If you've ever worried about what is happening to Palestinians in Gaza, fear not. Israel does everything it can to avoid civilian casualties, plenty of food is getting into the enclave and almost no innocents have been killed in Rafah.
So said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in yesterday's address to the US Congress, where he accused the world of telling “lies” about Israel even as he made a series of reality-bending claims and delivered a humiliating blow to President Joe Biden by dismissing his months-long push for a ceasefire.
It frankly is hard to know where to begin unpacking what Mr Netanyahu said in a topsy-turvy speech that also accused anti-war protesters, thousands of whom were thronging the streets outside the US Capitol, as being puppets of Iran who had chosen to “stand with evil”.
Let's start with his assertion that Israel isn't using starvation as a weapon of warfare in Gaza, an accusation levelled by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Aid agencies and the UN have warned that Gaza is on the brink of famine and have repeatedly called on Israel to allow more aid in. But any claims Israel is choking off food supplies were “complete and utter nonsense”, Mr Netanyahu said, pointing to Israel enabling more than 40,000 aid lorries to enter Gaza.
“That’s half a million tonnes of food, and that’s more than 3,000 calories for every man, woman and child in Gaza,” Mr Netanyahu said.
Oxfam in April said that people in northern Gaza are forced to survive on 245 calories a day, which is less than a can of beans and nothing like the 3,000 calories claimed by Mr Netanyahu.
The US, apparently powerless to influence its ally, even built a temporary military pier at a cost of $230 million to circumvent Israel's roadblocks. The structure has now been packed up for good after it failed to deliver sustained food supplies.
Turning to civilian casualties in the southern city of Rafah, Mr Netanyahu said he visited Israeli troops who had been fighting Hamas there. An Israeli commander said the following when asked how many civilians had been killed: “Prime Minister, practically none. With the exception of a single incident, where shrapnel from a bomb hit a Hamas weapons depot and unintentionally killed two dozen people, the answer is practically none,” Mr Netanyahu recounted the commander as saying.
He was referring to a strike in May that killed displaced Palestinians, but many more died in the weeks before and since that incident amid air strikes and heavy shelling of the city.
As an editor who must look through a seemingly endless stream of images on photo wires of dead and dying adults and children in Gaza, it felt particularly confronting to hear Mr Netanyahu claim that Israel does everything it can to avoid civilian deaths.
“The ICC prosecutor accuses Israel of deliberately targeting civilians. What in God’s green Earth is he talking about?” Mr Netanyahu said.
The Israeli military “has dropped millions of flyers, sent millions of text messages, made hundreds of thousands of phone calls to get Palestinian civilians out of harm’s way. But at the same time, Hamas does everything in its power to put Palestinian civilians in harm's way”.
The Gazan health ministry says nearly 40,000 people have been killed since the war started after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, and Israel strikes homes and apartment buildings on a near-daily basis.
Widely shared footage on social media has shown Israeli troops killing Palestinians as they waved white flags. Israel also has been accused of using an artificial intelligence system to identify targets for air strikes in Gaza that permitted the mass killing of civilians.
Mr Netanyahu was given a hero's welcome as he entered the US House of Representatives, mainly by Republicans who have lashed out at Mr Biden for his very limited efforts to rein in the Israeli military's destruction of Gaza, primarily by withholding one shipment of heavy bombs.
In his speech, Mr Netanyahu framed the war in Gaza as a “clash between barbarism and civilisation”.
“It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life,” he said.
Hamas's horrors of October 7 must never be downplayed or forgotten, but in a conflict that has seen the total destruction of so much of Gaza and such a staggering death toll, it is hard to see the Israeli military as sanctifying life.
Mr Netanyahu also seemed to dismiss international attempts to broker a ceasefire, despite US officials insisting a deal is close. “Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas’s military capabilities and its rule in Gaza and bring all our hostages home,” he said.
“That’s what total victory means. And we will settle for nothing less.”
Nearly 130 Democratic members of Congress refused to attend the speech, along with 27 senators, while one Republican also boycotted it.
The former speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, was among those who stayed away. She called the speech “by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary invited and honoured with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States”.
