UAE boat mishap: 7-year-old NRI boy dies in hospital amid treatment

Dubai-based billionaire businessman Micky Jagtiani, who founded retail giant Landmark Group, has passed away. The chairman and owner of the group was 70 years old.

With a net worth of $5.2 billion, he was ranked 511 on the Forbes' 37th annual world billionaires list earlier this year. 

Jagtiani was originally from India and started the business in 1973 with one store in Bahrain. He then expanded the business across the west Asia, Africa and India. According to Forbes, Jagtiani drove a taxi in London before moving to Bahrain and starting a baby products shop.

Currently, his wife Renuka runs the Landmark Group as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO).

His three children are directors in the group, overseeing different aspects of the business.

The Landmark Group also entered India in 1999 and has a range of retail brands like Lifestyle and Max for clothes and Home Center for furniture and home furnishings.

The Dubai-headquartered group also operates brands Babyshop, Centrepoint, Home Centre, Lifestyle, Splash, Shoemart and Emax.

"Today Dubai lost a man who was a key player in the retail and real estate industry. Micky Jagtiani the founder of land mark group has passed away," tweeted Emirati businessman Majid Saif Al Ghurair.

Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip have held a demonstration against the so-called "flag march," which they view as a highly provocative act.

Reports said on Thursday that Israeli forces have attacked the Palestinian protesters near the eastern borders of Gaza City and injured several of them.

Israeli forces used live fire and tear gas against the protesters, injuring several of them, as far-right Israelis held the "flag march" in occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds’s Old City.

The protest in Gaza was called for by Palestinian factions in response to the Israeli provocation.  

The demonstrators condemned the "flag march" in East Jerusalem al-Quds, and called for an end to Israeli attacks in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Similar protests were also held in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus in support of al-Quds.

The annual flag march marks Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and al-Quds in 1967. It is organized by far-right Israeli settlers at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied al-Quds.

The march is also an attempt by extremist Israeli settlers to slam what they call the Tel Aviv regime’s failure to deal with the Palestinians and affirm their presence in the occupied Palestinian city and its holy sites.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) earlier warned that holding the demonstration would fuel tensions in the occupied territories and Israel will be fully responsible for any possible escalation.  

A spokesman for the Islamic Jihad movement also said the Israeli regime cannot defeat Palestinians through these measures.

He said the Palestinians’ fight against the regime won’t stop unless Israel is wiped off the map.

 Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Hamas resistance movement, commented on the issue as well.

He said the regime’s massive deployment of security forces to al-Quds shows it is fearful of acts of resistance by Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Israeli legislators are pushing a new bill that would see the display of the Palestinian flag punishable by up to one year in prison in the latest crackdown by the far-right Israeli administration.

The Israeli Knesset (parliament) has already voted on preliminary approval of the bill, and it will need three additional votes to pass.

Ever since taking office earlier this year as the most right-wing administration in the Israeli regime’s history, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet has introduced a raft of legislation aimed at appeasing the far-right society in the occupied territories.

The Islamic resistance movement Hamas censured the Israeli parliament’s plan to ban Palestinian flags from public places.

Hamas in a statement said the bill shows the insistence of the regime on its fascist agenda and is a declaration of war against Palestinians.

It added, the bill will not scare Palestinians, but will rather encourage them to carry and raise their national flag which represents their identity everywhere.

Hamas also called on the international community and the UN to condemn Israeli atrocities against Palestinian people.

Riyadh, May 23: Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni have arrived at the International Space Station, Al Ekhbariya reported on Monday.

Barnawi, a scientist who became the first Saudi woman to go into space, and Al-Qarni, a trained fighter pilot, traveled on the SpaceX Dragon capsule with astronaut Peggy Whitson and business pioneer and pilot John Shoffner.

They were welcomed by the seven astronauts already on board (three Russians, three Americans, and an Emirati).

“We are now living a dream that we did not expect to become a reality. This trip represents Saudis and the entire Arab world. It is also an opportunity to discover space,” Barnawi said on arrival at the station.

Al-Qarni, meanwhile, said the pair will carry out “scientific experiments that will benefit humanity” during their stay in space.

They aim to conduct 20 research projects. Among them are 14 projects developed by Saudi scientists, covering various areas such as human physiology, cell biology, and technology development.

“It was a lovely ride,” said mission commander Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who has made the voyage three times in the past, adding: “It was the softest docking I've ever felt.”

The Dragon spacecraft launched atop a SpaceX rocket on Sunday, kicking off the private Ax-2 mission.

The mission is the second fully private mission to visit the ISS following a first in April 2022.