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Liu Yuning, known for her versatility and captivating performances on the silver screen, was seen hurriedly rushing into the hospital with a small group of companions. The urgency and secrecy surrounding her late-night visit have left many questioning the reason behind her sudden and discreet hospital trip.
A wave of Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen's main airport Thursday just as the World Health Organization’s director-general said he was about to board a flight there. One of the U.N. plane’s crew was wounded, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X. The Israeli military said it attacked infrastructure used by Yemen's Houthi rebels at the international airport in the capital Sanaa, as well as power stations and ports, alleging they were used to smuggle in Iranian weapons and for the entry of senior Iranian officials. Last week, Israeli jets bombed Sanaa and Hodeida, killing nine people . The U.S. military also has targeted the Houthis in Yemen in recent days. Israel's latest wave of strikes in Yemen follows several days of Houthi launches setting off air-raid sirens in Israel. The Houthis have also been targeting shipping in the Red Sea corridor, calling it solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Israel's war in Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. Here’s the latest: UNITED NATIONS – An estimated 730,000 people living in tents in camps for the displaced in northwest Syria are experiencing dire conditions this winter including from flooding, the U.N. humanitarian office said. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, said Thursday that more than 200 family tents in camps in Idlib and northern Aleppo were damaged by flooding from heavy rainfall on Dec. 23. “Since the start of 2024, flooding and strong winds have damaged more than 8,800 family tents – including nearly 2,000 that were fully destroyed – across 260 camps," OCHA said. On another issue, OCHA quoted a report from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor based in Britain, that since Dec. 8 – when Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted -- episodes involving explosive ordnance have killed more than 70 civilians including a dozen children and five women, with scores more injured. OCHA said mine experts have identified 109 new minefields across Idlib, Aleppo, Hama and Latakia since Nov. 26. So far, it said experts have destroyed more than 850 individual items of explosive ordnance. Elsewhere, OCHA said Israeli forces on Wednesday reportedly wounded six civilians when they opened fire in Al-Suweisah town in Quneitra province, which includes the Golan Heights. It said residents were ordered to evacuate and Israeli forces imposed a curfew. JERUSALEM — Israel’s attorney general has ordered police to open an investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife on suspicion of harassing political opponents and witnesses in the Israeli leader’s corruption trial. The Israeli Justice Ministry made the announcement in a terse message late Thursday, saying the investigation would focus on the findings of a recent report by the Uvda investigative program into Sara Netanyahu. The program uncovered a trove of WhatsApp messages in which Sara Netanyahu appears to instruct a former aid to organize protests against political opponents and to intimidate Hadas Klein, a key witness in the trial. The announcement did not mention Sara Netanyahu by name, and the Justice Ministry declined further comment. However, earlier Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the Uvda report as “lies.” WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say they asked for — and got — the retraction of an independent monitor’s warning of imminent famine in north Gaza. The Famine Early Warning System Network issued the warning this week. The new report had warned that starvation deaths in north Gaza could reach famine levels as soon as next month. It cited what it called Israel’s “near-total blockade” of food and water. The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, criticized the finding as inaccurate and irresponsible. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the famine-monitoring group, told The Associated Press it had asked for and gotten the report’s retraction. USAID officials tell AP that it had asked the group for greater review of discrepancies in some of the data. Humanitarian and human rights officials expressed fear of U.S. political interference in the world’s monitoring system for famines. The U.S. Embassy in Israel and the State Department declined comment. FEWS officials did not respond to questions. FEWS Net said in its withdrawn report that unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying of starvation and related ailments in north Gaza to reach between two and 15 per day sometime between January and March. The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people. FEWS was created by the U.S. development agency in the 1980s and still receives funding from it. But the monitor is intended to provide independent, neutral and data-driven assessments of hunger crises, including in war zones. By Ellen Knickmeyer TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday strongly condemned Israeli airstrikes on the main airport in Yemen's Houthi rebel-held capital as well as key energy and port infrastructure. Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, said Thursday's Israeli strikes were part of a policy for "destroying and weaking Islamic countries” and urged “immediate action” by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation as well as other regional and international bodies. Baghaei said the U.S. and Britain were “accomplices” in the strikes and had supported them, adding that the attacks were a breach of all international regulations and norms, particularly the U.N. Charter. It also criticized the “passivity” by U.N. about Israel allegedly breaching international law. The Iran-backed Houthis have launched drones and missiles at Israel in recent days, setting off air-raid sirens, and Israeli strikes on Yemen last week killed nine people. The U.S. military also has targeted the Houthis in Yemen in recent days. Israel said the strikes Thursday targeted infrastructure used for military purposes by the Houthis, as well as smuggling in Iranian weapons and the entry of senior Iranian officials. UNITED NATIONS — The head of the U.N. health agency says he and his team were about to board a flight in Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa when the airport came under aerial bombardment. “The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge — just a few meters (yards) from where we were — and the runway were damaged,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X. He said one of the U.N. plane’s crew was injured but he and his WHO colleagues were safe. “We will need to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired before we can leave.” The Israeli military said Thursday it attacked infrastructure used by the Houthis at the airport as well as power stations and ports in rebel-controlled areas. Israel’s military didn’t immediately respond to questions about Tedros’ comments but issued a statement saying it had “capabilities to strike very far from Israel’s territory — precisely, powerfully, and repetitively.” Tedros said the