This month, UK cinemas will host a film based on the death of a five-year-old girl during Israel’s war in Gaza.

The January 2024 killing of Hind Rajab shocked the world after her desperate telephone calls with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) emergency services were recorded in real time and made public.

Hind and six of her relatives (the Hamada family) had been attempting to escape the fighting in Gaza City when their car came under attack.

The Voice Of Hind Rajab, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania,

fuses Hind’s actual voice with a dramatised performance to tell the story of her desperate cries for help.

Set inside the charity’s West Bank call centre,

The film reconstructs the resolute efforts of Red Crescent workers during a hopeless negotiation with the Israelis over a safe route for their rescue.

Over 90 minutes, an avoidable tragedy is played out from the perspective of the call handlers who listen.

The call handlers refuse to abandon hope and occasionally argue about the rules governing the dispatch of an ambulance on a dangerous mission.

The film invites an audience.

The film invites an audience that already knows how the story ends to feel the long and frustrating wait and to experience the complex Israeli protocols Palestinians have to live by.

What unfolds is an uncomfortable watch as day turns to evening and the child’s voice pleads, “Please don’t leave me; I’m afraid of the dark.”

‘The magical power of cinema’

Director Kaouther Ben Hania says the film was not about investigating the death. Speaking to Sky News,

She said she wanted to let audiences feel what life is like for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

“This story was investigated by The Washington Post and Sky News, so in terms of explaining what happened, this was done,” she said.

“I asked myself, what can cinema offer? Cinema has a magical power of empathy – you experience ‘otherness’, and you live the life of others.

And I thought, We are done explaining; now let’s feel.

“What does it mean to be Palestinian, working in the Red Crescent? Your mission is to save lives, and you have this system making your life impossible.”

Sky News investigates Hind Rajab’s death

PRCS staff kept Hind on the line for hours through multiple calls before an ambulance could finally be dispatched.

By 6pm, the ambulance crew were close to the family car, telling dispatchers they had their emergency lights on but no siren.

“Oh, there she is,” a paramedic said, just before communication ended abruptly with the sound of heavy gunfire. Both paramedics were killed, and all nine bodies were found 12 days later.

‘I felt my heart going to explode.’

Palestinian actor Motaz Malhees plays Omar, the first call handler to take Hind’s call.

He revealed to Sky News that the constant exposure to the child’s voice during the film’s production had a profound impact on both the cast and crew.

“I felt so powerless, thinking about it and hearing her voice begging for rescue,” he said. “There were some moments I felt I had panic attacks, and during one of the scenes I felt my heart was going to explode.”

Awards buzz and big-name backing

The film is a contender at this year’s Oscars and received a record 23-minute standing ovation at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize.

Hollywood elites Brad Pitt and Joaquin Phoenix signed on as executive producers, which Malhees said felt like “a great honour”.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it was not in the area on the day of Hind’s death, but it made its presence there public, perhaps mistakenly.

Twelve days after the attack, on the same day the car and ambulance were found,

The IDF published a press release about its activities in Gaza, saying “over the last two weeks” it had “conducted raids on terror targets” with forces operating in the Shati and Tel al Hawa neighbourhoods in Gaza.

Tel al Hawa is the same neighbourhood where Hind Rajab, the Hamada family, and the paramedics were killed.

The press release was later deleted from the IDF website and a Sky News investigation found several Israeli tanks were indeed present and likely to have fired at civilians.

The Voice Of Hind Rajab is set for UK and Irish theatrical release on 16 January.

NCM issues safety warning for low visibility early Sunday / Image: File

 

The National Center of Meteorology (NCM) has issued a weather advisory for dense fog and significantly reduced visibility over parts of Dubai and some interior and coastal areas of the UAE between midnight and 10 am on January 3, 2026

If youintend to get an early start this Saturday, January 3, 2026,

might want to double-check your Windows first. This atmospheric “whiteout” is not just a beautiful morning scene; this is a serious security concern.

The NCM warns that the combination of high humidity and specific pressure systems is creating the perfect recipe for dense haze

. Whether you’re in the heart of Dubai or travelling through the desert of Abu Dhabi, the message from authorities is clear:

Remain vigilant and expect the unexpected.

Today’s weather warning for the United Arab Emirates

The National Center of Meteorology (NCM) has issued a weather advisory for dense fog and significantly reduced visibility over parts of Dubai and some interior and coastal areas of the UAE between midnight and 10 am on January 3, 2026.

Drivers and residents should prepare for potentially near-zero visibility, especially during the morning commute.

Humidity levels are expected to increase at night, creating ideal conditions for fog and mist to form over many areas.

