The terrorist cell, made up of Fatah and Hamas operatives from the Ramallah area, was arrested in November-December 2024. By AMIR BOHBOT FEBRUARY 6, 2025 13:10 Updated: FEBRUARY 6, 2025 13:35 The members of the cell. (photo credit: SHIN BET) The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the IDF thwarted a plot by a terrorist cell that planned to carry out a suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, the two forces announced on Thursday. The terrorist cell, made up of Fatah and Hamas operatives from the Ramallah area, was arrested in November-December 2024. The Shin Bet named the members of the cells as Ahmed Jasser Ali, Mander Sheikh Kassem, Bashir Awad, Ammar Subah, and Ali Shwiki. The Shin Bet investigation revealed that the cell planned to remotely activate an
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Feb
Reuters The charred shell of Grenfell Tower was covered with protective white wrapping soon after the 2017 fire The government has decided to demolish Grenfell Tower, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told a meeting with bereaved relatives and survivors, the BBC understands. Seventy two people died when the tower block in west London caught fire in June 2017. The decision follows several years of debate over the future of the 24-storey tower, with some hoping it would remain in place as a lasting reminder of the tragedy and others wanting it replaced with a new memorial. A formal announcement by the government is expected to be made on Friday. Kimia Zabihyan, representing the group Grenfell Next of Kin which acts for some of the bereaved families, told the BBC she
Feb
Rivian will allow owners to set their car’s wheel size in the software without going to a service center. Software version 2025.06 includes this change and will be released “soon.” Rivian’s electric trucks and SUVs are known for their impressive off-roading abilities. The R1S and R1T are marketed as adventure vehicles, and if you know the world of overlanding and off-roading, you know that people like to put bigger wheels on their cars to better cope with big obstacles. The problem is that Rivian owners have to schedule a service visit to have their cars’ brains updated so they know what wheels they’re running. The cars still run fine without having their software updated, but the range estimates will be off. That’s a big pain, especially if the closest service
Feb
Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it would not formalise ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state was established, after the Israeli prime minister remarked that he thought normalisation with the Gulf kingdom was “going to happen”. “Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement. Both US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden have backed Israel and Saudi Arabia having diplomatic relations. Riyadh paused tentative talks on the matter early in the Gaza conflict and hardened its rhetoric as the war continued. In a shock announcement on Tuesday, Trump said the US would take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip after
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Feb
Whatever you do, don’t suffer through unsatisfactory sex. If everyone involved isn’t having a good time, something needs to change. Sex is one of the most pleasant activities available to us on this little blue rock, but folks are too often uncomfortable, depressed and overall dissatisfied with their experiences in bed. Some underwhelming situations are bound to happen here or there, but if bad sex is a recurring issue, some expert advice could come in handy. With that in mind, we reached out to some professional sex educators to tackle some of the common issues surrounding bad sex. [Image: SHVETS production] How to avoid bad sex with someone new If you’ve been swiping on dating apps or hitting the bar scene, getting to the point of hooking up can be
Feb
Automaker-backed charging firm Ionna has opened its first “Rechargery” to the public in North Carolina. It’s got 100 more sites contracted, with some opening this week. Ionna says it’ll bring Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology to on-site convenience stores, allowing you to grab what you want and leave without needing to check out. As a huge group of automakers prepares to take on electric vehicle charging headaches by teaming up, they’ll also allow you to grab some snacks while your car is recharging and then Just Walk Out. The new Ionna Rechargeries will implement the AI-powered Amazon solution for automatic, cashier-less payments at some stations, the company announced Tuesday. The new tech rollout comes as Ionna begins the next phase of its nationwide charging network rollout. The company is aiming to
The Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Bernard Ahiafor, has accused the Minority Caucus of deliberately disrupting proceedings during the ministerial vetting on Thursday, January 30, 2025. Appearing before the committee investigating the chaos today, Mr Ahiafor stated that the Minority’s conduct that night led to the destruction of public property and created a hostile environment. The incident prompted Speaker Alban Bagbin to suspend four MPs and establish an investigative committee, chaired by Ho West MP Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, to probe the matter. The suspensions were rescinded yesterday. “I perceived members on the Minority side to be putting up an attitude that is very disruptive. For me, I find it very difficult to go back on my words having agreed with you this is what we are going to do,”
Feb
