Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Josep Borrell, the EU foreign affairs representative, on Sunday called for a joint initiative with Arab countries to promote a two-state solution after the Gaza-Israel war has ended.
Mr Borrell said the EU needed to "support the Arab initiative" to establish a Palestinian state, including the West Bank and Gaza. "
We have been discussing [this] a lot with Arabs and we wait for a proposal from their side that, we Europeans, could support in order to make the two-state solution something implementable," he told the Munich Security Conference.
Mr Borrell spoke as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a proposal for international recognition of such a state. US reports said President Joe Biden's administration and a small group of Arab nations were working on a comprehensive plan for long-term peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Since the start of the war on October 7, the number of clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the West Bank has increased and Mr Borrell said the collapse of the refugee agency UNRWA would have bleak consequences.
"We need to promote a political solution," Mr Borrell said. "A comprehensive one, which includes not only Gaza but also the West Bank.
"The West Bank is boiling. The level of violence against the Palestinians has been increasing since October 7. It was already very high before that.
"And if now UNRWA has to stop supporting the Palestinian people in the West Bank, we could be on the eve of a greater explosion."
Looking to the European record of rallying behind Ukraine when it was invaded two years ago, Mr Borrell said a similar spirit was needed on the issue of peace in Gaza.
"If we want to play a geopolitical role in this issue, we have to be more united, as we have been in the case of Ukraine, where with maybe the exception of a single country our unity has been remarkable," he said. "But here I see that there is a dispersion of approaches and many member states want to play own game."
Without hope of a state of their own, the Palestinians would be consigned to a cycle of failure and instability that would be perpetuated, he said.
"Without a clear prospect for the Palestinian people, [there] will not be peace in the Middle East and the security of Israel will not be ensured just by military means," he said.
As a wake-up call, Mr Borrell said every European needed to realise they were in a war situation and back the bloc to step up and play its geopolitical role. The divide between Europeans and the developing world has been widened by the Gaza conflict and he warned against a world of us and them. "We are accused of double standards, the wind is against us."
Labouring on a ceasefire
Also in Munich, the British Labour Party foreign affairs representative David Lammy acknowledged the pressure on the party to strengthen its stance on a ceasefire. “You can have a ceasefire that lasts for a few days," he told UK radio from Munich. "We want the ceasefire to last and to be permanent and to move towards the diplomatic solution. It will only be a political solution that brings an end to this.
“We all want to see an end to the fighting, it must stop.”
Keir Starmer, the party leader, met Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, and a host of other leaders at the weekend. He also refused to commit to a call for an immediate ceasefire. "What we all want to see [is] an end to the fighting, not just now, not just for a pause, but permanently. A ceasefire that lasts, that is what must happen now."
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
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Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
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Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
EXPATS
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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SPECS
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Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Janet Yellen's Firsts
- In 2014, she became the first woman to lead the US Federal Reserve
- In 1999, she became the first female chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers
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
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Places to go for free coffee
- Cherish Cafe Dubai, Dubai Investment Park, are giving away free coffees all day.
- La Terrace, Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai, are serving their first 50 guests one coffee and four bite-sized cakes
- Wild & The Moon will be giving away a free espresso with every purchase on International Coffee Day
- Orange Wheels welcome parents are to sit, relax and enjoy goodies at ‘Café O’ along with a free coffee
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
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.
How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