The NCM alert emphasises that these conditions can make driving difficult and dangerous, especially on highways and open roads.

According to the NCM forecast:

Looking ahead:

These conditions follow previous patterns where fog, haze and dust events have become frequently repeated in the UAE.

leading to both safety alerts and traffic adjustments.

impact on travel

Officials are advising motorists to use extreme caution:

Similar fog alerts in previous fog incidents have often produced red and yellow warnings.

with local police reminding drivers to obey posted speed limits and avoid distractions when driving on foggy roads.

Although the fog is expected to clear by Saturday morning, the weather “drama” is not over yet.

The NCM’s five-day bulletin indicates that the UAE is entering a transition period. As the fog clears,

Changes in air pressure will result in strong north-westerly winds, reaching speeds of up to 50 km/h by Sunday.

This means that the “white” fog is likely to be replaced by “yellow” dust clouds.

affecting visibility for the remainder of the weekend. Boaters and beachgoers should exercise extreme caution due to the predicted rough to very rough sea conditions in the Arabian Gulf.

A massive earthquake struck southern and central Mexico on Friday, resulting in the deaths of at least two people and injuring several others.

Officials said the earthquake caused no major damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.5.

Its epicentre was near the city of San Marcos in the southern state of Guerrero, near the Pacific coastal resort city of Acapulco.

It occurred 2.5 miles north-northwest of Rancho Viejo, Guerrero, at a depth of 21.7 miles. The earthquake was felt in Mexico City, more than 250 miles away.

Residents and tourists in Mexico City and Acapulco ran into the streets as soon as the tremors began.

Karen Gomez, a 47-year-old office worker who lives on the 13th floor of an apartment building in Mexico City, told Agence France-Presse that a siren woke her up.

“I woke up in panic. My cellphone alert said it was a powerful earthquake,” she said.

The Civil Protection Agency reported various landslides around Acapulco and on other highways in the state.

A 60-year-old man in Mexico City died from injuries he suffered after falling while emptying his second-floor apartment in the capital, local authorities said, AFP reports.

Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada confirmed the death in a statement on social media, and in a separate statement,

She said that at least 12 people were injured in the earthquake.

A second death was recorded nearby in Guerrero. Governor Evelyn Salgado told reporters that a 50-year-old woman died after her house collapsed.

President Claudia Sheinbaum, whose first press conference of the New Year was interrupted by the quake, said she spoke to Salgado, who initially told her no serious damage was reported.

José Raymundo Díaz Taboada, a doctor and human rights defender who lives on one of the peaks that surround Acapulco, said he heard a loud rumbling sound, and all the dogs in the neighbourhood started barking.

“At that very moment, a seismic alert went off on my cellphone,” he said, “and then the tremors started with a lot of noise.”

He said the tremors were mild compared to some previous earthquakes and he had prepared a bag of essentials so they would be ready to leave if the shaking continued.

He said he was unable to reach some friends living in Costa Chica, southeast of Acapulco, because communications were cut.

Mexico lies between five tectonic plates and is one of the most seismically active countries in the world.

In January 2025, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook an area in southwestern Mexico.

About five miles from Colcomán de Vazquez Pallares, a municipality of about 20,000 people, and about 372 miles west of Mexico City, the shock struck.

The earthquake occurred at a depth of 53 miles.

In 1985, an 8.1-magnitude earthquake on the Pacific coast devastated much of central and southern Mexico, killing thousands and causing severe damage to Mexico City.

On September 19, 2017, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake killed 369 people, most of them in the capital.

On the same date in 2022, just hours after millions of people participated in a mock earthquake safety drill, another earthquake struck central Mexico exactly five years later.

The 7.6 magnitude earthquake’s impact spread 1,500 miles north, causing four-foot-high waves to rise inside a Death Valley cave known as Devil’s Hole.

Technology billionaires were at the forefront of the advance, with sustained enthusiasm around artificial intelligence driving gains in US mega-cap shares. (AI image)

Did you know that the world’s wealthiest and richest 500 people added a whopping $2.2 trillion to their wealth in 2025?

The rise was a result of powerful rallies across global markets ranging from stocks and digital assets to precious metals, data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows.

As a result, the aggregate net worth expanded to $11.9 trillion in 2025. Technology billionaires were at the forefront of the advance, with sustained enthusiasm around artificial intelligence driving gains in US mega-cap shares.

