Image caption,A Palestinian woman carries her baby as smoke rises over the Gaza Strip on Monday
US President Joe Biden has said he hopes to have a ceasefire “by next Monday” in the Israel-Gaza war.
His comments come amid reports of some progress reached in ongoing negotiations involving Israel and Hamas representatives in Qatar.
“My national security advisor tells me that we’re close,” Mr Biden said.
Israel launched a large-scale air and ground campaign in Gaza after Hamas gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October.
The attackers also took 253 people hostage, a number of whom have since been released.
The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip says at least 29,782 people have been killed in the territory since then, including 90 on Sunday alone.
President Biden, whose country is Israel’s main ally, was speaking to reporters in New York City about the possible ceasefire.
“We’re close,” he said. “We’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.”
A spokesman for the US State Department had said earlier on Monday that “progress” has been made in negotiations to release the Israeli hostages in the last several days, but that it remains unclear whether Hamas will accept the latest proposed deal.
“We’ve had progress with the conversations we’ve had between Egypt, Israel, the United States and Qatar,” said spokesman Matthew Miller.
On Sunday, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had presented the cabinet with “the upcoming operation plan”- referring to Rafah.
Israel has been under mounting international pressure not to launch such an offensive in the city, home to many Palestinian refugees who have fled from other parts of Gaza.
In certain places at certain times, just staying alive is something for a boy to be proud of – let alone going out every day to find the food that keeps your family from starving.
Every morning, Mohammed Zo’rab, 11, goes out into the southern Gaza city of Rafah on a mission.
He takes a big plastic bowl and heads to schools that have become refugee centres, and to makeshift camps on the roadside where people suffer like his own family but might still find something to feed the child of strangers.
Mohammed also goes to hospitals where the wounded arrive at all hours, and anywhere else where there might be a pot boiling over an open fire.
“When I go back to my family with this food, they get happy and we all eat together,” he says.
“Sometimes I go empty handed and I feel sad.”
Mohammed is the eldest of four children and lives with his mother, father and his siblings in a flimsy shelter made of plastic and tarpaulin.
His father, Khaled, roams around Rafah looking for odd jobs to raise five shekels (about $1.38; £1.08) to buy diapers for their two-month-old daughter, Howaida.
Image caption,Mohammed’s mother Samar is gaunt and reveals she has “cancer in my bones”
Mohammed is one of thousands of children who have become primary food gatherers for their families.
“When the line is crowded and there are almost 100 people in front of me, I sneak between people,” he says, proud of his skill at navigating large crowds without getting into fights.
Back at home, he hands the bowl of baked beans to his mother, Samar, who distributes the food to the other children. She is gaunt and barely eats herself.
“I have cancer in my bones,” she reveals. “I am 31-years-old but when you see me you think I’m 60. I can’t walk.
“If I walk, I get very tired. All my body hurts and I need treatment and nutrition.”
Like so many others, Samar and her family came to Rafah from their home further north in Khan Younis because the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told them it would be safe. That was three months ago.
Since then, the war has come steadily closer to Rafah. More than 70 people were killed less than a fortnight ago when Israeli launched a raid to rescue two hostages being held by Hamas.
The Zo’rab family’s shelter leaks and the floor fills with rain. Sometimes, baby Howaida has no fresh diapers.
Each day offers relentless indignities in a place where 1.5 million people – five times the normal population – are crammed next to the Egyptian border.
With 85% of Gaza’s population now displaced, the amount of aid getting into the enclave is nowhere near what is needed.
According to the United Nations (UN), five hundred trucks of aid per day are required. The daily average has been ninety.
The situation in northern Gaza is particularly acute.
Israel says the UN is failing to distribute aid in the north and that aid supplies are backed up – waiting to be collected on the Gaza side of the border.
The organisation has suspended movement of food aid in northern Gaza because it says there is no protection for truck drivers, who have faced attack by criminal gangs and looting by desperate people.
One truck was hit by shellfire, which the UN says came from an Israeli naval craft.
In addition, the Hamas-run police force in Gaza is no longer willing to escort food trucks because they fear being shot by the IDF.
