Yusuf/Cat Stevens has urged more celebrities to use their public profile in calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.
Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Speaking exclusively to The National, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, known for the hits Peace Train and Moonshadow, lamented the thousands of innocent lives lost in the conflict that's now lasted a month.
“What is better and more important than to utilise your fame for a good cause?," he asks.
“I found it hard to hold myself back, especially when seeing the blood-stained faces and clothes of innocent children – that is, the ones who are fortunate enough to escape the bombs and still survive.
“Hopefully the massive groundswell of public opinion will continue to build, and more stars will realise that it’s time to stand up for what is just and right.”
In a bid to raise further awareness, Yusuf posted an unreleased version of 1997 song The Little Ones, written in the tragic wake of the 1995 Bosnian genocide that killed thousands of children.
“Oh, they’ve killed all the little ones, while their faces still smiled,” the song begins.
“With their guns and their fury, they erased their young lives. No longer to laugh, no longer to be a child.”
The tragedy had such an impact on Yusuf that he was compelled to pick up the guitar again.
“It was one of the first songs I wrote after leaving the music business in 1981,” he says. “Because of the emotional impact on me and my family, watching the ongoing slaughter of children in the war, I had to express my sadness by writing that song,”
In a six-decade career, the plight of children has been a key motif throughout Yusuf’s songs.
In 1970's Where do the Children Play, he laments the destructive role industrialisation plays on the environment.
While Father and Son, released the same year, is a social commentary on the widening generational divide and a plea for understanding.
“The child in me hasn’t disappeared, and it is always present in my outlook to life and work,” he says.
“Becoming a Muslim in 1977 was the fulfilment of my journey and desire to change the world and that I had to first begin with myself.
“The Quran woke me up to the unfiltered truth. If more people in the world could maintain the clarity of youth and its piercing insight to truth, justice, and signs of hypocrisy, the world would be a much nicer place to inhabit.”
Yusuf ends the conversation with a timely reference to one his most powerful songs, 1970’s Wild World: “Faith and hope are needed to survive this wild world, and kids have an exceptionally large reserve of those two vitally important human qualities," he says.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
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The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
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Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The specs
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History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
SPECS
Mini John Cooper Works Clubman and Mini John Cooper Works Countryman
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Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 306hp
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Price: Dh169,900
On sale: now
