Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
The EU is seeking to unify its position on the Israel-Gaza war with an extraordinary meeting of 27 heads of state on Tuesday.
The virtual meeting comes after sharp criticism was directed against the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“We felt the need to bring some order, that’s a fact. What we have seen last week was going in many directions and not reflecting the council position or member states’ position,” an EU official said on Monday.
This position was echoed among other European officials and diplomats, who have privately said that Ms von der Leyen had no mandate to represent the EU during her trip to Israel in the wake of attacks by militant group Hamas.
The surprise large-scale incursion killed over 1,400 Israelis. Israel has responded with a siege of Gaza and bombardment which has killed almost 2,800 Palestinians. In both cases, most of those killed were civilians.
“This is the time to stand in solidarity with Israel and its people. And this is why I am here,” said Ms von der Leyen in Israel on Friday as she stood alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Hamas's despicable actions are the hallmark of terrorists. And I know that how Israel responds will show that it is a democracy,” she said.
Departure from agreed language
By not echoing the UN call to protect civilians and abide to international law, Ms von der Leyen departed from “agreed EU language,” one diplomat told The National. “That’s potentially damaging,” they said.
They said that even more care than usual should have been put in any EU statements on Israel and Palestine due to the “very volatile situation after Hamas’s horrific attack”.
Analysts have previously told The National that Ms von der Leyen’s initial failure to request that Israel respect international law gave the impression that she endorsed Israel’s siege and strikes on Gaza.
The siege has been sharply criticised by some EU countries. Ireland’s Foreign Affairs minister Micheal Martin said on Sunday that “even wars have rules”.
“There is no doubt about the brutal criminality of Hamas and their utter disregard for human life, including the lives of their fellow Palestinians. But we absolutely must distinguish between Hamas and Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” said Mr Martin.
French MEP Nathalie Loiseau, who chairs the European Parliament’s security and defence committee, wrote on X that she did not understand what Ms von der Leyen “has to do with the EU’s foreign policy, which she is not in charge of”.
In the past days, Ms von der Leyen’s office seems to have tried to rectify the impression that she is biased towards Israel.
A video published on social media on Sunday shows previously unpublished footage of Ms von der Leyen telling a crowd around her during her visit to Israel that “I’m very grateful that you said very clearly that Hamas are the terrorists but that we have to care for the Palestinian people in humanitarian needs”.
In parallel, the European council, where national leaders meet to discuss topics such as security and foreign policy, issued a statement over the weekend both condemning Hamas and supporting Israel’s right to defend itself “in line with humanitarian and international law.”
In his invitation for Tuesday’s meeting, which will be held virtually due to its last-minute nature, European Council President Charles Michel told the bloc’s heads of states that “it is of utmost importance that the European Council in line with the Treaties and our values, sets our common position and establishes a clear unified course of action that reflects the complexity of the unfolding situation.”
Mr Michel and Ms von der Leyen have a notoriously bad working relationship. Tensions resurfaced recently over a migration deal with Tunisia.
In an apparent swipe at Ms von der Leyen, the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said at a press conference that the EU’s position on foreign policy was determined by the European Council and the Foreign Affairs Ministers Council, which he chairs.
Israel’s right to defend itself “has a limit”, he said, speaking from China on Sunday.
But many say the damage has already been done.
The apparent disunity between Ms von der Leyen and other EU institutions has further compounded the chaotic impression given by the European Commission in the wake of the Hamas attacks after it announced the suspension of aid to Palestinians before backtracking.
“The EU needs to speak with a strong voice, and there’s a real sense that what Ursula von der Leyen did is just really unhelpful,” said the diplomat.
In defence of Ms von der Leyen, the European Commission’s spokesman Eric Mamer on Monday said that she had every right to travel to Israel to show her solidarity.
“She has done so before and will continue to do it,” said Mr Mamer.
“I don’t remember anybody criticising the president for going to Ukraine after the outbreak of the war in March when she went to Bucha and saw the body bags after the Russian attack against Ukraine.”
Such comparisons do not hold, said the diplomat, who described Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year as a “black and white situation where there were no dissenting voices”.
The EU official said that the bloc should be “careful” when “expressing a position in a certain field”.
The focus now is on rebuilding unity and shifting the debate towards the need to provide humanitarian assistance to the region and pushing back against hate speech in Europe as antisemitic incidents are on the rise.
Discussions of calling for a ceasefire, which the EU, like the US, has not expressed so far, will also be on the agenda at Tuesday’s meeting.
Neither Mr Borrell nor Mr Michel plan to visit Israel soon. They will be travelling on Friday with Ms von der Leyen to Washington for an EU-US summit during which they will continue discussing the conflict in Israel and Palestine.
“We think it’s important to first have a clear policy,” said the official. “Then you work on travelling and the way you communicate.”
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
Saturday 15 January: v Canada
Thursday 20 January: v England
Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly, Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya Shetty, Kai Smith
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Top New Zealand cop on policing the virtual world
New Zealand police began closer scrutiny of social media and online communities after the attacks on two mosques in March, the country's top officer said.
The killing of 51 people in Christchurch and wounding of more than 40 others shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, was accused of the killings. His trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.
Mike Bush, commissioner of New Zealand Police, said officers looked closely at how they monitored social media in the wake of the tragedy to see if lessons could be learned.
“We decided that it was fit for purpose but we need to deepen it in terms of community relationships, extending them not only with the traditional community but the virtual one as well," he told The National.
"We want to get ahead of attacks like we suffered in New Zealand so we have to challenge ourselves to be better."
About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
MATCH INFO
Day 2 at Mount Maunganui
England 353
Stokes 91, Denly 74, Southee 4-88
New Zealand 144-4
Williamson 51, S Curran 2-28
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
The biog
Name: Younis Al Balooshi
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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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
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
New schools in Dubai
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Ballon d’Or shortlists
Men
Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (Aregentina/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlans/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (France/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (Serbia/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (France/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (Netherlands/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus), Alisson (Brazil/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands/Juventus), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (South Korea/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Brazil/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (France/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (Brazil/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (Eengland/Manchester City), Joao Félix(Portugal/Atletico Madrid)
Women
Sam Kerr (Austria/Chelsea), Ellen White (England/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (Sweden/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (France/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(England/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany/Lyon), Pernille Harder (Denmark/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (Netherlands/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (Netherlands/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (France/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (Sweden/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns)
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
Profile
Company name: Jaib
Started: January 2018
Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour
Based: Jordan
Sector: FinTech
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
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Cricket World Cup League Two
Teams
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
Fixtures
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Oman
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
The%20specs
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
