Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris on Tuesday. AP
Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris on Tuesday. AP
Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris on Tuesday. AP
Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris on Tuesday. AP

US pushes Israel for ‘impartial’ investigation into killings of Gaza aid workers


Willy Lowry
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Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza

The US has told Israel to conduct a “thorough and impartial” investigation into a strike that killed seven humanitarian aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in Gaza, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.

The aid workers included a US-Canadian dual citizen and three Britons. The others came from Australia, Poland and Palestine.

Israeli forces fired multiple times on their convoy of armoured cars that displayed the aid group's logo.

“We’ve spoken directly to the Israeli Government about this particular incident,” Mr Blinken said during a visit to France.

“We've arranged a swift and thorough and impartial investigation to understand exactly what happened. We've pressed upon the Israelis the absolute imperative of doing more to protect innocent civilian lives”.

According to World Central Kitchen, its team had been co-ordinating their movements with the Israeli military.

“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organisations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said chief executive Erin Gore.

The convoy was struck by three separate missiles fired in quick succession, Haaretz reported.

Mr Blinken called the aid workers “heroes” who “run into fire” to help people.

Washington has been Israel’s fiercest supporter throughout the six-month conflict and has donated billions of dollars of military aid including bombs that Israel uses in Gaza without any US oversight or conditions.

“These arms transfers, every single one happens consistent with statutory and policy requirements,” Mr Blinken said. “That includes both informal and formal notifications to Congress.”

World Central Kitchen, led by Washington-based celebrity chef Jose Andres, has been instrumental in delivering food aid to Gaza, which is on the brink of famine.

According to the group, they have delivered over 100 tonnes of food.

Mr Andres said he had served with those killed in a host of other dangerous environments including Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey and Morocco.

The organisation said it was pausing its Gaza operations.

TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel

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The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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The biog

Favourite hobby: taking his rescue dog, Sally, for long walks.

Favourite book: anything by Stephen King, although he said the films rarely match the quality of the books

Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption stands out as his favourite movie, a classic King novella

Favourite music: “I have a wide and varied music taste, so it would be unfair to pick a single song from blues to rock as a favourite"

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Watford v Bristol City

Liverpool v Everton

Brighton v Crystal Palace

Bournemouth v AFC Fylde or Wigan

Coventry v Stoke City

Nottingham Forest v Arsenal

Manchester United v Derby

Forest Green or Exeter v West Brom

Tottenham v AFC Wimbledon

Fleetwood or Hereford v Leicester City

Manchester City v Burnley

Shrewsbury v West Ham United

Wolves v Swansea City

Newcastle United v Luton Town

Fulham v Southampton

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hall of shame

SUNDERLAND 2002-03

No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.

SUNDERLAND 2005-06

Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.

HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19

Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.

ASTON VILLA 2015-16

Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.

FULHAM 2018-19

Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.

LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.

BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66

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Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.” 

Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs

A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.

The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.

Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.

Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Updated: April 03, 2024, 8:40 AM`