Hezbollah confirms death of senior commander Fouad Shukr after Israeli strike

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Lebanon's Hezbollah confirmed the death of its senior commander Fouad Shukr on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli strike hit a residential building in southern Beirut.

Hezbollah described Mr Shukr as "a great martyr on the road to Jerusalem", a phrase the group often uses to describe its members being killed.

An Iranian military adviser, Milad Bedi, was killed in the same strike, Iran's Fars news agency reported soon after the announcement of Mr Shukr's death.

As rescue efforts came to a close on Wednesday evening, the final death toll from the Israeli strike on the southern Beirut suburb stood at seven people: three women and two children, and Mr Shukr and Mr Bedi.

At least 74 people were injured in the attack.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is expected to speak on Thursday, to express the group's "political stance on this heinous attack and major crime", the statement added.

Mr Shukr is the most senior Hezbollah commander to be killed since Mustafa Badreddine was assassinated in Syria in 2016.

After announcing his death, Hezbollah released pictures of Mr Shukr with Mr Nasrallah and Mr Badreddine, as well as the former leader of Iran's Quds Force Qassem Suleimani and Hezbollah's former military leader, Imad Mughniyeh.

The last two have since been assassinated.

Three other Hezbollah commanders have been killed since hostilities broke out between Israel and Hezbollah in October.

Hezbollah had previously said Mr Shukr's fate was unknown, contradicting a statement from the Israeli army that announced his “elimination” on Tuesday night after the strike hit Beirut's Haret Hreik neighbourhood.

Hezbollah initially refrained from announcing the death of Mr Shukr, until his body was found under the rubble later in the day.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the Israeli military for killing Mr Shukr in a speech on Wednesday evening, describing it as one of several "crushing blows" against Iranian allies in the region over recent days.

Israel has described Mr Shukr as Hezbollah's most senior military commander and the right-hand man of the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

The US has said Mr Shukr played a central role in the October 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut that killed 241 American personnel and wounded 128.

Fouad Shukr in a portrait released by Hezbollah on July 31. AP

Israel said Mr Shukr ordered the strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children at the weekend, and described the strike on Beirut as revenge for that attack.

Mr Netanyahu had vowed a "severe" response against Hezbollah, while other Israeli leaders declared they were now in "all out war". Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the attack.

Mr Shukr was also responsible for “the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians”, the Israeli military said.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant posted a short message on X after the attack, stating: "Hezbollah crossed the red line".

The Lebanese group has launched attacks on sites in northern Israel and the Golan Heights as part of a wider, Iran-led retaliation against Israel over the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 39,400 Palestinians since October 7.

Hezbollah will plan to respond to any Israeli retaliation for the Majdal Shams attack and has rejected diplomatic efforts to convince it otherwise, sources close to the group told The National on Tuesday, before the Beirut strike took place.

Previous attacks on Hezbollah commanders have been met with retaliation from the Iran-backed group.

By attacking the Lebanese capital, Israel will be seen by Hezbollah as having escalated the conflict again.

Since October, Israel has mainly concentrated its strikes on southern Lebanon, although it did assassinate Hamas deputy leader Saleh Al Arouri in Beirut in January.

Fears of a regional war were heightened even more by the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran on Wednesday morning, just hours after the strike on Dahieh.

Mr Haniyeh was killed in a strike on his Tehran residence, Hamas said in a statement. The Hamas leader was in Iran to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also announced Mr Haniyeh’s death.

“Early this morning, the residence of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was struck, resulting in his and one of his bodyguards’ martyrdom. The cause is under investigation and will be announced soon,” the IRGC said.

Israel has not yet commented on Mr Haniyeh’s assassination.

MATCH INFO

Quarter-finals

Saturday (all times UAE)

England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm

Sunday

Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm

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Despacito's dominance in numbers

Released: 2017

Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon

Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube

Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification

Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.

Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards

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Tips for entertaining with ease

· Set the table the night before. It’s a small job but it will make you feel more organised once done.

· As the host, your mood sets the tone. If people arrive to find you red-faced and harried, they’re not going to relax until you do. Take a deep breath and try to exude calm energy.

· Guests tend to turn up thirsty. Fill a big jug with iced water and lemon or lime slices and encourage people to help themselves.

· Have some background music on to help create a bit of ambience and fill any initial lulls in conversations.

· The meal certainly doesn’t need to be ready the moment your guests step through the door, but if there’s a nibble or two that can be passed around it will ward off hunger pangs and buy you a bit more time in the kitchen.

· You absolutely don’t have to make every element of the brunch from scratch. Take inspiration from our ideas for ready-made extras and by all means pick up a store-bought dessert.

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THE DRAFT

The final phase of player recruitment for the T10 League has taken place, with UAE and Indian players being drafted to each of the eight teams.

Bengal Tigers
UAE players: Chirag Suri, Mohammed Usman
Indian: Zaheer Khan

Karachians
UAE players: Ahmed Raza, Ghulam Shabber
Indian: Pravin Tambe

Kerala Kings
UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Abdul Shakoor
Indian: RS Sodhi

Maratha Arabians
UAE players: Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
Indian: S Badrinath

Northern Warriors
UAE players: Imran Haider, Rahul Bhatia
Indian: Amitoze Singh

Pakhtoons
UAE players: Hafiz Kaleem, Sheer Walli
Indian: RP Singh

Punjabi Legends
UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Sandy Singh
Indian: Praveen Kumar

Rajputs
UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed
Indian: Munaf Patel

The bio:

Favourite film:

Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.

Favourite holiday destination:

Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.

Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.

Favourite pastime:

Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.

Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.

Personal motto:

Declan: Take chances.

Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.

Results

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At Eternity’s Gate

Director: Julian Schnabel

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen

Three stars

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Best Agent: Jorge Mendes

Best Club : Liverpool

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Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)

Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs

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

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Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:

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2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;

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Stage 2

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3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30

4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43

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