Sara Jaafar was with a group of political activists on August 4, discussing strategies to challenge Lebanon’s rulers, when their building was shaken and the windows blown out by the explosion that rocked Beirut.
Ms Jaafar took cover from the flying debris, with thoughts rushing through her head of past political assassinations in Lebanon.
Her immediate reaction was that Hezbollah, the militant group that dominates power there, had attacked the dissidents’ meeting.
The blast was at the port of Beirut, caused by a stockpile of ammonium nitrate stored there for years.
So far, it appears to be a result of longtime government mismanagement.
No direct connection to Hezbollah has emerged in the explosion that wreaked destruction across the city and killed at least 190 people.
But theories abound about what sparked the explosion.
Ms Jaafar’s initial reaction reflected the fear that Hezbollah has instilled among many Lebanese and the power it has projected over the past decade.
For many, the Iran-backed Hezbollah now stands at the top of Lebanon’s sectarian-based system of power, and so is complicit in the corruption many blame for the port disaster and driving the country into near bankruptcy.
“Who controls most of everything?” asked Ms Jaafar, a secular Shiite. Hezbollah and its ally, President Michel Aoun, “are the people in charge. They bear the responsibility".
After the blast, Hezbollah has come under unprecedented public criticism and its role in Lebanese politics under intense scrutiny.
Cardboard effigies of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and other politicians were hung on nooses at a rally after the blast.
Some accused Hezbollah of storing weapons at the port, a claim it denies. Hezbollah’s political rivals seized the opportunity to fan hostilities against it and its allies.
Social media posts mocked Nasrallah’s speeches.
One noted how the US killing of Iranian commander Qassem Suleimani in Iraq in January left Nasrallah to weep and threaten revenge, while in his first speech after the blast he was smiling and calm.
“There is a paradox there with Hezbollah,” said Nicholas Blanford, a Hezbollah expert in Beirut.
"They have never been more powerful, politically and militarily. But they have never faced such an array of challenges."
The discontent with Hezbollah comes as Lebanese suffer an economic crash that has driven nearly half of the population into poverty.
Rather than push for reform, critics say, Hezbollah has stood by its political allies who resist change.
It also denied support to nationwide protests that erupted in October, demanding the end of the dysfunctional political structure.
US sanctions against Iran and Hezbollah made things harder.
For years, Hezbollah maintained a clean reputation and distance from Lebanon’s political elite.
It developed its power and resources as a resistance movement against Israel and became virtually a state within a state, heading a powerful military force and a welfare network for Shiite supporters.
Hezbollah remains Lebanon’s only armed force outside the military. It controls the borders and plays a crucial role in Iranian-backed wars in the region, including Syria’s.
In 2005, an explosion killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and changed Lebanon’s political course.
The lorry bomb, blamed on Hezbollah, sent nearly a million people on to the streets and forced the militants' ally Syria to end its occupation of Lebanon.
After that, Hezbollah began to infiltrate the system, from having a handful of parliament members to becoming Lebanon’s most powerful political faction.
It and its allies formed the last cabinet, the failures of which came to be seen as Hezbollah’s, Mr Blanford said.
And they were many. The government failed to enact reforms, stem the financial meltdown or negotiate a rescue package with the International Monetary Fund.
It finally resigned after the explosion.
Hezbollah plays a significant role in forming the new government.
To deflect criticism, Nasrallah addressed supporters several times, denying Hezbollah had anything to do with the port blast.
He made thinly veiled warnings to critics. In an August 14 speech, Nasrallah warned repeatedly against pushing Lebanon toward civil war.
He urged supporters to “hold on to their anger” over criticism, hinting that it would be unleashed against opponents.
In Hezbollah’s stronghold in the Beirut suburb Dahiyeh, supporters regarded the explosion as a conspiracy to weaken Lebanon and the group.
“We had two places to bring money and assistance from: the port and the airport,” said Issam Kaeen, 42, a coffee shop owner.
"Something had to happen somewhere so that the siege is tightened and so that these people rise against their rulers."
Mohammed Abi Shakra, who owns a women’s clothes shop, said an Israeli attack on the port could not be ruled out.
“This is a conspiracy against the Lebanese people to make them poor, to incite civil war,” Mr Abi Chakri said.