‘Give us back our people’
Image caption,Zvika Mor’s eldest son Eitan is a hostage in Gaza
In Israel, the military conduct of the war is still supported by a large majority.
There is no discernible body of opinion that supports stepping up the aid effort for civilians in Gaza. In one recent poll, 68% of Jewish respondents said they opposed the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza while Hamas still held Israeli hostages.
By contrast Arab Israelis polled were 85% in favour of aid.
Zvika Mor, whose eldest son, Eitan, is a hostage in Gaza, speaks of a boy who was the “first person to call me Daddy” and of how much he, his wife and their other seven children miss the young man kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October.
Eitan was acting as an unarmed security guard at the Nova music festival, where Hamas killed an estimated 360 people in and around the area.
Mr Mor heads a small group of hostage families that want their loved ones returned before any negotiations with Hamas. They are opposed to the government doing a deal that would make this conditional on a ceasefire, increase in humanitarian aid in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
“Israel makes [a] humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Because our purpose is to release our people,” Mr Mor says.
“We want our people, okay? And first of all, before all the negotiations and other things, give us our people.”
Asked if this was not harsh, given that it was the lives of Gaza civilians that were at stake, Mr Mor replies: “Yes, but we have babies and women and, and the elders, okay?
“It’s very, very simple. Give us our people and we will give you food and medicines. So simple.”
In Gaza, charities are using what is left of their food resources to provide some assistance.
Mahmoud Al-Quishawi of the US-based charity Pious Projects of America was standing close to the boiling pots of beans where Mohammed received food for his family.
“We are trying tirelessly every day to extend a helping hand to these people… to tell them ‘we are with you, we won’t let you stand alone’,” says Mr Al-Quishawi.
The charity has run out of bottled gas to heat the food, so volunteers gather wood and keep fires burning.
“The atmosphere is gloomy,” he says. “The situation is catastrophic.”
In northern Gaza, there have been reports of children dying from malnutrition. The British charity Action Aid cited a doctor in northern Gaza as saying that a significant number of children had died.
In a video recording, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya – the head of paediatrics at the Kamal Adwan Hospital – said malnutrition was widespread, as well as infections of the digestive system.
According to Action Aid, one in six children under the age of two “who were screened at IDP [internally displaced persons] shelters and health centres in January were found to be acutely malnourished”.
That, says the charity, represents a “decline in a population’s nutritional status that is unprecedented globally in three months.”
Another medic at Al-Shifa Medical Complex, also in northern Gaza, said he had treated a two-month-old boy named Mahmoud Fatouh, who died soon after arriving at the hospital.
“This child could not be provided with milk. His mum was not provided with food to be able to breastfeed him,” says Dr Amjad Aliwa.
“He had symptoms of severe dehydration, and https://belakangan.com/ he was taking his last breaths [when he came]”.
Williams, 59, said their response had been “overwhelming” and she had “immense gratitude for the love and kind words” received.
In a statement released to the Associated Press, the star said the messages had reminded her of “the power of unity and the need for compassion”.
She hosted the nationally syndicated Wendy Williams Show for over a decade.
It ended in 2022 amid the health struggles she has been facing.
Her care team announced her diagnosis on Thursday “to correct inaccurate and hurtful rumours about her health”.
A statement said: “As Wendy’s fans are aware, in the past she has been open with the public about her medical struggles with Graves’ Disease and Lymphedema as well as other significant challenges related to her health.
“Over the past few years, questions have been raised at times about Wendy’s ability to process information and many have speculated about Wendy’s condition, particularly when she began to lose words, act erratically at times, and have difficulty understanding financial transactions.”
The care team added the diagnosis was confirmed by “a battery of medical tests” last year.
Image caption,The Wendy Williams show was hugely popular in the US
Aphasia is a nervous system syndrome that affects the ability to communicate, with patients often struggling to express thoughts and even losing their ability to speak or write.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is an incurable brain disorder caused by damage to the left side of the brain that affects language and communication abilities. Its symptoms, which get worse over time, can be managed but there is no treatment that can slow or prevent their progression, the National Institutes of Health say.
The rare disease tends to strike people at a younger age than other forms of dementia, with most diagnosed between the ages of 45 and 64 years old.
