Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
The Middle East is being reshaped but it is unclear what will emerge next, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday as he highlighted the uncertainty surrounding the future of Palestine.
He told a high-level UN Security Council meeting that the region was “in a period of profound transformation – rife with uncertainty, but also possibility”.
“We have a responsibility to help make sure the people of the Middle East come out of this turbulent period with peace, dignity and a horizon of hope grounded in action,” Mr Guterres added.
He expressed particular concern about an “existential threat” to Gaza and the occupied West Bank. A total or partial annexation of the West Bank by Israel “would constitute a most serious violation of international law”, he warned. Mr Guterres pointed out that senior Israeli officials have discussed the possibility of formally annexing parts of the West Bank in the near future.
“Israeli administrative changes over the past two years have streamlined and accelerated the settlement approval process,” he said. “As a result, control over many aspects of planning and daily life in Area C of the West Bank has been transferred to Israeli civilian authorities.”
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler, said recently that 2025 would be “the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria”, referring to the name Israel uses for the West Bank.
The Palestine Authority’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Varsen Aghabekian, said the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were being breached by Israel and settlers “without any accountability”.
She said Israeli authorities aimed to undermine the two-state solution and weaken the official institutions of the state of Palestine.
Ms Aghabekian reaffirmed the importance of unity and national identity under the “umbrella of the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organisation]”, which she described as the “only legitimate” representative of the Palestinian people.
“It also requires everyone to commit to the PLO political programme and international commitments and to work under one regime, one law and a single armed force,” she said.
Israel has maintained a firm position against allowing either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza after the war, describing either scenario as “a reward” for the attacks on October 7, 2023.
US deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea welcomed the Palestinian leadership’s recent statements emphasising how Hamas is placing the interests of Tehran over that of the Palestinian people and thereby bringing about the destruction in Gaza.
"We have an historic opportunity to dramatically transform the Middle East. It is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin," she said.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
The Internet
Hive Mind
four stars
Hurricanes 31-31 Lions
Wellington Hurricanes:
Tries: Gibbins, Laumape, Goosen, Fifita tries, Barrett
Conversions: Barrett (4)
Penalties: Barrett
British & Irish Lions:
Tries: Seymour (2), North
Conversions: Biggar (2)
Penalties: Biggar (4)
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
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
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
Teams
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Thailand v UAE, Tuesday, 4pm (UAE)
TV: Abu Dhabi Sports
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
