Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
A handful of Israeli soldiers rest on a sofa in Kfar Aza, behind a heavy machinegun pointed at the Gaza Strip, only a couple of kilometres away from what was once a peaceful farming community in southern Israel.
An extremely loud bang goes off nearby as yet another Israeli artillery round heads towards the devastated Palestinian enclave. Fighter jets roar and drones hover overhead.
More bangs follow at regular intervals as smoke rises above Gaza, where more than 10,500 people have been killed – including 4,324 children – in a month of heavy Israeli bombardment.
“This is war,” one soldier says with a laugh, speaking with what sounds like a Spanish accent.
Kfar Aza was home to about 750 people until October 7, when militants from Gaza launched deadly cross-border raids that left more than 1,400 dead, and took an estimated 240 hostages.
Kfar Aza is now an army base of sorts, filled with soldiers, guns and military vehicles.
The machinegun position overlooks the broken gate where the attackers from Gaza entered. It was this part of the kibbutz, nearest to Gaza, that was hit the hardest.
Burnt cars, overturned washing machines and abandoned motorcycles lie outside charred homes.
A soldier says it is not clear whether the motorcycles belonged to the residents or if they were used by the attackers.
In some houses, the shoe racks are still full – perhaps a sign of how little people took when they left, or that the occupants were no longer alive.
Israeli army Maj Doran Spielman said about 140 people were killed in Kfar Aza and about 100 are still missing.
It is not clear whether the missing are among the hostages being held by Hamas, the militant group that launched the October 7 attacks. Hamas has refused to release a full list of its captives.
Israel says its military campaign in Gaza has two main objectives: destroying the capabilities of Hamas and rescuing the hostages.
“We're working day and night to try to find every possible way to get them home,” Maj Spielman said.
“Part of it is being there on the ground and collecting intelligence, of which we've done a lot, including from the woman who was rescued.”
He was referring to the soldier Ori Megidish, whose rescue from Hamas captivity was announced on October 30.
“Now we are taking over terror compound by terror compound in Gaza, and we've uncovered a lot of intelligence, maps, information, data. We're also interrogating the fighters, one of whom gave himself up right from here. It's like piecing together a puzzle,” he told The National.
Almost none of Kfar Aza's residents have returned since the attack, although some have visited to collect belongings.
One of them is Maor Moravia, 37, who has lived in Kfar Aza for five years.
Although the sound of rockets and warning sirens is not new for a community only minutes from Gaza, Mr Moravia said he knew October 7 was different when he heard gunshots.
He showed footage on his phone from that day, when he and his family hid in their home's safe room for 20 hours.
“We locked all the doors, all the windows. It was very hot; we didn't turn on the air conditioning, we wanted to be silent. We turned off the lights, the TV.
“There was no food or water, we just sat there waiting for whatever was coming. They came to our street and started knocking on the windows to hear if anyone screams or if there are noises.”
Israeli forces arrived at 5pm but it was 2am before Mr Moravia's family was taken to safety.
“I come here every now and then,” he said. “We are hoping to come back here, we want to come back to rebuild our community. We need our government to finish what they are doing [in Gaza]. We can't let this happen again, we need to be secure.”
Mr Moravia said he used to feel sympathy for civilians in Gaza, which has been under a strict Israeli blockade since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007, but not since watching videos that he said showed Gazans celebrating the October 7 attacks.
Maj Spielman expects other residents also want to return, but that most of them will not.
“Some of them, their houses are relatively intact; some of them have business here and they feel like they want to keep it going,” he said.
“But it's literally a handful of people who are here right now,” he added, saying that some families had come back to collect things including toothbrushes.
“Most families have not come back and I don't think most of them will come back while it is like this, it's too painful for them. They are already psychologically … trauma does not even begin to explain.”
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BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
Top tips to avoid cyber fraud
Microsoft’s ‘hacker-in-chief’ David Weston, creator of the tech company’s Windows Red Team, advises simple steps to help people avoid falling victim to cyber fraud:
1. Always get the latest operating system on your smartphone or desktop, as it will have the latest innovations. An outdated OS can erode away all investments made in securing your device or system.
2. After installing the latest OS version, keep it patched; this means repairing system vulnerabilities which are discovered after the infrastructure components are released in the market. The vast majority of attacks are based on out of date components – there are missing patches.
3. Multi-factor authentication is required. Move away from passwords as fast as possible, particularly for anything financial. Cybercriminals are targeting money through compromising the users’ identity – his username and password. So, get on the next level of security using fingertips or facial recognition.
4. Move your personal as well as professional data to the cloud, which has advanced threat detection mechanisms and analytics to spot any attempt. Even if you are hit by some ransomware, the chances of restoring the stolen data are higher because everything is backed up.
5. Make the right hardware selection and always refresh it. We are in a time where a number of security improvement processes are reliant on new processors and chip sets that come with embedded security features. Buy a new personal computer with a trusted computing module that has fingerprint or biometric cameras as additional measures of protection.
The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Cologne v Union Berlin (5.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Hertha Berlin v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Freiburg (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Borussia Monchengladbach (8.30pm)
Sunday
Mainz v Augsburg (5.30pm)
Schalke v Bayer Leverkusen (8pm)
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
RESULT
Fifth ODI, at Headingley
England 351/9
Pakistan 297
England win by 54 runs (win series 4-0)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
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EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
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Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
- Steve Baker
- Peter Bone
- Ben Bradley
- Andrew Bridgen
- Maria Caulfield
- Simon Clarke
- Philip Davies
- Nadine Dorries
- James Duddridge
- Mark Francois
- Chris Green
- Adam Holloway
- Andrea Jenkyns
- Anne-Marie Morris
- Sheryll Murray
- Jacob Rees-Mogg
- Laurence Robertson
- Lee Rowley
- Henry Smith
- Martin Vickers
- John Whittingdale
