Palestinians sit inside a tent as they try to cook in the rain at a camp for displaced people in Rafah. AFP
Palestinians sit inside a tent as they try to cook in the rain at a camp for displaced people in Rafah. AFP


Is there no accountability for Gaza?



January 12, 2024

With reference to Adla Massoud's report Israel ridiculing and ignoring US over Gaza, Palestinian ambassador tells UN (January 9): This just continues to be tragic. The killing of over 23,000 Palestinians, with around 70 per cent being children and women, demands immediate action. Such inhumane acts defy justification. Israel must be held accountable and face legal proceedings in the International Court of Justice.

Sharaf Bash, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The worrisome state of Boeing

With reference to Sarmad Khan's article Boeing CEO admits mistake after 737 Max 9 mid-air panel blowout (January 10): Pleased to hear Dave Calhoun made these comments but I also blame the airline maintenance facilities because when an aircraft is in use it's not Boeing that is involved, it's the actual airline service engineers.

Terrance De Brystow, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK

Bravo to the blind women in India helping detect cancer

With regard to Taniya Dutta's article Blind women in India help doctors detect early stage breast cancer (December 25): This was a fascinating report. I hadn't heard of the concept of medical tactile examiners. It's laudable how Noorunnissa and her colleagues help women diagnose cancer early and at a treatable stage. We clearly need more of these examiners. There were 178,361 cases and 90,408 deaths from breast cancer in India in 2020.

Despite their vision loss, that people can go on to embark on noble careers is amazing. Noorunnissa is one of 18 certified medical tactile examiners. More power to them and the state should support them in all the ways they need and develop this programme to reach hospitals across the country. Awareness of their existence and expertise should be spread around the world.

K Ragavan, Bengaluru, India

Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

RESULT

Australia 3 (0) Honduras 1 (0)
Australia: Jedinak (53', 72' pen, 85' pen)
Honduras: Elis (90 4)

Updated: January 12, 2024, 3:00 AM