Politics
Israel receives bodies of three more Gaza hostages
Israel announced on Sunday that it had received the remains of three additional captives from Hamas as part of the ongoing hostage-prisoner exchange under the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire agreement.
The fragile truce, in place since October 10, has largely held despite occasional flare-ups, with the deal focusing on the return of all Israeli hostages, both alive and deceased.
“Israel has received, through the Red Cross, the coffins of three fallen hostages, which were handed over to IDF and Shin Bet forces inside Gaza,” said the Prime Minister’s Office.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Health Ministry confirmed that the bodies had arrived at a national forensic center for identification and investigation into the circumstances and causes of death. Experts will then meet with the families of the deceased to discuss the findings.
Hamas’s armed wing reported that the remains were found earlier Sunday “along the route of one of the tunnels in southern Gaza.”
At the time of the ceasefire, Hamas was holding 48 hostages in Gaza, including 20 confirmed alive.
Since the truce, the group has released the surviving captives and begun handing over the remains of 28 deceased hostages, of which 17 have been returned so far—including 15 Israelis, one Thai national, and one Nepali.
Israel has accused Hamas of delaying the return of the bodies, while the Palestinian group maintains that many remains are buried under Gaza’s rubble, slowing the process.
Hamas has repeatedly requested mediators and the Red Cross to provide equipment and personnel for body recovery.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem stated that Sunday’s handover demonstrated the group’s ongoing efforts to return the bodies as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, an Israeli campaign group representing hostage families urged the government to act decisively to ensure all deceased hostages are returned.
“The Hostage Families demand that the prime minister act with determination to ensure Hamas fulfills its commitments under the agreement and returns all deceased hostages to Israel,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Life is impossible
In addition to returning the bodies of the 17 hostages, Hamas has also handed over partial remains of a hostage whose body was recovered by the Israeli army last year.
That incident sparked outrage in Israel, which accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement by returning only partial remains instead of a complete body of another hostage.
“We call for the return of all 11 deceased hostages who have still not been returned to Israeli soil,” Inbal Bachar, aunt of Sahar Baruch, whose remains were handed over earlier this week, said during Baruch’s funeral on Sunday.
“We cannot continue our lives until they all return,” she said, according to a statement issued by the forum.
In Gaza, Palestinians have been hoping that an Israeli military withdrawal will follow the truce and bring an end to their ordeal.
“We want the second phase of the agreement to begin so that we can return to our homes,” said Naif al-Sulaibi, a resident of Jabalia in northern Gaza.
“As long as the Yellow Line and the army remain here, life is impossible and conditions will stay unbearable,” he added, referring to the de facto boundary marking Israeli military positions inside Gaza.
The implementation of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan has yet to be agreed, particularly as it concerns disarming Hamas, establishing a transitional authority and deploying an international stabilisation force in Gaza.
- Eleven people, including train crew injured stabbing incident.
- Suspect unknown to security services, says transport minister.
- Five victims discharged from hospital by late on Sunday.
British police said a 32-year-old British man was charged on Monday with 10 counts of attempted murder over a knife attack on a train on Saturday, an incident officers had already said was not being treated as terrorism-related.
Eleven people were injured in the mass stabbing on the train, including a member of the train crew who remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition. That person was hurt while trying to stop the accused from stabbing others.
The attack, on a London-bound train which then stopped at Huntingdon about 80 miles north of London, shocked the country, and prompted statements from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles, who sent their sympathies to those affected.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said Anthony Williams, 32, was charged with 11 counts of attempted murder, one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of possession of a bladed article.
Ten of the attempted murder charges were linked to the train attack, British Transport Police said, while the eleventh charge was connected to an incident at a station in east London earlier on the same day.
Williams, who is from Peterborough in eastern England, will appear at Peterborough Magistrates Court later on Monday, they said, adding that the charges were brought after a review of CCTV footage from the train, amongst other evidence.
Transport minister Heidi Alexander confirmed on Monday that the man was not known to security services. She declined to comment on whether he was known to mental health services.
Five of the injured had been discharged from the hospital by late Sunday.
DUBAI: As the UAE celebrates Flag Day today, authorities have issued a reminder that any act of disrespect toward the national flag, such as using its design on cakes, decorations, or promotional items, is a serious crime punishable by up to 25 years in prison and a fine of Dh500,000 (almost Rs37.8 million).
The warning comes ahead of UAE National Day celebrations on December 2, when citizens and expatriate communities across Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi typically mark the occasion with flag hoisting, parades, and cake-cutting ceremonies. Officials have urged everyone to ensure the national flag is treated with the utmost respect.
Residents are advised to follow a set of dos and don’ts issued by the government. Flags must be made of high-quality polyester, kept clean and undamaged, and should never touch the ground. Nothing else should be attached to the flagpole, and flags must be properly folded after use.
Authorities have also clarified that no emblem, logo, or decorative edge should be added to the flag, and it should not appear on food items or altered for promotional designs such as balloons, logos, or typography.
The UAE flag, featuring red, green, white, and black colours symbolising Arab unity, was first raised by the nation’s founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, during the Eid Al Etihad celebrations in 1971.
As the country prepares for its 53rd National Day, the message is clear: the flag represents the UAE’s pride and unity, and must be honoured accordingly.
- ED freezes INR30.84bn in Ambani Group assets.
- Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai holdings seized, says source.
- Alleged $350 million siphoned via shell companies.
NEW DELHI: India’s financial crime agency has provisionally frozen 30.84 billion Indian rupees ($350.87 million) in assets linked to Reliance Anil Ambani Group as part of a money-laundering investigation, a government source said on Monday.
The case involves loans taken by the group, owned by the younger brother of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, from India’s YES Bank between 2017 and 2019 in excess of $568.86 million. Investments made with the funds delivered no returns.
The Enforcement Directorate has now blocked any transactions from taking place on residential units and land parcels across Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai, including industrialist Anil Ambani’s family residence in Mumbai, the source added.
Reliance Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Investigators allege the funds raised by Reliance Home Finance Ltd and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd were part of a “well-planned” scheme to siphon off 30 billion Indian rupees ($350 million) in loans from YES Bank to many shell companies.
The loans were originally invested through mutual funds and routed to group-linked entities in violation of regulations. The Reliance Group entities are also accused of paying bribes to YES Bank officials before loans were disbursed, a government source had said earlier.
The Enforcement Directorate has cited weak borrower profiles, missing documentation and misuse of funds, the source said, in a case that involves the diversion and laundering of public funds.
The agency is also probing Reliance Communications Ltd and affiliates, where over 136 billion Indian rupees ($1.55 billion) were allegedly diverted through loan evergreening and fund rerouting.
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