Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Relations between France and Israel have been strained further after Israeli security forces in Jerusalem entered a holy site under French administration, briefly detaining two French officers with diplomatic status.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was scheduled to visit the compound of the Church of the Pater Noster, on the Mount of Olives in the historic eastern part of the city, but cancelled in protest against the presence of Israeli police. The site, one of four administered by Paris in Jerusalem, is deemed part of France.
“The recent event seems to be a voluntary attempt on the part of the Netanyahu government to humiliate France as payback for Macron’s declaration that Israel was created by a UN resolution," Karim Bitar, professor of international relations at St Joseph University of Beirut, told The National.
President Emmanuel Macron's comments, which were leaked to the press mid-October after a cabinet meeting, caused a furore in Israel. The French leader then said at a conference to support Lebanon in Paris that civilisation cannot be defended by those who spread barbarity – a statement that was widely viewed as a direct attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr Barrot said Israel's actions on Thursday were unacceptable and that he refused to enter the compound. His ministry said the Israeli ambassador to Paris will be summoned in coming days.
“This violation of the integrity of a site under French responsibility risks undermining the ties I had come to nurture with Israel at a time when we all need to move forward the region on the path to peace,” Mr Barrot told reporters outside the building.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that an argument broke out between Israeli security forces and two French security guards. They were released immediately after they identified themselves as diplomats, it said.
“It comes as a reminder to western public opinion that Israel violates international law on a daily basis not only when it comes to Palestinian rights but also does not hesitate to trample on other countries' sovereignty, even a major European power like France,” Mr Bitar said.
“Today, I would say that this latest incident will only deepen the faultline between Netanyahu and Macron.”
Visiting foreign leaders are accompanied by Israeli security personnel, which was “clarified in advance in the preparatory dialogue with the French embassy in Israel”, the ministry added.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said on Thursday that Mr Barrot was visiting Israel and Palestine as “part of a sequence marked by three trips by our minister to the region since taking office, with the aim of advancing peace and stability in the Near and Middle East region”.
“Today’s sequence aims to continue dialogue with Israel on Gaza, on Lebanon, and more generally on the situation in the Middle East, to continue our discussions with the Palestinian Authority, which is an essential partner for implementing the two-state solution, and to advance the parameters of a security and diplomatic settlement in Lebanon.”
Mr Barrot met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, where they discussed the end of war in Gaza and the actions of Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Mr Abbas also warned of the danger of Israel's decision to ban the work of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), the Wafa news agency reported.
Diplomatic relations between France and Israel have worsened since Mr Macron called for an end to the supply to Israel of weapons used in Gaza. The French government also attempted to ban Israeli arms companies from exhibiting at a trade fair in Paris, with Paris increasingly uneasy over Israel's conduct in Gaza and Lebanon.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Cabriolet
Price, base: Dh429,090
Engine 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 510hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 700Nm @ 1,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.2L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Naga
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch automatic
Power: 169bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh54,500
On sale: now
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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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.
FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
Fiorentina v Torino (8pm)
Hellas Verona v Roma (10.45pm)
Sunday
Parma v Napoli (2.30pm)
Genoa v Crotone (5pm)
Sassuolo v Cagliari (8pm)
Juventus v Sampdoria (10.45pm)
Monday
AC Milan v Bologna (10.45om)
Playing September 30
Benevento v Inter Milan (8pm)
Udinese v Spezia (8pm)
Lazio v Atalanta (10.45pm)
