Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
The Middle East is being reshaped but it is unclear what will emerge next, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday as he highlighted the uncertainty surrounding the future of Palestine.
He told a high-level UN Security Council meeting that the region was “in a period of profound transformation – rife with uncertainty, but also possibility”.
“We have a responsibility to help make sure the people of the Middle East come out of this turbulent period with peace, dignity and a horizon of hope grounded in action,” Mr Guterres added.
He expressed particular concern about an “existential threat” to Gaza and the occupied West Bank. A total or partial annexation of the West Bank by Israel “would constitute a most serious violation of international law”, he warned. Mr Guterres pointed out that senior Israeli officials have discussed the possibility of formally annexing parts of the West Bank in the near future.
“Israeli administrative changes over the past two years have streamlined and accelerated the settlement approval process,” he said. “As a result, control over many aspects of planning and daily life in Area C of the West Bank has been transferred to Israeli civilian authorities.”
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler, said recently that 2025 would be “the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria”, referring to the name Israel uses for the West Bank.
The Palestine Authority’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Varsen Aghabekian, said the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were being breached by Israel and settlers “without any accountability”.
She said Israeli authorities aimed to undermine the two-state solution and weaken the official institutions of the state of Palestine.
Ms Aghabekian reaffirmed the importance of unity and national identity under the “umbrella of the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organisation]”, which she described as the “only legitimate” representative of the Palestinian people.
“It also requires everyone to commit to the PLO political programme and international commitments and to work under one regime, one law and a single armed force,” she said.
Israel has maintained a firm position against allowing either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza after the war, describing either scenario as “a reward” for the attacks on October 7, 2023.
US deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea welcomed the Palestinian leadership’s recent statements emphasising how Hamas is placing the interests of Tehran over that of the Palestinian people and thereby bringing about the destruction in Gaza.
"We have an historic opportunity to dramatically transform the Middle East. It is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin," she said.
Major honours
ARSENAL
BARCELONA
- La Liga - 2013
- Copa del Rey - 2012
- Fifa Club World Cup - 2011
CHELSEA
- Premier League - 2015, 2017
- FA Cup - 2018
- League Cup - 2015
SPAIN
- World Cup - 2010
- European Championship - 2008, 2012
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
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Company%C2%A0profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Norway v Spain, Saturday, 10.45pm, UAE
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Lecce v SPAL (6pm)
Bologna v Genoa (9pm)
Atlanta v Roma (11.45pm)
Sunday
Udinese v Hellas Verona (3.30pm)
Juventus v Brescia (6pm)
Sampdoria v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sassuolo v Parma (6pm)
Cagliari v Napoli (9pm)
Lazio v Inter Milan (11.45pm)
Monday
AC Milan v Torino (11.45pm)
Leading all-time NBA scorers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
Karl Malone 36,928
Kobe Bryant 33,643
Michael Jordan 32,292
LeBron James 31,425
Wilt Chamberlain 31,419
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E6.5-litre%20V12%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E725hp%20at%207%2C750rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E716Nm%20at%206%2C250rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQ4%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1%2C650%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Healthcare spending to double to $2.2 trillion rupees
Launched a 641billion-rupee federal health scheme
Allotted 200 billion rupees for the recapitalisation of state-run banks
Around 1.75 trillion rupees allotted for privatisation and stake sales in state-owned assets
The years Ramadan fell in May
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Racecard
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The biog
From: Ras Al Khaimah
Age: 50
Profession: Electronic engineer, worked with Etisalat for the past 20 years
Hobbies: 'Anything that involves exploration, hunting, fishing, mountaineering, the sea, hiking, scuba diving, and adventure sports'
Favourite quote: 'Life is so simple, enjoy it'
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
SERIES INFO
Afghanistan v Zimbabwe, Abu Dhabi Sunshine Series
All matches at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Test series
1st Test: Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by 10 wickets
2nd Test: Wednesday, 10 March – Sunday, 14 March
Play starts at 9.30am
T20 series
1st T20I: Wednesday, 17 March
2nd T20I: Friday, 19 March
3rd T20I: Saturday, 20 March
TV
Supporters in the UAE can watch the matches on the Rabbithole channel on YouTube
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai,
HBKU Press
