Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rebuffed US President Joe Biden's comments that Israel's approach to the war in Gaza was “hurting Israel more than helping Israel”, as a US ship set sail for Gaza as part of an international plan to deliver aid to the enclave via sea.
“Well, I don’t know exactly what the President meant,” Mr Netanyahu told Politico during an interview.
“If he meant by that I'm pursuing private policies against the majority, the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he's wrong on both counts,” he said.
On Saturday, Mr Biden said the Israeli Prime Minister “has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas”, he told MSNBC, but “he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken”.
He said that further destruction in Gaza was “hurting Israel more than helping Israel”.
“You cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead,” he said, as the death toll in the enclave since the war began in October rose above 31,000.
Mr Biden also made what appeared to be contradictory remarks, calling Israel's threat to invade Rafah in southern Gaza as a “red line”, but then backtracking.
“I’m never going to leave Israel.”
Washington has called on Israel to agree to a ceasefire ahead of Ramadan, which begins on Monday, and warned against an all-out offensive on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where about 1.5 million people are thought to be sheltering.
Mr Biden's remarks come as the US joins a major international push to deliver thousands of tonnes of aid to Gaza by sea from Cyprus.
On Sunday, the General Frank S Besson support vessel departed from a naval base in Virginia “less than 36 hours after President Biden announced the US would provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza by sea”, US Central Command said.
The vessel is headed for Gaza “carrying the first equipment to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies”, it said.
The operation will involve the US constructing a pier by the shore of the heavily bombarded enclave.
On the same day, US Central Command said it dropped over 11,500 “meal equivalents” into Gaza as well as rice, flour, pasta and canned goods, in a joint operation with Jordan, Egypt, France and Belgium.
Aid agencies have said costly efforts to deliver aid into Gaza would not be needed if Israel had sped up approvals of aid lorries on the borders of Gaza, rather than hindering the flow of supplies for the enclave’s 2.3 million people.
Critics of Mr Biden and his administration said the US has not used its substantial leverage, including billions of dollars in military aid, to force Israel to agree to a ceasefire and allow more aid into the enclave.
The UN has warned about half of Gaza faces famine after months in which aid deliveries have been less than half the minimum daily average required.
Open Arms 'ready' to sail from Cyprus
Meanwhile, a boat laden with aid was “ready” to set sail from Cyprus, an NGO said, as part of the new international focus on delivering aid to Gaza by sea.
It would be the first shipment along a maritime corridor from Cyprus – the closest EU country to Gaza – that the EU Commission hopes will open on Sunday.
The founder of the Spanish NGO Open Arms, Oscar Camps, said the ship would take two to three days to arrive at an undisclosed location.
The ship has been waiting at the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, about 400km from Gaza.
Open Arms spokeswoman Laura Lanuza told AFP that Israeli authorities were inspecting the cargo of “200 tonnes of basic foodstuffs, rice and flour, cans of tuna”.
US charity World Central Kitchen, which is working with Open Arms, has teams in Gaza who are “constructing a dock” to unload the shipment, Ms Lanuza said.
A member of World Central Kitchen hailed the voyage of the Open Arms as the “next step” in delivering aid to Gaza in a post on X.
He said that once it reached Gaza, it would be taken off the barge by crane, placed on lorries and driven to northern Gaza, which has been largely cut off from aid shipments.
The UN's World Food Programme has warned that the volume of aid that can be delivered by sea will do little if anything to stave off famine in Gaza.
On Friday Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, said a “pilot operation” would be launched in partnership with World Central Kitchen, supported by aid from the UAE.
The US effort for a “temporary pier” off Gaza builds upon the maritime corridor proposed by Cyprus, senior US officials said.
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
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Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
Intercontinental Cup
Namibia v UAE Saturday Sep 16-Tuesday Sep 19
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Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
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Dhadak 2
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Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
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Kamindu Mendis bio
Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis
Born: September 30, 1998
Age: 20 years and 26 days
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team
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Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)
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Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'
Director:Michael Lehmann
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COMPANY PROFILE
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Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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