Live updates: Follow the latest on Trump's Gulf trip
Donald Trump on Friday predicted that "good things" will come to Gaza within the next month, as his Middle East trip coincided with intensified Israeli bombing of the strip.
Mr Trump expressed a desire to "help out" Palestinians as he acknowledged that "a lot of people are starving in Gaza". Displaced people were fleeing northern Beit Lahia on Friday with belongings piled on cars, lorries and horse-drawn carts after the latest strikes killed at least 250 people.
A US and Israeli-backed aid foundation plans to begin distributing food this month, in a plan the UN and aid groups have dismissed as favouring the Israeli military. "We have to also help out the Palestinians," Mr Trump said.
"I think a lot of good things are going to happen over the next month," he said aboard Air Force One as he left the UAE to return to the White House.
He did not give further details, and hopes that his Middle East visit would bring progress towards a Gaza ceasefire have not come to fruition. Special envoy Steve Witkoff travelled with Mr Trump but the US denied reports of a direct meeting with Hamas.
Parts of Gaza have faced relentless attacks since the early hours of Friday, according to a civil defence agency. Authorities say they cannot provide a full casualty count due to the continuing bombardment.
Flight from Beit Lahia
Ahmad Abu Sharekh is one of many Gazans fleeing Beit Lahia in the north of the strip. Having already lost a leg – and his home – in the early days of the war, the 25-year-old has now had to abandon a tent in Beit Lahia due to Israeli shelling nearby.
“The warplanes are striking anything that still stands,” he told The National.
“They tell us to evacuate, and when we do, they bomb the people on the move. It’s not easy to leave everything behind and keep running from death.”
Nearby, there were reports of 30 bodies arriving at Gaza's Indonesian Hospital in the latest overnight attacks. The latest Israeli escalation has targeted both northern Gaza and Khan Younis in the south.
The territory's health ministry said at least 250 civilians have died in the recent strikes, with many more injured, as Israeli shelling hits densely populated areas, residential buildings and civil infrastructure.
“Our teams have recovered more than 50 martyrs from homes targeted today alone, 11 of them from a single family,” said Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence, as he described massive devastation and a growing inability for emergency services to cope.
“The occupation is targeting anyone who moves in the north. We are overwhelmed; we simply cannot respond to all the distress calls," he said.
Trapped under rubble
Mr Bassal said some people trapped under rubble were unreachable due to the continued bombardment and the destruction of rescue equipment. He said 85 per cent of civil defence resources had been destroyed during the war.
“People are dying under the rubble because we can no longer save them. Our entire emergency response system is collapsing," he said.
“All areas of the Gaza Strip are under direct assault. What we’re witnessing is a campaign of systematic killing.”
The destruction has forced thousands to flee again, many of them for the second or third time since the war began. For many in Gaza, hope for a ceasefire is rapidly fading.
President Trump's visit to the Gulf – in pictures
Mr Trump's visit to the region had raised faint hopes of diplomatic progress. Instead, residents say it has coincided with further escalation.
“We thought his visit would bring some pressure for peace,” said Rawhi. “But instead, Israel is accelerating its plans to erase us.”
With the borders tightly sealed, nowhere is safe.
“Our chances of survival are slipping away,” he added. “We are preparing ourselves for what we feared most, that Gaza may soon cease to exist.”
Scores in brief:
Day 1
New Zealand (1st innings) 153 all out (66.3 overs) - Williamson 63, Nicholls 28, Yasir 3-54, Haris 2-11, Abbas 2-13, Hasan 2-38
Pakistan (1st innings) 59-2 (23 overs)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Zayed Sustainability Prize
When Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi
Known as The Lady of Arabic Song, Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 1971, as part of celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A concert hall was constructed for the event on land that is now Al Nahyan Stadium, behind Al Wahda Mall. The audience were treated to many of Kulthum's most well-known songs as part of the sold-out show, including Aghadan Alqak and Enta Omri.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Keita 5', Firmino 26'
Porto 0
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
RESULTS
6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 1 (PA) $49,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner RB Frynchh Dude, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
7.05pm Al Bastakiya Trial – Conditions (TB) $50,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner El Patriota, Vagner Leal, Antonio Cintra
7.40pm Zabeel Turf – Listed (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,000m
Winner Ya Hayati, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm Cape Verdi – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Althiqa, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
8.50pm UAE 1000 Guineas – Listed (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Soft Whisper, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
9.25pm Handicap (TB) $68,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Bedouin’s Story, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
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
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
THE%20SPECS
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Kandahar%20
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