church while his brother and family have taken shelter in the Catholic church. He lost his mother, 77, due to a lack of medication to treat a stroke this year.
“The world has forgotten Gaza. We are still under attack. The children will not have a party, no Santa Claus, no gifts, only bombs,” he said. “I tell people don’t forget us in your prayers, pray for life for us. Life is very difficult. My children wanted clothes for Christmas but there is no money. How can we buy anything?”
The Christian community comprised 1,017 people before the war, according to registers kept by the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches, but many fled after church buildings were struck by sniper attacks, bombs and Israeli shelling, killing 40 members. Several more parishioners have died due to a lack of medicine to treat strokes, heart attacks, pneumonia and common infections.
About 200 Christians and Muslims now live in the Greek Orthodox Church, and about 400 Christians shelter in school buildings in the nearby Holy Family church compound.
Only answer is peace
The clergy tried to inject optimism to lift the air of despondency and despair, with small celebrations for children and candlelight readings under a decorated Christmas tree in the days leading up to Christmas on December 25.
“We want this to be a Christmas of hope,” said Father Carlos Ferrero in the Holy Family Church, Gaza’s only Roman Catholic parish. “We will have a solemn Mass, it will be a quiet celebration. We raise our minds and hearts to God as he is our light and the only answer is peace.
“The reality is that people have lost hope but we cannot let hatred and resentment take over. We will continue to speak of the love of God and love of our neighbours.”
Much like the rest of Gaza reeling under food shortages and inhuman living conditions, groups of 20 share a room and mainly survive on canned food in the church compound.
A food and medicine aid package sent by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, intended to arrive in time for Christmas did not make it past Israeli checkpoints. The supplies and medicine are shared by people sheltering in both churches.
“We are surviving on flour, beans and a few tins of corned beef,” Father Ferrero said. “The supply sent by the Patriarchate had medicines, chocolates and sweets to cheer up the children but all we received was toilet paper and flour. It’s very sad not to receive even the medicines.”
Pope's daily calls give hope
In efforts to support the morale of parishioners, the head of the Roman Catholic church, Pope Francis, calls the Holy Family Church daily to pray with and check in on the Christians taking refuge.
“Imagine the Pope calling every day and asking, ‘How are you?’” Father Ferrero said. “Pope Francis calls every evening, except when he is travelling. He asks us to be strong and gives us blessings.”
Parishioners gather around a speaker that broadcasts the Pope’s voice. They greet him, ask for blessings on special occasions and pray with him.
“The Pope tells us to have faith, says the whole church is praying for peace. He is always encouraging us,” Father Ferrero said.
Pope Francis has repeatedly called for a ceasefire, condemning the "cruelty" of the bombings in Gaza. Calling for weapons to be silenced and Christmas carols to resound on all war fronts in Ukraine and the Holy Land in last Sunday's prayer, he said: “And with sorrow I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty; of the children machinegunned, the bombing of schools and hospitals … So much cruelty.”
This came a day after his annual Christmas address to the Holy See on Saturday when he denounced Israeli air strikes the day before that killed at least 25 Palestinians, including seven children from the same family.
“This is not war. This is cruelty,” the Pope said in a report on Vatican News. “I want to say this because it touches my heart.”
Baby Jesus under rubble
In the West Bank, one of the oldest Lutheran churches in Palestine continues to display a powerful Christmas message of a nativity scene with an infant Jesus surrounded by rubble. The scene put together for Christmas last year has not been taken down as it continues to reflect the devastation in Gaza.
A model of baby Jesus swaddled in a keffiyeh, the distinctively patterned Palestinian scarf, lies in a manger to capture the suffering of families in Gaza.
“Our people are still facing genocide in Gaza and so we will focus on prayer as the true meaning of Christmas,” said Rev Munther Isaac, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem. “We are sending a message of hope to our people because we believe resilience and hope go hand in hand.”
In the church built in the 19th century, a plant has been added to the nativity scene as a sign of survival. A small mirror added near the model of Jesus reflects people when they draw close to view the manger.
“The plant shows we still believe life will emerge from the rubble and this will not be our end as a people,” Rev Isaac said. “The mirrors shows our reflection as this is about our responsibility that we were not able to stop the genocide taking place. We want people this Christmas to think of what can they do to help."
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Profile box
Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3EFounder%3A%20Hani%20Abu%20Ghazaleh%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20with%20an%20office%20in%20Montreal%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%202018%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Virtual%20Reality%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20raised%3A%20%241.2%20million%2C%20and%20nearing%20close%20of%20%245%20million%20new%20funding%20round%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
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.”
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
If%20you%20go
%3Cp%3EThere%20are%20regular%20flights%20from%20Dubai%20to%20Kathmandu.%20Fares%20with%20Air%20Arabia%20and%20flydubai%20start%20at%20Dh1%2C265.%3Cbr%3EIn%20Kathmandu%2C%20rooms%20at%20the%20Oasis%20Kathmandu%20Hotel%20start%20at%20Dh195%20and%20Dh120%20at%20Hotel%20Ganesh%20Himal.%3Cbr%3EThird%20Rock%20Adventures%20offers%20professionally%20run%20group%20and%20individual%20treks%20and%20tours%20using%20highly%20experienced%20guides%20throughout%20Nepal%2C%20Bhutan%20and%20other%20parts%20of%20the%20Himalayas.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
WHAT%20MACRO%20FACTORS%20ARE%20IMPACTING%20META%20TECH%20MARKETS%3F
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Looming%20global%20slowdown%20and%20recession%20in%20key%20economies%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Russia-Ukraine%20war%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Interest%20rate%20hikes%20and%20the%20rising%20cost%20of%20debt%20servicing%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Oil%20price%20volatility%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Persisting%20inflationary%20pressures%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Exchange%20rate%20fluctuations%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Shortage%20of%20labour%2Fskills%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20A%20resurgence%20of%20Covid%3F%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Day 1 fixtures (Saturday)
Men 1.45pm, Malaysia v Australia (Court 1); Singapore v India (Court 2); UAE v New Zealand (Court 3); South Africa v Sri Lanka (Court 4)
Women Noon, New Zealand v South Africa (Court 3); England v UAE (Court 4); 5.15pm, Australia v UAE (Court 3); England v New Zealand (Court 4)
Meatless Days
Sara Suleri, with an introduction by Kamila Shamsie
Penguin
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
The%20Mandalorian%20season%203%20episode%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERick%20Famuyiwa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPedro%20Pascal%20and%20Katee%20Sackhoff%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Kill%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nikhil%20Nagesh%20Bhat%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Lakshya%2C%20Tanya%20Maniktala%2C%20Ashish%20Vidyarthi%2C%20Harsh%20Chhaya%2C%20Raghav%20Juyal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.5%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
