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Israel continues strikes on Syria and Lebanon despite EU warning

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The Israeli army struck targets in Syria and southern Lebanon despite warnings from the European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas that continuing attacks risk further regional escalation.

The military said it attacked "remaining military capabilities" at two airbases in Homs province in Syria on Tuesday morning. At least one person was killed in an Israeli air strike on southern Lebanon late on Monday, state media reported, as air attacks on the country increase.

The air strikes come after Ms Kallas warned during a visit to Jerusalem that Israeli air strikes on Syria on Lebanon threatened to risk further regional escalation.

"A short while ago, the IDF struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian military bases of Tadmur and T4," the Israeli military said, referring to bases in Palmyra and another 50km west of the city.

"The IDF will continue to act in order to remove any threat posed to the citizens of the State of Israel," it added. Israel said on Friday that it struck the same bases after a war monitor first reported the raids.

On Monday during a visit to Jersalem, Ms Kallas warned that Israeli strikes on Syria and Lebanon were threatening to worsen the situation. "Military actions must be proportionate, and Israeli strikes into Syria and Lebanon risk further escalation," Ms Kallas said at a joint news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

"We feel that these things are unnecessary because Syria is right now not attacking Israel and that feeds more radicalisation that is also against Israel," she added.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites since rebels overthrew Bashar Al Assad in December under the pretext that it wants to prevent weapons from the previous regime falling into the hands of the new authorities which it views as jihadists. The Israeli military has also been sent to the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarisation of southern Syria.

When asked about Israel's stance towards Syria's new leaders, Ms Kallas said "of course our worries are the same. They say the right things, will they do the right things?"

Israel continues to carry out strikes in Lebanon in violation of fragile truce being in place since November.

Israel is expected to continue its violations of the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah as part of a broader pressure campaign on Beirut, a senior Lebanese military source told The National on Monday. It comes as a top Lebanese official has accused Israel of attempting to lure the country into normalising relations.

COMPANY%20PROFILE

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Tuesday's fixtures

Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm

Iran v Uzbekistan, 8pm

N Korea v UAE, 10.15pm

Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.

Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

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Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors

Power: 659hp

Torque: 1075Nm

On sale: Available for pre-order now

Price: On request

The drill

Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.

Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”

Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”

Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”

The specs: Audi e-tron

Price, base: From Dh325,000 (estimate)

Engine: Twin electric motors and 95kWh battery pack

Transmission: Single-speed auto

Power: 408hp

Torque: 664Nm

Range: 400 kilometres

Profile Idealz

Company: Idealz

Founded: January 2018

Based: Dubai

Sector: E-commerce

Size: (employees): 22

Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)

THE POPE'S ITINERARY

Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi

1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi

10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport

Monday, February 4

12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace

12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace

5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial

Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome

9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral

10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis

12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport

1pm: departure by plane to Rome

5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport

Another way to earn air miles

In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.

An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.

“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.

Company profile

Name: Dukkantek

Started: January 2021

Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani

Based: UAE

Number of employees: 140

Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)

Investment: $5.2 million

Funding stage: Seed round

Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office

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