Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for member states to carry out the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, cautioning that neither side can achieve “total victory” in the Gaza war.
"The decision of the court has to be respected and implemented," Mr Borell said during a press conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman on Thursday.
"All states parties of the court, which includes all members of the EU, are bound to implement this court decision," he said.
Mr Safadi also called for the implementation of the warrants issued against the Israeli officials but did not address the warrant for Deif, who Israel claims to have killed.
Mr Borrell’s comments come amid widespread criticism on the continent of Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza, which has strained ties with many European countries without leading to any substantial break.
The ICC announced the arrest warrants earlier on Thursday, saying Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant were suspected of crimes against humanity. The grounds for Deif's warrant were classified as secret to "protect witnesses and safeguard the conduct of investigations", the court said.
Mr Borrell will be replaced by former Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas when his term ends this month. But he is using his final appearances in the region to make a moral case for peace. He will address Israeli and Palestinian civil figures In Cyprus on Saturday before travelling to Lebanon.
In a speech at Jordan University late on Wednesday, Mr Borrell appealed to both sides to stop “dehumanising” each other and seek peace based on “equal dignity”.
“There is a narrative trying to present the problem as a fight between the West and the East or against the South, or against the Muslim world. This is a caricature that has to be deconstructed and rejected. We have to avoid any kind of clashes based on religion, civilisation or ethnicity,” he said.
The war started on October 7 last year when a surprise attack on southern Israel by Hamas and other militant groups supported by Iran killed about 1,200 civilians. Palestinian health officials in Gaza say that 44,000 people have been killed in the subsequent invasion of Gaza.
“Do not listen to the ones who claim for total victory. The victory is never total. Let’s talk about inclusion,” he said. “Any message of hate,” whether from “an Israeli minister as much as if it comes from the voice of an extremist from any field” must be rejected.
He recalled his own's father's experience as a participant in the 1936 to 1939 Spanish Civil war. At least half a million people were killed in the conflict, which was followed by the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.
“Do not play games of war,” Mr Borrell quoted his father as telling him. “He knew by his own experience how awful war could be.”
As a young university graduate in the late 1960s, Mr Borrell worked as a volunteer in a Kibbutz “not because I was supporting Zionism, but because the Kibbutz represented for the young people … in Europe, the ideal of socialism. The ideal of living together, and sharing everything.”
But he repeated criticism he has incessantly levelled against Israel's war conduct in Gaza as disproportionate, unjustifiable and contravening international law.
“There is a limit to the right of defence, and the level of destruction that we are witnessing in Gaza is not justified with the right to defence,” Mr Borrell said, calling for respect of UN principles that “push back against any kind of dehumanisation”.
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Display: 10.9" Liquid Retina IPS, 2360 x 1640, 264ppi, wide colour, True Tone, Apple Pencil support
Chip: Apple M1, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 64/256GB storage; 8GB RAM
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, Smart HDR
Video: 4K @ 25/25/30/60fps, full HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps
Audio: Stereo speakers
Biometrics: Touch ID
I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)
Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular
Finish: Space grey, starlight, pink, purple, blue
Price: Wi-Fi – Dh2,499 (64GB) / Dh3,099 (256GB); cellular – Dh3,099 (64GB) / Dh3,699 (256GB)
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Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
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Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
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Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
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Sunday Feb 23, 9.30am, v Iran
Monday Feb 25, 1pm, v Kuwait
Tuesday Feb 26, 9.30am, v Saudi
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Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
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Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
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Sector: FinTech, wealth management
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Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
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Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
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Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