U.N. team was in Yemen to negotiate the release of U.N. staff detained by the Houthis and to assess the health and humanitarian situation in the country, which faces one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. JERUSALEM — Houthi rebels in Yemen said Israeli airstrikes on Thursday targeted the rebel-held capital of Sanaa and the port city of Hodeida, following several days of Houthi launches that set off air-raid sirens in Israel. The Israeli military said it attacked infrastructure used by the Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa and ports at Hodeida, Al-Salif and Ras Qantib along with power stations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Wednesday that “the Houthis, too, will learn what Hamas and Hezbollah and Assad’s regime and others learned.” The Iran-backed Houthis’ media outlet reported the strikes in a Telegram post, but gave no immediate details. The U.S. military also has targeted the Houthis in Yemen in recent days. The United Nations has noted that the ports are important entryways for humanitarian aid. Over the weekend, 16 people were wounded when a Houthi missile hit a playground in Tel Aviv . Last week, Israeli jets struck Sanaa and Hodeida, killing nine people, calling it a response to previous Houthi attacks. The Houthis also have been targeting shipping on the Red Sea corridor, calling it solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. QAMISHLI, Syria — Thousands of people in northeastern Syria attended a funeral Thursday for six fighters from a Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed force who were killed in ongoing clashes with Turkish-backed militias. The Turkish-backed groups are launching attacks to take the Arab cities west of the Euphrates River that are under the control of the Kurdish group . The Turkish-supported groups helped overthrow Bashar al-Assad’s rule of Syria, and have since kept pushing eastward against the Kurdish groups. “We thought that Syria today has entered a new stage after the fall and escape of Assad. We thought that we got rid of all of this, but this attack on us changed everything and those who came in are taking orders from Turkey,” said Nihayet Hassan, the uncle of a killed fighter. The fighters were killed during attacks on Tishreen Dam near the strategic city of Manbij in recent days. The bodies were returned to the city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria where the U.S.-backed group, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, has a strong presence. Ankara sees the SDF as an affiliate of its sworn enemy, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Turkey classifies as a terrorist organization. Turkish-backed armed groups backed by Turkish jets have for years attacked positions where the SDF are present across northern Syria, in a bid to create a buffer zone free from the group along the Turkish border. “It is obvious that Turkey’s issue is with the Kurds. It is not about an organization, or the PKK, no, their target are the Kurds,” said Ahmad Ammo, a Qamishli resident who attended the funeral. The U.S. has about 2,000 soldiers in eastern Syria to help fight the Islamic State group and protect critical oil fields there. BEIRUT — The Lebanese military said Thursday that Israeli troops encroached on areas of southern Lebanon, violating a ceasefire agreement that ended the war between Israel and the Hezbollah group. The U.S.-brokered ceasefire that went into effect a month ago called for Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops to leave southern Lebanon over a 60-day period as Lebanese army soldiers gradually deploy in the country south of the Litani River. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reported incident. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Israeli bulldozers are setting up dirt barricades that would close off the road between Wadi Slouqi and Wadi Hujeir. Lebanon’s military said it brought reinforcements into the areas entered by Israeli troops. NNA said the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, sent a patrol unit to an area near the southern town of Qantara where Israeli forces are present. UNIFIL in a statement expressed its “concern at continuing destruction by the IDF (Israeli military) in residential areas, agricultural land, and road networks in south Lebanon.” Lebanese army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun traveled to Saudi Arabia earlier Thursday as part of ongoing efforts by the cash-strapped military to find financial support to deploy in larger numbers. The Lebanese military and government have complained about Israeli strikes and overflights in the country to a new monitoring committee headed by the U.S. that also includes France. DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike killed five Palestinian journalists outside a hospital in the Gaza Strip overnight, the Health Ministry said Thursday. The Israeli army said it had targeted a group of militants. The strike hit a car outside the Al-Awda Hospital in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the territory. The journalists were working for the local news outlet Al-Quds Today, a television channel affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group. The military said it targeted a group of fighters from Islamic Jihad, a militant group allied with Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel ignited the war. Associated Press video showed the incinerated shell of a van, with press markings still visible on the back doors. The Committee to Protect Journalists says over 130 Palestinian reporters have been killed since the start of the war. Israel has not allowed foreign reporters to enter Gaza except on military embeds. This post has been corrected to show that the name of the local news outlet is Al-Quds Today, not the Quds News Network. BEIJING — China has pledged two more shipments of humanitarian aid to Gaza, in an indication of support for the Palestinian Authority, state media reported Thursday. The agreement was overseen in Cairo by Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang and Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Diab al-Louh. “To ease the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, the Chinese government has continued to provide assistance to Palestine,” Liao was quoted as saying. The types and quantities of aid to be delivered via Egypt were not given, but China has previously shipped food and medicine to Gaza. China has longstanding ties with the Palestinian Authority but has also sought to strengthen economic and political relations with Israel. Al-Louh “voiced appreciation for China’s consistent and firm support for the just cause of the Palestinian people and for raising this issue on international occasions," state media said. UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday at Israel’s request to discuss recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Israel’s U.N. Mission said Wednesday the meeting will take place at 10 a.m. Monday. Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said he expects the council will condemn the Houthi attacks. He urged the council “to enforce international law and hold Iran, the Houthis’ patron, accountable.” Alluding to Israeli retaliation for the attacks, Danon said ”It seems that the Houthis have not yet understood what happens to those who try to harm the state of Israel.”
