Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday set a goal of a ceasefire in Gaza when he opened a conference on aid for the Palestinian territory.
He made an appeal for Israel to protect civilians as it bombards the territory, saying “all lives have equal worth” and that fighting terrorism “can never be carried out without rules”.
He told delegates in Paris: "In the immediate term, we need to work on protecting civilians. To do that, we need a humanitarian pause very quickly and we must work towards a ceasefire."
He said by attacking Israel, Hamas “shouldered the responsibility for exposing Palestinians to terrible consequences”, and he again supported Israel’s right to defend itself.
But Mr Macron also stressed that civilians must be protected. "It’s absolutely essential. It is non-negotiable,” he said.
Government representatives from across the world as well as NGO leaders are meeting in Paris at the initiative of Mr Macron to discuss humanitarian needs in the besieged Gaza Strip, however, critics say it is not clear what can be achieved at the hastily arranged forum.
France wants “tangible results”, an Elysee source said, to ensure entry of humanitarian access into the Gaza Strip, where more than 10,500 people have been killed since October 7 in retaliatory Israeli bombardment to a Hamas-led attack that killed about 1,400 people.
Some countries are expected to announce increases in humanitarian aid for Gaza. Mr Macron announced France's contribution would rise from €20 million to €100 million.
Negotiations to transfer wounded Palestinians from Gaza for treatment in France and Europe are on the agenda, as well as how to send aid to the enclave via the sea. The only crossing point by land remains tightly restricted.
Yet the logistical implementation of such plans is highly uncertain. Officials have ruled out the use of Gaza Port as a reception point, meaning maritime aid would have to be delivered either to Egypt or Israel first. There has been no concrete proposal as to how this would work.
France has also deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean helicopter carrier Tonnerre, which has a hospital with two operating rooms, 69 beds and a large stockpile of army rations.
But recent reporting by Radio France, which boarded the Tonnerre, showed that there were no patients so far on the ship despite the evacuation of dozens of wounded Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. The Tonnerre's commander said that only up to four severely wounded civilians could be taken aboard.
With this conference, which has been under preparation for the past week, France is attempting to show it is working on finding solutions to the deadly conflict, said Kelly Petillo, programme manager for the Middle East and North Africa at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
But whether such meetings will bring results is another story, said Ms Petillo, who described France's response so far to the conflict as “largely a PR stunt”.
Israel, which will not attend the conference in Paris, has so far refused calls for a ceasefire and vowed to destroy Hamas in its entirety. Recent reports suggest a three-day humanitarian truce is under negotiation.
“It is unlikely that these proposals will be helpful and sufficient without a wider humanitarian pause at least,” Ms Petillo told The National.
“But the merit of the effort is in bringing western, global and regional actors [minus Russia] together and brainstorm solutions which is at least some kind of action and an effort towards the crisis.”
Attendees of Mr Macron's conference include the EU's most senior leaders, Council President Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, as well as Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides and Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.
Yet many Arab countries are scheduled to be represented by government officials instead of foreign affairs ministers – except Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry. The Palestinian Authority will be represented by its Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.
Lebanon, which borders Israel and fears becoming embroiled in the war due to increasing tit-for-tat at the frontier between militia group Hezbollah and the Israeli army, is also not represented.
The low-level turnout among many Arab countries can be in part explained by a summit organised in parallel by Saudi Arabia on the Israel-Gaza conflict, an Elysee source said.
They played down Israel's absence in Paris, saying Mr Macron held several calls with Israeli leaders and that the conference was taking place “in full transparency with Israel”.
“Israel will be absent but we are in daily contact with them,” they said.
But the conference has raised scepticism even among French diplomats, who told Le Monde they feared it would be labelled as yet another “avalanche of initiatives” put forward by their President, who was widely criticised for a proposal made during a trip to Israel last month to widen an anti-ISIS coalition to fight Hamas.
Le Monde, which quoted several anonymous diplomats who specialise in Middle Eastern affairs, reported they were particularly critical of the reluctance among western leaders, including Mr Macron, to publicly call for a ceasefire. This position is widely seen as widening the gap with the Arab world.
One diplomat said: “Everything is linked to the problem of a ceasefire: France is giving moral and political support to [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu in his conduct of the war.”
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
When is VAR used?
• Goals
• Penalty decisions
• Direct red-card incidents
• Mistaken identity
The biog
Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza
Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby
Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer
Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.
The five pillars of Islam
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
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Apple product price list
iPad Pro
11" - $799 (64GB)
12.9" - $999 (64GB)
MacBook Air
$1,199
Mac Mini
$799
The design
The protective shell is covered in solar panels to make use of light and produce energy. This will drastically reduce energy loss.
More than 80 per cent of the energy consumed by the French pavilion will be produced by the sun.
The architecture will control light sources to provide a highly insulated and airtight building.
The forecourt is protected from the sun and the plants will refresh the inner spaces.
A micro water treatment plant will recycle used water to supply the irrigation for the plants and to flush the toilets. This will reduce the pavilion’s need for fresh water by 30 per cent.
Energy-saving equipment will be used for all lighting and projections.
Beyond its use for the expo, the pavilion will be easy to dismantle and reuse the material.
Some elements of the metal frame can be prefabricated in a factory.
From architects to sound technicians and construction companies, a group of experts from 10 companies have created the pavilion.
Work will begin in May; the first stone will be laid in Dubai in the second quarter of 2019.
Construction of the pavilion will take 17 months from May 2019 to September 2020.
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Foo Fighters
RCA records
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Stage 5 results
1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 3:48:53
2 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team -
3 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott -
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:04
5 Ilnur Zakarin (RUS) CCC Team 0:00:07
General Classification:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 20:35:04
2 Tadej Pogacar (SlO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:01
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 0:01:33
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:48
5 Rafał Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:11
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
Tesalam Aleik
Abdullah Al Ruwaished
(Rotana)
FINAL RESULT
Sharjah Wanderers 20 Dubai Tigers 25 (After extra-time)
Wanderers
Tries: Gormley, Penalty
cons: Flaherty
Pens: Flaherty 2
Tigers
Tries: O’Donnell, Gibbons, Kelly
Cons: Caldwell 2
Pens: Caldwell, Cross
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Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
Skoda Superb Specs
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Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
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The specs: 2018 Bentley Bentayga V8
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Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 550hp @ 6,000pm
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Fuel economy, combined: 11.4L / 100km
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.
Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier
Results
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by 12 runs
Kuwait beat Iran by eight wickets
Oman beat Maldives by 10 wickets
Bahrain beat Qatar by six wickets
Semi-finals
UAE v Qatar
Bahrain v Kuwait
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
Match info
Wolves 0
Arsenal 2 (Saka 43', Lacazette 85')
Man of the match: Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal)
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