The game is a rematch of both the Carabao and FA Cup finals of 2022, with Liverpool winning both on penalties.
The Reds lead the Premier League by four points and are into the Europa League last 16 and FA Cup fifth round.
“We’ll go for it,” said Liverpool’s assistant manager Pep Lijnders.
“It’s a special game. Special games need special performances so we have to focus on the performance.”
With Lijnders and manager Jurgen Klopp set to leave Anfield this summer, Liverpool fans are eager for them to enjoy a triumphant send-off having already won six major honours since Klopp took charge in 2015.
“Our philosophy is to give joy and emotions to the fans,” added Lijnders. “I’m really happy that we can give at least a final to start with.”
Defender Virgil van Dijk, who will captain the Reds in a Wembley final for the first time on Sunday, said: “We want to make it a special day and get our first trophy of the season.
“The end of the season will probably be very emotional for a lot of people, including the manager, but we are not there yet. We shouldn’t look too far ahead, we should look at what is in front of us.”
https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.51.0/iframe.htmlPlanet Premier League: Liverpool v Chelsea – who has the best plan for EFL Cup final?
Chelsea’s last domestic trophy was the 2018 FA Cup, although they won four international honours after that, the most recent being the Club World Cup in February 2022 – two weeks before they lost to Liverpool in the 2022 Carabao Cup final.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino, who took charge at Stamford Bridge last summer, can win his first prize in England after previous spells in charge of Southampton and Tottenham.
“It means a lot for us, the coaching staff, to get to the final and challenge a team like Liverpool,” said the Argentine.
“It’s a dream for us, we have the opportunity and we are going to fight. I think the team is ready and we’re going to be very competitive.”
https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.51.0/iframe.htmlThe Football News Show: Would EFL Cup win change anything for Chelsea boss Pochettino?
Reds trio face late fitness tests
Lijnders confirmed injury-hit Liverpool will give Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai as long as possible to recover in time for Sunday’s game after fitness concerns.
But Curtis Jones has joined Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota on the sidelines, so several youngsters and fringe players will feature in the Wembley showpiece.
“It’s always good in life to accept what you have and don’t look at what you don’t have,” said Dutch coach Lijnders. “That’s brought us success in the past.
“Johan Cruyff said that ‘every disadvantage has its advantage’, and we get young players playing who haven’t been playing [regularly] – it’s a compliment to our squad and our academy.
“For me, success is growing. We focus on developing this team, on bringing young players and making them better – and the older ones. Success is a logical result of that.
“Liverpool is a club made for major trophies. Each year we https://belakangan.com/ should fight for them and that’s what we’ll try to do.”
Image caption,Denton Loudermill had nothing to do with the shooting – but he received death threats when he was briefly detained and falsely identified online as ‘Sahil Omar’
By Mike Wendling
BBC News
In the hours after the Kansas City Super Bowl parade shooting, highly influential right-wing accounts and Republican lawmakers falsely identified one of the shooters as “Sahil Omar”.
The attacker was reported to be an illegal immigrant in his 40s.
It was the latest fake rumour mentioning the “Sahil Omar” name, which has been linked to a number of other recent events: an explosion at a border crossing in Niagara Falls, shootings in Las Vegas and Prague, a sexual assault on the London Underground, a gas explosion in Texas and others.
But not only was nobody named “Sahil Omar” involved in any of these incidents – there’s no evidence he exists at all.
Although the motive of the person who started the rumours is unclear, online discussions have been fuelled by activists and politicians who take a hard line against immigration.
And the origin of the fake has become apparent in the week since the shooting in Kansas City killed one and injured more than 20 others.
How it started
The “Sahil Omar” rumour was started by an account on X which was set up in 2022, using a photo of LeBron James as its profile picture. It currently has fewer than 1,000 followers.
For a while, the person behind the account mostly tweeted about basketball – particularly the Los Angeles Lakers – and fast food.
But in October 2023 – soon after the Lewistown, Maine, mass shooting that killed 18 people – this account was the first to mention that a migrant named “Sahil Omar” was behind the attack.