Roughly 25% of the total increase tracked by Bloomberg’s index was generated by just eight people. Among them were Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Alphabet co-founder Larry Page, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Even so, their share of overall gains was smaller than a year earlier.

when the same group accounted for 43%. This surge got a booster shot after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election in late 2024.

while concerns over tariffs caused only a brief interruption. In April, a sharp market sell-off triggered the largest single-day erosion of billionaire wealth since the pandemic.

But the setback proved temporary. At the start of the year,

Musk stood clearly apart as the most influential person among the ultra-wealthy.

He stepped into the political arena in a significant way after contributing close to $300 million to Trump’s re-election bid and spent much of early 2025 in Washington.

DC, leading efforts aimed at reducing government spending. By year-end, however, it was Ellison who emerged as the standout.

A sharp rise in Oracle’s share price, driven by increased investment in artificial intelligence by the cloud computing firm,

briefly pushed him past Musk in September to become the world’s richest person.

Although Oracle stock later retreated by about 40% from its highs, Ellison remained in the spotlight due to his role in the Paramount Skydance Corp.

The offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. was led by his son, David Ellison.

The US was not the only place where wealth expanded.

While the S&P 500 Index gained 17% for the year through December 30, it lagged behind a 22% rise in Britain’s FTSE 100 and a 29% advance in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index.

Performance across other asset classes was even stronger.

Precious metals delivered one of their strongest showings in decades as investors sought safety, while copper and rare earths gained strategic importance amid geopolitical tensions.

This boosted the fortunes of major commodity holders such as Australian mining tycoon Gina Rinehart and Chile’s Luksic family by billions of dollars.

Cryptocurrencies also appeared set to outperform equities for much of the year.

Bitcoin jumped to record levels following Trump’s election victory and extended its rally after the administration rolled out policies considered supportive of the sector.

That momentum reversed sharply in October.

when a steep selloff erased all earlier gains and more, sharply cutting the wealth of crypto-focused billionaires, including the Winklevoss twins, Changpeng Zhao and Michael Saylor.

Here is a list of 2025’s biggest winners and losers, as prepared by Bloomberg: Larry Ellison – Winner

At 81, the Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has stepped more deeply into the company’s daily operations.

steering its aggressive and highly leveraged expansion into artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Ellison’s personal wealth jumped sharply on September 10, rising by $89 billion in a single day after Oracle posted blockbuster quarterly results linked to its AI strategy.

This marked the largest one-day increase in net worth recorded by Bloomberg’s wealth index at the time.

Beyond technology, Ellison has been channelling capital into the media space, including personally backing the equity component of his son David’s $108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros.

Oracle’s ambition to play a central role in the proposed $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure initiative,

along with plans to take an ownership stake in TikTok’s US business, could further influence Ellison’s fortune well into 2026 and beyond. Elon Musk – Winner

Elon Musk emerged as the largest political contributor during the 2024 election cycle and spent much of the spring in Washington.

where his Department of Government Efficiency drove deep budget cuts and large-scale workforce reductions across federal agencies.

That period weighed on his personal wealth, as Tesla shares came under pressure.

partly reflecting consumer backlash against his political involvement.

His fortunes improved after he exited the White House following a very public rift with Donald Trump.

A recent insider transaction at SpaceX lifted the company’s valuation to the highest level ever for a private firm, pushing Musk’s net worth past the $600 billion mark for the first time.

Separately, Tesla investors approved a revised pay package that positions him to potentially become the world’s first trillionaire.

The electric vehicle maker achieves an ambitious set of performance milestones in the years ahead. Gina Rinehart – Winner

Australia’s wealthiest individual emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global push to secure access to strategically critical rare-earth minerals.

Through her privately owned firm Hancock Prospecting, Rinehart has built the largest rare-earth holdings outside China.

placing her at the centre of an intensifying geopolitical contest over materials that underpin industries such as semiconductors and electric vehicles.

Her influence has extended beyond mining.

Rinehart has appeared at events hosted at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and holds an investment in Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.,

the listed company that operates the social media platform Truth Social.

In the three months through June 30, she expanded that stake by roughly two-thirds. Donald Trump and family – Winner

Since launching his campaign for a second term,

Donald Trump and his family have pursued a wide range of commercial ventures that have significantly boosted their collective wealth, reaching levels rarely seen in modern US political history.

Despite a recent pullback, the family’s fortune has risen by around 70% over the past 15 months. In the period leading up to Trump’s second inauguration,

He and First Lady Melania Trump promoted two memecoins branded with their names.

While those tokens initially surged before retreating, the Trump-branded coin alone has contributed more than $200 million to the family’s net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Weeks before the 2024 election, Trump also helped launch the crypto platform World Liberty Financial alongside his sons.

