Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that Gazans are experiencing an “epic” humanitarian crisis, as calls for a lasting ceasefire grow during the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas.
“The people of Gaza are in the midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe before the eyes of the world,” said Mr Guterres. “We must not look away.”
The word body has scaled up the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza during the truce, but the UN chief said the level of aid “remains completely inadequate to meet the huge needs”.
Mr Guterres welcomed the two-day truce extension arrangement reached by Israel and Hamas with the assistance of the governments of Qatar, Egypt and the US.
“Intense negotiations are taking place to prolong the truce which we strongly welcome but we believe we need a true humanitarian ceasefire,” he said at a UN Security Council meeting led by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The truce has brought a temporary halt to fighting that began on October 7, when Hamas militants poured over the border into Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 240. Israel's ensuing air and ground campaign in Gaza has killed more than 15,000 people, according to Hamas authorities.
Meanwhile, said Mr Guterres, an estimated 45 per cent of all homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed and 80 per cent of civilians in Gaza have been displaced.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Maliki said his people are facing an “existential threat” amid the conflict.
“The massacres cannot be allowed to resume,” he told the UN Security Council. “This is not a war. This is a carnage that nothing and no one can justify.”
He emphasised the importance of enabling the Palestinian people to return to their homes and start the process of rebuilding their lives, while also calling for the lifting of the Israeli-imposed siege.
Mr Wang reiterated his country’s opposition to the collective punishment of people in Gaza as well as the forced transfer and attacking of Palestinian civilians.
He called for increased international and regional diplomatic efforts and the revitalising the political prospects of the two-state solution, adding that the resumption of fighting in the northern enclave could turn into a “calamity that devours the whole region”.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, along with his counterparts from Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia, called the pause a “small glimmer of hope” which has resulted in much needed aid entering Gaza and the release of some of the hostages.
But, he stressed, the aid that is entering is by “far less than is needed”.
“The danger is if this truce expires … we will return to the killing at the scale that we have seen, which is unbearable,” he said.
The US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged Israel to take “every possible measure to prevent civilian casualties as it exercises right to safeguard its people from acts of terror”.
“We know Hamas continues to use civilians as human shields purposefully cruelly putting Palestinian civilians in harm's way,” she said. “But this does not lessen Israel's responsibility to protect civilians, consistent with international humanitarian law.”
Washington, she added, would like to see “this humanitarian pause extended”.
“Israel has been very clear that it is prepared to continue the pause and fighting for every day that Hamas releases an additional 10 hostages. The ball is now in Hamas’s court, and if Hamas decides not to extend this deal, the responsibility will rest squarely on its shoulders,” she noted.
Khalifa Al Marar, UAE Minister of State, condemned Israel’s collective punishment policies against the Palestinian people, as well as the attempts to displace them.
“The future and the governance of Gaza must remain in the hands of the Palestinian people. Any presumptions or plans that seek to separate the leather strip from the state of Palestine are unacceptable,” the minister told the UN Security Council.
He also stressed the need for the international community to adopt unified rules condemning breaches of international humanitarian law, including the indiscriminate bombing of civilians and UN facilities.
The UAE minister accused Israel of continuing to build and expand its settlement activities, further dividing Palestinian land and violating international law and Security Council resolutions.
“These illegal practices must stop now.”
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
The Greatest Royal Rumble card
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Rusev
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto
Long Shot
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Charlize Theron, Seth Rogan
Four stars
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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Qosty Byogaani
Starring: Hani Razmzi, Maya Nasir and Hassan Hosny
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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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
Teams
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
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.
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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."
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Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