The account’s allegation was complete fiction. Law enforcement later identified the attacker as local resident Robert Card, who was found dead.
But that did not dissuade the person behind the account from attempting to connect “Sahil Omar” and his made-up biographical details with several other news events over the coming months.
Few of those efforts got much traction. But then came the Kansas City parade – and suddenly “Sahil Omar” went viral.
As details were slow to come out in the chaos following the shooting, the claims that an illegal immigrant was behind the violence took off. Buoyed by right-wing accounts with large followings, X’s metrics show that millions saw the “Sahil Omar” allegation.
Some of the posts included a photo of a man wearing a red hoodie being led away by police. But those posts were misleading as well.
While the man was the subject of intense speculation in the days after the shooting, he was later identified as Denton Loudermill from the nearby town of Olathe, Kansas.
Mr Loudermill was intoxicated at the parade and briefly detained but released without being charged. He had nothing to do with the shooting, and yet has faced death threats since his picture circulated widely.
LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, Mr Loudermill’s attorney, said he was “exploring his legal options” and considering action against those who spread the false rumours.
Immigration debate
Many of the viral posts about “Sahil Omar” took on a political nature – calling for tougher action at the US southern border and deportation of immigrants.
Those included posts by two Missouri state senators, Denny Hoskins and Rick Brattin, and a US congressman from Tennessee, Tim Burchett.
Mr Burchett later deleted his tweet and said it was “based on multiple, incorrect news reports” – a message that Mr Hoskins retweeted. Mr Brattin’s tweet, which repeated the rumour and called on President Biden to “CLOSE THE BORDER”, was still live as of Wednesday.
The BBC contacted the lawmakers for comment.
Image caption,Tim Burchett later deleted his post repeating the false claim
Who’s behind it all?
The person behind the account which began the “Sahil Omar” rumours said they live in Southern California.
But in a series of direct messages on X between the account holder and BBC, they refused to share any information about the ruse or why they frequently made the false claim. Instead, the individual continued to insist that “Sahil Omar” was involved in all sorts of crimes.
The prank is similar to an internet “joke” that routinely went viral following mass shootings and terrorist attacks – blaming killings on a fringe comedian named Sam Hyde.
But whereas Mr Hyde is an actual person – one who is at least aware of the joke, if not in on it himself – there’s no evidence that “Sahil Omar” is real.
Instead, it is a false claim made by an anonymous person that has misled the American public and chummed the waters in the fractious https://belakangan.com/ US immigration debate.
He was meeting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said: “Wonderful to see you looking so well.”
“It’s all done by mirrors,” the King joked, lightening the mood.
The King told Mr Sunak that he had been very moved by all the cards and good wishes that had been sent to him.
The monarch shook hands with Mr Sunak as he arrived for the Buckingham Palace audience on Wednesday afternoon, with both doubtlessly aware of the public scrutiny of the King’s health.
Looking relaxed and wearing a blue pinstriped suit, the King sat down with the prime minister in the ornately decorated Audience Room, surrounded by photos of his royal relations and a painting by Canaletto of the Thames.
While he receives treatment the King has stopped carrying out public visits, but he is continuing with his duties as head of state, such as this regular meeting with the prime minister.
Image caption,The King joked looking well was “all done by mirrors”
Mr Sunak was filmed arriving and the King told him how much he had appreciated all the messages he had received and his admiration for cancer charities.
“I’ve had so many wonderful messages and cards, it’s reduced me to tears most of the time,” said the King.
But the rest of the meeting with the prime minister, which lasted about 45 minutes, was held in private as usual.
The King has previously been seen heading to church in Sandringham and being driven to and from Clarence House in London, but this was the first sight of him in such a formal setting since his cancer diagnosis was announced more than two weeks ago.
Earlier this afternoon, the King attended the monthly meeting of the Privy Council, a body of advisers to the monarch, mostly made up of senior politicians from the House of Commons and House of Lords.
Since his diagnosis with an unspecified type of cancer, the King has been receiving treatment as an outpatient.
He has continued with the administrative side of his role, such as dealing with government papers in their red boxes and signing documents.