Since then, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump have expanded into digital asset ventures, including cryptocurrency mining company American Bitcoin Corp.

A major holding for the family, their stake in Trump Media, jumped in value in December following the announcement of a merger with nuclear fusion firm TAE Technologies.

though the shares remain more than 70% below their January peak.

Trump also notched a legal win in August when an appeals court overturned a $464 million civil fraud penalty.

even as it upheld findings that he had violated the law by overstating the value of assets such as the Mar-a-Lago resort. Manuel Villar – Loser

Manuel Villar, who previously held the title of the Philippines’ richest individual, suffered a dramatic erosion of wealth after shares of his real estate firm, Golden MV Holdings Inc.,

collapsed shortly after trading resumed in November.

The stock fell by more than 80% within days of the end of a six-month suspension, wiping out over $18 billion from Villar’s fortune.

The trading halt had been imposed when Golden MV failed to submit financial statements following disclosures that the company had purchased a parcel of land from Villar for $93 million.

Golden MV later marked its value at over $23 billion.

Adding to the pressure, Villar earlier this month exited his entire holding in water utility PrimeWater, selling the stake to retail magnate Lucio Co.

PrimeWater had come under government scrutiny in July over alleged “irregularities”. Bob Pender and Mike Sabel – Loser

The long-anticipated revival in US initial public offerings suffered a setback with the underwhelming market debut of liquefied natural gas exporter Venture Global Inc.

After several slow years for new listings, the company’s January IPO was widely considered a potential catalyst for a stronger issuance pipeline, supported by a pro-business administration and a sizable backlog of deals.

Ahead of the flotation, co-founders Bob Pender and Mike Sabel were expected to each hold equity stakes valued at close to $30 billion.

Venture Global positioned itself to deliver the largest energy IPO in over a decade.

That optimism quickly faded.

Weak investor appetite forced the company to scale back the offering, and the share price has since plunged more than 70%, weighed down by underwhelming quarterly results and the loss of a major arbitration case against BP Plc.

one of its largest customers. Michael Saylor – Loser

For much of the first half of the year,

Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy Inc. stood out as a major beneficiary of the cryptocurrency boom.

Digital assets surged to record levels following Donald Trump’s election victory in November 2024 and extended those gains as the new administration implemented a series of policies supportive of the sector.

Strategy was at the forefront of the so-called crypto treasury approach, accumulating large quantities of Bitcoin on its balance sheet while repeatedly issuing equity to fund further purchases.

That strategy delivered outsized gains through early October, when Bitcoin reached new peaks. Momentum then reversed.

A sharp pullback in the cryptocurrency triggered a steep sell-off in Strategy’s shares, which fell by more than 50%, erasing nearly $6 billion from Saylor’s wealth compared with its earlier high. Wang Xing – Loser

Wang Xing, co-founder and chairman of Meituan, experienced a significant drop in personal wealth during 2025 as pressures mounted on China’s leading food delivery company.

His net worth slid close to 31% after Meituan reported its first quarterly loss in nearly three years in November.

The setback came despite a strong year for Chinese equities, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising 18%.

Meituan has been weighed down by softer domestic consumer spending and intensifying competition from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc.

To counter slowing growth at home, the company has accelerated its push into international markets, recently expanding operations in Brazil and the Middle East.

An exclusive photo obtained by the Mirror shows Lisa Stocker, 40, and her partner, John Collier, 39, at the Priority counter in Bali – just four months after they were jailed for a £300,000 cocaine plot.

Jonathan Collier and Lisa Stocker, both British nationals, were imprisoned on drug trafficking charges, but they were spared the firing squad (Image: AFP via Getty Images).

After escaping a firing squad in Bali, drug mule Brit Lisa Stocker and her partner check in for their flight home at the business class desk.

Our exclusive picture shows mom-of-three Stoker, 40, and her partner, John Collier, 39, at the Priority counter – just four months after being jailed for a £300,000 cocaine plot.

Along with partner Phineas Flot, 31, they feared they could be hanged under Indonesia’s tough drug laws before being sentenced in August.

Instead, laws that allow cuts over the Christmas and Independence Day holidays significantly reduced their sentences to just one year.

The move left them free to board flight QR963 from Bali to Doha at 6.50pm on Tuesday and then allowed them to connect for a flight to the UK.

On December 30, Stocker and Collier checked in at Denpasar International Airport before boarding an 8,000-mile flight to the UK.

 

If they were travelling on business, each seat would have cost at least £2,000. A source said, “It is surprising that they have been allowed to leave already given Bali’s stance on drug crime. But it is surprising to see them checking in at the premium counter.

