The Rachel Corrie, which was named after an American college student crushed to death by an Israeli Army bulldozer while protesting house demolitions in Gaza.
The Rachel Corrie, which was named after an American college student crushed to death by an Israeli Army bulldozer while protesting house demolitions in Gaza.
New aid ship heads to Gaza
A cargo ship trying to break the blockade of Gaza could reach Israel's 32-kilometre exclusion zone by this afternoon. Israel vows to stop it.
ISTANBUL // A cargo ship trying to break the blockade of Gaza could reach Israel's 32-kilometre exclusion zone by this afternoon, an activist said, as Israel's prime minister has vowed the ship will not reach land. Their duelling comments suggest a potential new clash over Israel's three-year-old blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip - and come only four days after an Israeli commando raid on a larger aid flotilla left nine activists dead.
Greta Berlin, a spokesman for the Free Gaza group, says the 1,200-ton Rachel Corrie is heading directly to Gaza and will not stop in any port on the way. It is trying to deliver hundreds of tons of aid including wheelchairs, medical supplies and concrete. The Irish vessel is named after an American college student crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer while protesting house demolitions in Gaza.
Israel will not allow the aid ship to reach Gaza, the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told senior Cabinet ministers late on Thursday. According to a participant in the meeting, he said Israel made several offers to direct the ship to an Israeli port, where the aid supplies would be unloaded, inspected and transferred to Gaza overland, but the offers were rejected. Mr Netanyahu has ordered his military to prevent the ship from reaching Gaza, but he also instructed them to act with sensitivity and avoid harm to those on board the ship, the participant said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.
In Istanbul, Turkey's deputy prime minister said today that economic and defence cooperation with Israel will be reduced amid tensions after the killing of nine Turkish activists by Israeli commandos on an aid ship. The deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc said all deals with Israel are being evaluated. "We are serious on this issue. New cooperation will not start and relations with Israel will be reduced," he said.
The deaths on the aid ship increased tensions in the Mideast, especially with Turkey, an important ally of Israel. On Thursday, prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Israel's actions "a historic mistake." Israel maintains the commandos opened fire as a last resort after they were attacked, and released a video showing soldiers in riot gear descending from a helicopter into a crowd of men with clubs. Three or four activists overpowered each soldier as he landed.
Returning activists admitted fighting with the Israelis but insisted their actions were in self-defence because the ships were being boarded in international waters by a military force. Israel has rejected demands for an international panel to investigate the incident and Mr Netanyahu has hotly rejected calls to lift the blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza, insisting it prevents missile attacks on Israel.
Thousands jammed Istanbul on Thursday to pay tribute to those killed on the ship at a funeral service outside the Fatih mosque, and larger services were expected on Friday. The youngest of the nine activists killed, Furkan Dogan, was to be buried Friday in his family's hometown in Kayseri in central Turkey. The youngster, who was born in Troy, New York, moved to Turkey when he was two. The other eight activists were all Turkish nationals.
Turkey sent two ambulance planes to Israel to bring home the last five Turkish activists who were wounded in the Israeli commando raid. * AP
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes. The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
Scoreline
Switzerland 5
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
UAE Conference: Winners– Dubai Tigers; Runners-up – Al Ain Amblers
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
150 tonnes to landfill
50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
Brief scores:
Toss: Northern Warriors, elected to field first
Bengal Tigers 130-1 (10 ov)
Roy 60 not out, Rutherford 47 not out
Northern Warriors 94-7 (10 ov)
Simmons 44; Yamin 4-4
The specs
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Power: 268hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 380Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: CVT auto
Fuel consumption: 9.5L/100km
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Price: From Dh801,800
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