Image caption,The King and Queen were seen attending church in Sandringham on Sunday
Wednesday’s meeting with Mr Sunak was the confidential audience between the King and prime minister, usually held each week.
The meeting is a traditional opportunity for the politically-neutral monarch to talk about current affairs of state with the prime minister of the day.
Previous prime ministers have spoken of these meetings as a chance to talk about ideas outside the usual party political pressures.
Edward Heath, Conservative prime minister in the 1970s, said of his meetings with Queen Elizabeth II: “It was always a relief to be able to discuss everything with someone, knowing full well that there was not the slightest danger of any information leaking.”
Labour’s Harold Wilson, who was said to have got on well with the late Queen, had meetings that grew longer, stretching on https://belakangan.com/ occasion to two hours.
Image caption,Rafah is sheltering more than a million people who have been forced to flee other parts of the Gaza Strip
By Nada Tawfik and James FitzGerald
BBC News, New York and London
The US has vetoed a resolution at the UN demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after proposing its own draft urging a temporary ceasefire.
Washington said the Algerian-proposed resolution would “jeopardise” talks to end the war.
But the move has been condemned, with US allies expressing regret the original ceasefire motion was blocked by the White House.
In its own resolution the US warned Israel not to invade the city of Rafah.
The US has previously avoided the word “ceasefire” during UN votes on the war, but President Joe Biden has recently made similar comments.
Thirteen countries on the 15-member body backed Algeria’s resolution, while the UK abstained.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Washington’s ambassador to the UN, said it was not the right time to call for an immediate ceasefire while negotiations between Hamas and Israel were continuing.
The draft resolution proposed by the US calls for a temporary ceasefire “as soon as practicable” and on the condition that all hostages are released, as well as urging barriers on aid reaching Gaza to be lifted.
However, it is unclear if or when the Security Council will vote on the form of words proposed by Washington.
After the US vetoed Algeria’s ceasefire resolution, the north African nation’s envoy to the UN said it “would have sent a strong message to Palestinians” and declared that “unfortunately the Security Council failed once again.”
“Examine your conscience, how will history judge you,” Amar Bendjama said.
Palestinian representative to the UN Riyad Mansour said the US veto was “absolutely reckless and dangerous”.
Heavy criticism also came from a series of Israeli and US allies. France’s representative, Nicolas de Rivière, expressed regret that the resolution was “not adopted given the disastrous situation on the ground”.
But Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “committed to continuing the war until we achieve all of its goals”. “There is no pressure, none, that can change this,” he added.
Image caption,Linda Thomas-Greenfield said it was not the right time to call for an immediate ceasefire
Washington has come under immense international pressure to use its leverage to rein in Israel’s devastating operations, having spent much of the war emphasising its ally’s right to self-defence.
Israel would be bound to follow any Security Council resolution, as these are legally binding. This issue distinguishes the Security Council from the General Assembly.
It is the first time the US has called for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza at the UN, having vetoed previous resolutions using the word.
Frank Lowenstein, who served as US special envoy for Middle East peace under President Obama, called the move “a pretty significant shift” in American policy.
“What I think is most significant is what this says about the frustration level the Biden administration has with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government,” he told the BBC World Service. “They’ve just consistently ignored us when it comes to humanitarian assistance, reducing civilian casualties and now they are dug in on this Rafah invasion that we are strongly counselling against.”
Mr Lowenstein also noted that President Biden is under pressure from Arab-Americans to do more to halt the killings of Palestinians.
A former Israeli ambassador to the US said the American ceasefire resolution “is going to be a problem for the Israeli government”.
Michael Oren told BBC Newshour a key issue was any temporary ceasefire linked to talks on hostages releases would give “immense leverage to Hamas”, who could then “drag out those negotiations” indefinitely.
“Any Israeli government would not meet those terms, it would mean Hamas wins the war and Israel loses,” he said.
The US draft resolution states that a major ground offensive in Rafah would result in more harm to civilians and their further displacement, including potentially into neighbouring countries – a reference to Egypt.
It also says such a move would have serious implications for regional peace and security.
More than a million displaced Palestinians, who represent about half of Gaza’s population, are crammed into Rafah after being forced to seek shelter there. The southern city, which borders Egypt, was home to only 250,000 people before the war.