Whatever cabin they ended up in, they must have considered it an incredible Christmas present to be released so early. They were almost certainly at home to celebrate New Year’s Eve.”

They were caught trying to bring 992 grams of cocaine hidden in 17 packets of Angel Delight to Paradise Island. But a judge at the Denpasar Central Court decided not to impose the death penalty after he admitted trafficking charges.

The court heard that Float had agreed to take part in the conspiracy for a “reward” of 500,000 Indonesian rupiah – the equivalent of just £22.50.

Prosecutor Med Umbara had urged Judge Herianti not to impose the death penalty, despite Indonesia’s famously strict laws.

Indonesian authorities viewed this as a dramatic display of tolerance. On February 1, a routine X-ray of their luggage revealed suspicious packages, leading to the arrest of Stocker and Collier at Bali’s international airport.

He had travelled from the UK to Bali via Qatar.

The couple told police they did not know the packages contained drugs and believed they were giving the British delicacies to a friend.

After their arrest, Stocker and Collier became informants for the Indonesian police and agreed to lure their partner into the ambush.

Stoker and Collier were jailed along with Phineas Floate, who the Mirror understands was deported back to Britain in early December. (Image: AFP via Getty Images) )

 

Floate was arrested on February 3 when he arrived at the Grand Mass Airport Hotel car park to collect his luggage.

The Mirror understands that Floate was released from prison on December 5 and held at a detention facility until he was deported on December 10.

An FCDO spokesperson said, “Three British nationals detained in Indonesia have now returned to the UK.”

His release and deportation come just weeks after British drug lord Lindsay Sandiford, 69, was freed after 13 years on death row.

The legal secretary spent more than a decade in Bali’s notorious Kerobokan prison after being caught with £1.6 million worth of cocaine in 2012.

But Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper struck a bilateral deal with Indonesian authorities to secure their release in October.

Lindsay Sandiford was released last year after spending more than 13 years on death row in Bali’s notorious Kerobokan prison. (Image: Coordinating Minister of Indonesia)

 

Sandiford was repatriated along with fellow British citizen Shahab Shahabadi, 35.

Shahab Shahabadi has been serving a life sentence since 2014 after his arrest during an investigation into an international drug trafficking network.

Officials say both Britons have suffered serious health difficulties.

The Foreign Office has refused to say whether Sandiford will be detained or immediately released because he is at home. But Indonesian authorities claimed he would be sent to jail after being sent back to Britain.

As part of the deal, an official stated that Sandiford’s “custody will be transferred to the United Kingdom,” indicating that he would still spend some time behind bars.

The Foreign Office was contacted for comment regarding the withdrawal of Stoker and Collier.

BBC

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‘People are suffering… It’s a moral failing.’

Compass Pathways

New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has vowed to run the city “broadly and boldly” after his historic inauguration.

The democratic socialist became the Big Apple’s first Muslim mayor after being sworn in at midnight at the Old City Hall subway stop, which is accessible via guided tours only a few times a year.

He is also the first person of South Asian descent born in Uganda and the first person of African descent to become mayor of the city.

Later at a grand opening ceremony at City Hall, he declared, “From today on, we will govern expansively and boldly. We may sometimes fail, but we will always try courageously.

He pointed to an era of “big government” for the city, saying that his administration “will not hesitate to use its power to improve the lives of New Yorkers”.

He said, “I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist.”

At the second event he was sworn in by Senator Bernie Sanders – Mr Mamdani’s hero who has become the Democrats’ nominee for president.

Mamdani sworn in as NYC mayor by Bernie Sanders

Mr Mamdani, a 34-year-old former state Assembly member,

came to office late last year largely on a platform of capping fares and making buses free to tackle the rising cost of living.

He inspired a record-breaking turnout of more than two million voters, taking 50% of the vote, nearly 10 points ahead of former Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was running as an independent.

As America’s most populous city, New York has approximately eight million residents.

Thousands of people braved the cold to watch the inauguration ceremony at City Hall.

Mr Mamdani immediately took steps to rescind several executive orders issued by the previous administration.

He cancelled all those issued after September 26, 2024 – the date federal officials announced that then-Mayor Eric Adams was being charged with corruption, which were later dismissed after Donald Trump intervened.

Read more:
Mamdani met Trump in the Oval Office
From Rapper to Mayor: Who is Zohran Mamdani?

Mamdani asked if he thinks Trump is a fascist

Mr Mamdani will move from his one-bedroom Astoria to Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York City mayors, on the Upper East Side.

He is not the city’s first mayor to be associated with democratic socialism, although David Dinkins did not have much involvement with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) during his 1990–1993 tenure.