Asha Patel BBC News, Nottingham Nottinghamshire Police Valdo Calocane, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was given a hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility Triple killer Valdo Calocane was not forced to take his anti-psychotic medication because he did not like needles, a major review of his NHS care has revealed. The NHS England report identified numerous failings that show “the system got it wrong” with Calocane, who stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates in Nottingham in June 2023. It laid out how Calocane, who has paranoid schizophrenia, had no contact with mental health services or his GP for about nine months prior to the killings – and was discharged after failing to engage with them. Mr Webber’s
Feb
Veteran Springbok fullback Willie le Roux is on the verge of signing a new contract at the Bulls. Le Roux was believed to be headed for the exit door at Loftus at the end of the season but coach Jake White has given the clearest indication the player is likely to stay on for another year. Le Roux, 35, who is a two-time World Cup winner and has 98 Springbok caps, will give White options at No 10, where Johan Goosen, Boeta Chamberlain and Jaco van der Walt usually operate. “We didn’t want to resign him but the bottom line is he had an option to leave,” White said as the Bulls prepared for their United Rugby Championship visit to the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium on
Feb
See Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC. By BENJAMIN NETANYAHU FEBRUARY 5, 2025 09:09 US President Donald Trump greets Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the North Portico of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2025. (photo credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) “Thank you, Mr. President. I’m honored that you invited me to be the first foreign leader to visit the White House in your second term. This is a testament to your friendship and support for the Jewish state and the Jewish people. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: You are the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. That’s why the people of Israel have such enormous respect
Feb
Two men in Thailand have been arrested for allegedly running an AI-assisted scam call centre that cost Thai-British beauty queen Charlotte Austin 4 million baht (US$118,000), raising fears about the growing threat of technologically sophisticated fraud in the region. Police identified the suspects as 31-year-old Ramil Pantawong, who was apprehended in the Wang Nam Yen district of Sa Kaeo on Sunday, and 28-year-old Thanawut Kanyaphanthe, who was detained in the Bang Lamung district of Chon Buri on Monday. They are accused of belonging to a 50-strong gang operating from a building in Poipet, a city in northern Cambodia near the Thai border. Police Lieutenant General Jiraphop Bhuridej, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, said the group had targeted at least 163 people by impersonating Thai officers with the goal of
Feb
In a stunning proposal, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. will “take over” the Gaza Strip, “level the site” and rebuild it, after earlier saying Palestinians living there should leave. “They instead can occupy all of a beautiful area with homes and safety, and they can live out their lives in peace and harmony” in other areas or countries, he said at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out,” he said. “Create an economic development that
Feb
Less than 15% of Israelis believe Trump’s plan is “immoral,” including 54% of Arab respondents and only 3% of Jewish israelis. By JERUSALEM POST STAFF FEBRUARY 3, 2025 19:16 US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025. (photo credit: Jim WATSON / POOL / AFP) A majority of Israelis support US President Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate Gaza’s population to other countries, a Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) Israel Index survey revealed Monday. The survey, which was published ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump in Washington, found that approximately eight out of ten Israelis support Trump’s suggestion that “Arabs from Gaza should relocate to another country,” while most Arab Israelis oppose the proposal. According to the findings, 43% of all
Feb
Major figures in artificial intelligence (AI) acknowledge the accomplishment of Chinese start-up DeepSeek , but caution against exaggerating the company’s success, as the tech industry weighs the implications of the firm’s advanced models developed at a fraction of the usual cost. Industry heavyweights from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to former Baidu and Google scientist Andrew Ng have praised the open-source approach of DeepSeek, following its release of two advanced AI models. Based in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province, DeepSeek stunned the global AI industry with its open-source reasoning model, R1. Released on January 20, the model showed capabilities comparable to closed-source models from ChatGPT creator OpenAI, but was said to be developed at significantly lower training costs. DeepSeek said its foundation large language model, V3, released a few weeks
Feb
Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China and economy stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing . 1. Taiwanese actress Barbie ‘Big S’ Hsu dies from pneumonia Hsu gained popularity for her starring role in the 2001 TV drama Meteor Garden. Confirming Hsu’s sudden death on Monday, her family said in a statement that the actress was travelling in Japan when she caught the flu, which triggered pneumonia. 2. China warns that US tariffs will hit fentanyl cooperation efforts, damage trust China’s public security ministry has spoken out against the US decision to place a 10 per cent duty on all Chinese imports – along with larger tariffs for Canada and Mexico – warning that it will be detrimental