Many of the displaced are living in makeshift shelters or tents in squalid conditions, with scarce access to safe drinking water or food.
The UN has issued its own warning that a planned Israeli offensive in the city could lead to a “slaughter”. Its aid chief says civilians in Rafah, “like the entire population of Gaza, are the victims of an assault that is unparalleled in its intensity, brutality and scope”.
The UN says women and children continue to be killed in air strikes. The Israeli military has previously insisted it only targets Hamas fighters.
Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz has warned the manoeuvre will be launched unless Hamas frees all its hostages by 10 March. The date marks the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
Israel launched its operations in Gaza following an attack by Hamas gunmen on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 others taken hostage.
The Israeli military campaign has https://belakangan.com/ killed 29,000 people in the Palestinian territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.
In the small town of Khiva in Uzbekistan, bounded by the Karakum and Kyzylkum deserts, all roads lead to a walled fortress known as Itchan Kala. That’s because everything that’s worth seeing and experiencing in Khiva is contained within the walls of this citadel. It’s home to more than 60 cultural sites, medieval mosques and opulent palaces, as well as numerous museums, souvenir shops and craft studios.
The Itchan Kala is where I was headed bright and early one autumn morning. Entering from the Ota Darwza, or the West Gate, located close to the ticket counter, I could see the street shops slowly coming to life: the chugirma vendor was fluffing up his collection of sheepskin fur hats used by locals to keep their heads warm in the bitter winters; the woman selling traditional ikat-print chapans (long coats) lured me with a striking black-and-white jacket; the master woodcarver was sitting on his chair, head bent over what looked like an intricately chiselled cheeseboard; the carpet weaver briefly looked up from the loom to smile at me before bending her head back to study the pattern.
But the roads were strangely empty. Where were all the tourists?
Along with Bukhara and Samarkand, Khiva – locally pronounced “Heevah” – forms Uzbekistan’s troika of Silk Road cities. But only the two former have become popular among tourists, due to their proximity to the capital city of Tashkent. Just a mention of those names is enough to evoke images of a time when these cities were at the heart of the influential network of trading routes stretching from China all the way to Rome and Venice. For much of those 1,500 years, roughly from 130 BCE until 1453 CE, this central Asian region saw the exchange of not just silks and spices, but all kinds of ideas and philosophies.
Khiva was once an important stop for merchants and traders on the Silk Road (Credit: Tuul & Bruno Morandi/Getty Images)
There is archaeological evidence to show that Khiva has existed since the 6th Century CE. It became a significant trading post on the Silk Road and rose to even more prominence within the region in the 1600s when it became the capital of the Khanate (kingdom of the Khan rulers).
At its peak, Khiva was a welcoming oasis for weary travellers, who were undeterred by Khiva’s fearsome reputation for slave trading. Having already crossed the Kyzulkum desert on their way from Bukhara, these merchants and traders halted in Khiva for rest and refreshment and to load up their caravans with essential supplies before heading off into the vast stretch of unforgiving desert towards Persia. In its Silk Road Programme, Unesco describes Khiva as a “centre of education, science and culture, and served as a cradle of civilisations spanning millennia”.
Given this history, I was surprised by how modern-day Khiva seems to get only a fraction of the tourists who throng Samarkand and Bukhara. But I wasn’t complaining, happy to have these magnificent sites mostly to myself.
Before the Itchan Kala became a Unesco World Heritage site in 1990, the government relocated residents outside the fortress walls in order to preserve and restore the monuments that had fallen in disrepair. Today, the Itchan Kala is an enchanting city inside a city and a living museum that has been extensively restored as an open-air showcase of regional history.
Behzad Larry, CEO of Voygr Expeditions, a company specialising in responsible travel to central Asia, describes Khiva as a “living relic amidst the desert expanse” and “[an] ancient city that beckons travellers to step back in time”. He explained that the self-contained design of Itchan Kala offers visitors a chance for a more intimate exploration of its landmarks as well as meaningful interactions with the local community.