Kolkata: Consumer goods makers have significantly increased their capital expenditure, including on research and development (R&D), to make their products as well as manufacturing processes sustainable and environment friendly, as these factors are becoming crucial for both consumers and investors. Companies increased their capex up to nine times in the past three financial years, and on R&D by up to four times, to specifically make products and manufacturing processes sustainable, according to an ET study of 15 leading publicly traded companies across fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), automobile and electronics sectors. For a few companies, expenditure went up on both counts. "Consumers nowadays, especially the younger generation, are extremely conscious about sustainability and prefer to buy brands who develop sustainable products and use sustainable manufacturing processes ," said Pradeep Bakshi, managing director of Tata-owned appliance manufacturer Voltas . "Even for business-to-business deals, this has become a benchmark." He said the company is using components which are greener in nature, along with recycled plastic for some models of air coolers and washing machines, and also pushing for biodiversity inside the factory campuses. For automakers, most of their capex and R&D expenses are related to electric vehicle development and reduction of emissions from fuel vehicles. 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Two-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj Auto deployed 100% of its R&D spending in the past three fiscals on electric vehicle development, while the share of R&D in capex went up to 65.1% in 2023-24 from 6.4% in 2021-22. Havells India managing director Anil Rai Gupta said companies are not only focused on developing energy-efficient products but also reaching zero norm standards earlier which has a greater acceptance globally among consumers and investors when Indian companies are going global. FMCG companies such as HUL , ITC and Tata Consumer Products have increased their spending on R&D to replace non-recyclable plastics with recyclable plastics , reduce plastic packaging by focusing on suitable alternatives and develop products which promote healthier lifestyles. Dabur India 's R&D spending on developing sustainable products went up to 42% of its total R&D budget in 2023-24 from 10% in 2021-22, while as a share of capex, it went up to 12.8% from 1.5% during this period. Nominations for ET MSME Awards are now open. The last day to apply is December 15, 2024. Click here to submit your entry for any one or more of the 22 categories and stand a chance to win a prestigious award. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
When AI Jesus Entered The Confessional: Lessons From A Divisive ExperimentThis move by Manchester United has sparked debate among fans and pundits, with some questioning whether the club will be able to effectively compete with their rivals who have embraced the Sporting Director model. However, others have applauded the decision as a return to a more old-fashioned and hands-on approach to running a football club.Opinion: The China factor in India-Nepal relationsTata Communications bets big on gaming, esports
Bonucci, known for his commanding presence in defense and impeccable passing ability, was a key player for Juventus during that period. His partnership with Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli formed the formidable 'BBC' defensive trio that helped Juventus dominate in Serie A and make deep runs in the Champions League.It is hoped that the US government will take heed of China's concerns and refrain from further interference in Hong Kong affairs. Dialogue and cooperation between the two countries are vital for maintaining peace and stability in the region, and it is imperative that both sides work together to resolve their differences through diplomatic channels.On December 9th, Liu Yang, the renowned finance and accounting teacher at S.E.R. Education, made a shocking announcement by posting on social media that he had resigned from his position. The exclusive agreement surrounding his departure has sparked controversy among students, colleagues, and industry professionals.
The decision to bring in Tonali reflects AC Milan's commitment to maintaining their status as one of Europe's elite clubs. With a rich history and a loyal fan base, the Rossoneri understand the importance of performing well in prestigious competitions like the Champions League. Despite a few setbacks in recent seasons, AC Milan remains a powerhouse in Italian football and a force to be reckoned with on the European stage.