Deeply unpopular at home over his handling of the war and his failure to secure the release of the hostages still held by Hamas, the Israeli Prime Minister chose to once again insert himself into US politics, addressing Congress in a self-serving move that achieved nothing except further propagate falsehoods about the extent of suffering in Gaza and deepen divisions in America's already fractured discourse.
WHAT%20IS%20THE%20LICENSING%20PROCESS%20FOR%20VARA%3F
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Saturday's results
Women's third round
- 14-Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) beat Sorana Cirstea (Romania) 6-2, 6-2
- Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovakia) beat Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) 6-2, 6-1
- 7-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Polona Hercog (Slovenia) 6-4. 6-0
- Coco Vandeweghe (USA) beat Alison Riske (USA) 6-2, 6-4
- 9-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat 19-Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
- Petra Martic (Croatia) beat Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan) 7-6, 6-1
- Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovakia) beat Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) 6-2, 6-1
- 7-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Polona Hercog (Slovenia) 6-4, 6-0
Men's third round
- 13-Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) beat Dudi Sela (Israel) 6-1, 6-1 -- retired
- Sam Queery (United States) beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
- 6-Milos Raonic (Canada) beat 25-Albert Ramos (Spain) 7-6, 6-4, 7-5
- 10-Alexander Zverev (Germany) beat Sebastian Ofner (Austria) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
- 11-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat David Ferrer (Spain) 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
- Adrian Mannarino (France) beat 15-Gael Monfils (France) 7-6, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
Bib%20Gourmand%20restaurants
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Cricket World Cup League 2 Fixtures
Saturday March 5, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy (all matches start at 9.30am)
Sunday March 6, Oman v Namibia, ICC Academy
Tuesday March 8, UAE v Namibia, ICC Academy
Wednesday March 9, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy
Friday March 11, Oman v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Saturday March 12, UAE v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, CP Rizwan, Vriitya Aravind, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Karthik Meiyappan, Akif Raja, Rahul Bhatia
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Pakistanis%20at%20the%20ILT20%20
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THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre supercharged V6
Power: 416hp at 7,000rpm
Torque: 410Nm at 3,500rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Fuel consumption: 10.2 l/100km
Price: Dh375,000
On sale: now
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Naga
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The biog
Name: Marie Byrne
Nationality: Irish
Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption
Book: Seagull by Jonathan Livingston
Life lesson: A person is not old until regret takes the place of their dreams
Brief scores
Day 1
Toss England, chose to bat
England, 1st innings 357-5 (87 overs): Root 184 not out, Moeen 61 not out, Stokes 56; Philander 3-46
RESULTS
Bantamweight: Victor Nunes (BRA) beat Azizbek Satibaldiev (KYG). Round 1 KO
Featherweight: Izzeddin Farhan (JOR) beat Ozodbek Azimov (UZB). Round 1 rear naked choke
Middleweight: Zaakir Badat (RSA) beat Ercin Sirin (TUR). Round 1 triangle choke
Featherweight: Ali Alqaisi (JOR) beat Furkatbek Yokubov (UZB). Round 1 TKO
Featherweight: Abu Muslim Alikhanov (RUS) beat Atabek Abdimitalipov (KYG). Unanimous decision
Catchweight 74kg: Mirafzal Akhtamov (UZB) beat Marcos Costa (BRA). Split decision
Welterweight: Andre Fialho (POR) beat Sang Hoon-yu (KOR). Round 1 TKO
Lightweight: John Mitchell (IRE) beat Arbi Emiev (RUS). Round 2 RSC (deep cuts)
Middleweight: Gianni Melillo (ITA) beat Mohammed Karaki (LEB)
Welterweight: Handesson Ferreira (BRA) beat Amiran Gogoladze (GEO). Unanimous decision
Flyweight (Female): Carolina Jimenez (VEN) beat Lucrezia Ria (ITA), Round 1 rear naked choke
Welterweight: Daniel Skibinski (POL) beat Acoidan Duque (ESP). Round 3 TKO
Lightweight: Martun Mezhlumyan (ARM) beat Attila Korkmaz (TUR). Unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Ray Borg (USA) beat Jesse Arnett (CAN). Unanimous decision
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
Women%E2%80%99s%20T20%20World%20Cup%20Qualifier
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Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
* JP Morgan Private Bank
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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