India struck Pakistan with missiles on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after 26 people were killed by armed militants in the Indian-administered Kashmir valley. The attacks killed eight people, Pakistan said, calling them an “unprovoked and blatant act of war”.
“Our intelligence indicated that further attacks against India were impending, and it was essential to both stop and tackle these threats,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at a media conference on Wednesday.
Mr Misri added that The Resistance Front group that claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack was a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani organisation on the UN terrorism list.
Indian Army Col Sofiya Qureshi said the missile strikes started at 1.05am (local time) and lasted for about 25 minutes. She said no military installations were targeted.
These military strikes were designed “to deliver justice to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families,” she said.
Hindu reference to Pahalgam attack
The Indian operation was named “Sindoor” – the word in Hindi for the bright red vermilion powder worn by married Hindu women on their forehead and hair. It is an apparent reference to the women who were left widowed after the Pahalgam strike. Witnesses said that gunmen singled out men, killing them in front of their families.
A photograph of a woman sitting beside her husband’s body following the attack went viral and became a rallying symbol of the attack. The couple, Himanshi and Vinay Narwal, were married for less than a week and were in Kashmir on their honeymoon. Mr Narwal was an Indian Navy officer.
Another victim, Shubham Dwivedi, was in the valley with his wife Aishanya when he was shot in the head. The couple had been married for about eight weeks.
An Indian Army post on social media after Wednesday's strikes featured a picture showing the name Operation Sindoor with a bowl of vermilion powder replacing the first letter “O”.
“Justice is served. Jai Hind!” the post read.
The name has resonated with the grieving widows who thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the attacks on terrorist camps.
“The moment I read the name, I saw Shubham's photo and I was crying. With the name, the government has connected to us on a personal level. And on some level, we feel that this was revenge taken on our behalf,” Aishanya Dwivedi told Indian media.
World leaders' reactions
The violence was the worst to erupt between the nuclear-armed neighbours in two decades and world leaders urged restraint.
“It's a shame, we just heard about it,” said US President Donald Trump. “I just hope it ends very quickly.”
A spokesman for the UN's Antonio Guterres said: “The secretary general is very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border. He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries.
“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.”
Russia's Foreign Ministry said it was “deeply concerned by the escalation of military confrontation”, called “on the parties to exercise restraint to prevent further deterioration” and said it hoped tensions could be “resolved through peaceful, diplomatic means”.
Anti-semitic attacks
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.
It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.
The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
