JERUSALEM // Israel's top policewoman, who had clung to life for four days after her patrol car was trapped in a burning Israel forest, died on Monday of her wounds.
Deputy Commander Ahuva Tomer, head of the police department in Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, had been driving behind a bus of prison guards rushing to evacuate a prison on Thursday when both vehicles were engulfed in flames.
Her death raised to 42 the number of people who died in the wildfire that consumed a 50-square-kilometre area in the Carmel forest, a popular nature spot on Haifa's outskirts. It is the worst fire in Israel's history.
The 52-year-old policewoman became a symbol of the fire's victims after a TV reporter interviewed her just minutes before she set out on what became her last mission. She spoke of the pain of seeing the forest burn and nodding ruefully, added, "It looks like it will last a long time."
The fire that killed the Soviet-born Tomer has generated much soul-searching in Israel about the state of the country's leadership, because firefighters had long warned that the neglected state of their operation was a recipe for disaster.
Hours after the blaze broke out on Thursday, firefighters ran out of flame-retardant chemicals. They also did not have a single firefighting plane in their possession.
Israel was forced to appeal to other countries to send planes and material to put out the blaze, which on Monday had been reduced to one isolated point, according to police.
Two teenage brothers are being held on suspicion that they inadvertently set the fire. Two other minors were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the fire and were being questioned on Monday, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
Most of the 17,000 people evacuated during the fire have returned to their homes.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”