Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar recently sent a letter to the Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah thanking him for his support for the Palestinian armed movement, Hezbollah said on Friday. The letter is the shadowy leader’s first public communication with Hezbollah since he took command of Hamas following his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran in July.
Mr Sinwar – who was one of the main orchestrators of Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel that instigated Israel’s war on Gaza – is believed to be hiding in Hamas’s vast network of tunnels in the coastal strip. In the letter, Mr Sinwar thanked Mr Nasrallah for his condolences following Mr Haniyeh’s death in an attack believed to have been carried out by Israel but not officially acknowledged by Israeli authorities.
Mr Sinwar also thanked Hezbollah and the “the resistance axis” – a coalition of Iran-backed groups across the Middle East – “for your support, backing and engagement in this battle”. He vowed that Hamas would continue to resist the “Zionist project in defence of our nation and our sanctities … until the occupation is defeated and swept away from our land, and an independent state with full sovereignty is established with Jerusalem as its capital”.
Hezbollah declared its support for its ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 8, the day after Hamas's unprecedented infiltration into southern Israel that left about 1,200 people dead. Israel has responded with a deadly war against Hamas in Gaza that has killed more than 41,100 people, razed much of Gaza to the ground and displaced about 90 per cent of the population.
Since then, Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups across the Middle East have rallied behind Hamas by waging a military pressure campaign in an attempt to deter Israel from its invasion. Israel and Hezbollah have since been locked in a controlled war of attrition that has sparked fears of a major regional war.
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
