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Two British former prime ministers have been privately urged by senior Arab diplomats to team up to deliver a ceasefire in the Gaza-Israel conflict as statesmen with the experience to deliver a breakthrough.
Lord Cameron, the UK Foreign Secretary, and Sir Tony Blair could work together on bringing peace to the Israel-Gaza conflict to bring influence to bear on Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli leader, The National has been told. "Cameron and Tony Blair could team up to give a real push to the ceasefire talks," one diplomat said. "They have the skills to build trust across the region for a new initiative to start after that."
The pair are understood to have informally discussed the possibility of helping to bring about a ceasefire in the conflict that has claimed more than 20,000 lives, British government sources separately disclosed.
Mr Blair’s role as a potential peacemaker was disclosed by foreign office minister Andrew Mitchell, standing in for Mr Cameron, who said the former Labour prime minister would meet Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Nothing official has happened as yet but it is quite possible that the two former prime ministers have had their own personal discussions on resolving the crisis,” a senior Whitehall official told The National.
“Clearly Tony Blair has got a lot experience in the Middle East, both as prime minister and since leaving office, but I'm not aware that we're formally in touch with him.
“As two former prime ministers they will meet at formal events and discuss world issues.”
While Mr Cameron was in Downing Street, from 2010 to 2016, he is said to have met Mr Blair at times sounding him out for advice on international affairs. Mr Blair worked as a special representative of the quartet of international powers seeking a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians between 2007 and 2015, focused largely on West Bank development and prosperity.
Mr Mitchell, who is Mr Cameron's deputy, revealed the pair would be travelling in the region ahead of Mr Cameron's arrival in Jordan and Egypt.
“There have been regular discussions between our prime minister and Prime Minister Netanyahu," he said. "Also the foreign secretary has been part of those discussions too. I think Sir Tony Blair is seeing Prime Minister Netanyahu shortly too,” he told MPs.
The FCDO told The National that it was not discussing the exchanges further. "We don’t have anything further to add from Minister Mitchell’s comment yesterday," it said.
A spokesman for Mr Blair said that they could not disclose the former Labour leader's travel plans for security reasons. "We have said previously that Mr Blair has an office in Israel, has continued to work on issues regarding Israel and the Palestinians and that he is discussing the situation with a number of people in the region and elsewhere to see what can be done," she said.
The Daily Telegraph reported last month that Mr Blair had not “offered or taken” a role as intermediary but did add that they did not rule out accepting such a position.
Lt Gen Sir Simon Mayall, who was personally appointed by Mr Cameron as his military adviser on the Middle East, said it would be a “powerful force for peace” if the two former prime ministers combined.
“We all want to bring this current violence in Israel and Palestine to an end, so having two heavy hitters, with access and understanding of the issues and plenty of exposure at the very highest level in their times as prime minister can only be very helpful and a powerful force for peace.
“We are really hopeful that the likes of Cameron and Blair with their track record and credibility can convince other important players in the Middle East to actively engage and give us a long a long-term solution.
“The quest for an opportunity out of a crisis is always the hallmark of a great statesman, not simply a headline-grabbing tactical halt to the violence.”
Lt Gen Mayall added that during his time as Britain’s first defence senior adviser Middle East, that Mr Cameron “understood the complexities” of the region.
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 480hp at 7,250rpm
Torque: 566Nm at 4,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: L/100km
Price: Dh306,495
On sale: now
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
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
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
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
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
On the menu
First course
▶ Emirati sea bass tartare Yuzu and labneh mayo, avocado, green herbs, fermented tomato water
▶ The Tale of the Oyster Oyster tartare, Bahraini gum berry pickle
Second course
▶ Local mackerel Sourdough crouton, baharat oil, red radish, zaatar mayo
▶ One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Quail, smoked freekeh, cinnamon cocoa
Third course
▶ Bahraini bouillabaisse Venus clams, local prawns, fishfarm seabream, farro
▶ Lamb 2 ways Braised lamb, crispy lamb chop, bulgur, physalis
Dessert
▶ Lumi Black lemon ice cream, pistachio, pomegranate
▶ Black chocolate bar Dark chocolate, dates, caramel, camel milk ice cream
The%20Little%20Mermaid%20
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham v Ajax, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
Ponti
Sharlene Teo, Pan Macmillan
The biog
Most memorable achievement: Leading my first city-wide charity campaign in Toronto holds a special place in my heart. It was for Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women program and showed me the power of how communities can come together in the smallest ways to have such wide impact.
Favourite film: Childhood favourite would be Disney’s Jungle Book and classic favourite Gone With The Wind.
Favourite book: To Kill A Mockingbird for a timeless story on justice and courage and Harry Potters for my love of all things magical.
Favourite quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill
Favourite food: Dim sum
Favourite place to travel to: Anywhere with natural beauty, wildlife and awe-inspiring sunsets.
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What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Bharat
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
CONFIRMED%20LINE-UP
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