Meanwhile, social tension is on the rise. Opponents of Hezbollah clashed twice with the group’s supporters, including in a gunfight on Thursday that killed two bystanders and wounded several.
Gunmen reportedly opened fire over religious banners raised by Hezbollah supporters.
“There is no god but God, and Nasrallah is the enemy of God,” mourners chanted at a funeral for one of the killed.
After the explosion, Hezbollah made some internal changes, part of a shift inwards after the nationwide protests and its receding role in Syria’s war, an official with the group said.
The group’s security chief was given a bigger portfolio and the head of an agency that co-ordinates with allies was replaced.
Media operations are also changing, the official said.
After the blast, Ms Jaafar and other victims demanded an international investigation.
“We lost our homes, our kids, our fathers and our city,” she said in an angry speech at a gathering near the port. "We lost everything."
“All of them means all of them,” the small crowd chanted, naming Nasrallah among other leaders they want out of power.
An architect, Ms Jaafar is considering leaving the destruction as a reminder of how it all went wrong.
Active since the October protests, she is frustrated by the small turnout in rallies since the blast but recognises an outpouring of public anger is only one requisite for change.
Ms Jaafar, like many in Lebanon, sees her country’s political crisis as a product of rivalry between Hezbollah’s patron, Iran, and the US and Gulf states.
Only a resolution to that conflict will force change, she said.
“I understand why they exist," Ms Jaafar said. "They filled the gap where the state failed.
“But we want a real nation, a real country. This is a jungle.”
She said activists are realising that they must work with allies within the system for change – push for early elections and challenge Hezbollah and its allies in Parliament.
“We won’t get rid of them in one election,” Ms Jaafar said.
The specs
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
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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)
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NINE WINLESS GAMES
Arsenal 2-2 Crystal Palace (Oct 27, PL)
Liverpool 5-5 Arsenal (Oct 30, EFL)
Arsenal 1-1 Wolves (Nov 02, PL)
Vitoria Guimaraes 1-1 Arsenal (Nov 6, Europa)
Leicester 2-0 Arsenal (Nov 9, PL)
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton (Nov 23, PL)
Arsenal 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt (Nov 28, Europa)
Norwich 2-2 Arsenal (Dec 01, PL)
Arsenal 1-2 Brighton (Dec 05, PL)
Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
MATCH INFO
Newcastle 2-2 Manchester City
Burnley 0-2 Crystal Palace
Chelsea 0-1 West Ham
Liverpool 2-1 Brighton
Tottenham 3-2 Bournemouth
Southampton v Watford (late)
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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)
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
The Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The biog
Family: Parents and four sisters
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing at American University of Sharjah
A self-confessed foodie, she enjoys trying out new cuisines, her current favourite is the poke superfood bowls
Likes reading: autobiographies and fiction
Favourite holiday destination: Italy
Posts information about challenges, events, runs in other emirates on the group's Instagram account @Anagowrunning
Has created a database of Emirati and GCC sportspeople on Instagram @abeermk, highlight: Athletes
Apart from training, also talks to women about nutrition, healthy lifestyle, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
SCORES
Yorkshire Vikings 144-1 in 12.5 overs
(Tom Kohler 72 not out, Harry Broook 42 not out)
bt Hobart Hurricanes 140-7 in 20 overs
(Caleb Jewell 38, Sean Willis 35, Karl Carver 2-29, Josh Shaw 2-39)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
T20 World Cup Qualifier fixtures
Tuesday, October 29
Qualifier one, 2.10pm – Netherlands v UAE
Qualifier two, 7.30pm – Namibia v Oman
Wednesday, October 30
Qualifier three, 2.10pm – Scotland v loser of qualifier one
Qualifier four, 7.30pm – Hong Kong v loser of qualifier two
Thursday, October 31
Fifth-place playoff, 2.10pm – winner of qualifier three v winner of qualifier four
Friday, November 1
Semi-final one, 2.10pm – Ireland v winner of qualifier one
Semi-final two, 7.30pm – PNG v winner of qualifier two
Saturday, November 2
Third-place playoff, 2.10pm
Final, 7.30pm
Jetour T1 specs
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
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