In the Itchan Kala is a life-size street statue of two men chatting with a samovar bubbling away at their feet (Credit: Charukesi Ramadurai)
“Khiva exudes an unmistakable aura of antiquity that sets it apart from its more renowned Silk Road counterparts like Bukhara and Samarkand, where the old harmoniously coexists with the new,” he added. Having visited both Bukhara and Samarkand, where the monuments are scattered around what are now modern cities bustling with traffic, I could see what he meant.
Although locals don’t live within the fortress, they come here every day to their studios, shops, restaurants and teahouses to work. As I walked through Khiva’s narrow lanes, I discovered an embarrassment of riches: a teal-tiled palace here, a multi-pillared mosque there; a life-size street statue of two men chatting merrily with the samovar bubbling away at their feet; a carpet-weaving workshop next to a ceramic studio. In a museum inside the Kunya-Ark citadel, exhibits explained how concepts like algebra and algorithm have roots in this part of the world, and particularly in the work of Khiva-born mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi.
I feel like Alice in Wonderland, wandering through the labyrinth of tiny lanes that suddenly open into wide squares, and coming across craftsmen and traders selling their wares
Anita Sethi Ramakrishna, an Indian who has been living in Tashkent for the past few years and has travelled extensively through Uzbekistan, told me that exploring Khiva makes her feel like a small child. “I feel like Alice in Wonderland, wandering through the labyrinth of tiny lanes that suddenly open into wide squares, and coming across craftsmen and traders selling their wares.”
Although locals don’t live within the fortress, they come here every day to work (Credit: Charukesi Ramadurai)
I got it. Despite the city’s sprawl of 26 hectares, the touristic heart of Itchan Kala was compact and easily navigable on foot. And each time I thought I had been on the same road before, I found myself turning a different corner and coming across a new monument or mausoleum. Or an unfinished minaret like the squat Kalta Minor, bedecked with glazed majolica tiles in stunning shades of teal and turquoise.
My absolute favourite was the Tosh Hauli, or stone palace, built by Allakuli Khan in the mid-1830s and tucked away in a corner towards the northern gate. The tiles in the rooms and courtyards of the harem area where the Khan lived with his four wives and 40 concubines, had some of the most exquisite colours and patterns found anywhere in the Itchan Kala, drawing me back again and again for closer inspection.
The Kunya-Ark citadel, which is other major palace complex here, dates to the 12th Century and contains a throne room, a mint, stables and a beautiful summer mosque with blue wall tiles and a brown, orange and gold ceiling. I visited the Ark late in the evening and climbed up the steep and narrow steps of the watchtower in search of Khiva’s famed desert sunset.
“Dusk is my favourite time in Khiva,” Larry had told me, “because as the sun sets gradually, the city walls unveil a final gift: a panoramic view of the ancient skyline, bathed in a golden hue.” Having huffed and puffed my way to the top, I was treated to a 360-degree view of not just the monuments within the Itchan Kala, but also the town that lay beyond its walls. The desert sunset was indeed spectacular, a bold palette of pinks and oranges tinged with gold.
Khiva’s madrasahs have been repurposed into craft workshops and souvenir markets (Credit: Charukesi Ramadurai)
While most of the old monuments inside the Itchan Kala have been restored to their former glory, the former madrasahs (Islamic schools) have been repurposed into craft workshops or souvenir markets. Whenever I stopped to look, admire or just take photos, I noticed no irritation among the vendors; there was no hard-sell, no aggression. Everything somehow seemed slower here, everyone calmer. I found myself mentally discarding the must-see list I had made earlier, and I surrendered myself to serendipity.
As Sethi Ramakrishna said, “There is no pressure here like in the larger towns – you can take your time and sit down to sip an Uzbek lemon tea, and see the vendors making their sales and young couples having a photoshoot. And wonder how the caravans of yore found their way to this beautiful place on the Silk route.”
I followed her lead and settled down for some people-watching at an al fresco choyxona (teahouse) just opposite Kalta Minor. The Silk Road itself may be a thing of the past, its relevance wiped away by the advent of more convenient sea routes. But https://belakangan.com/ sitting here in a corner of Khiva, I knew for sure that its legacy lives on.
The Northampton Saints scrum-half has established himself as first choice for England since breaking into the squad for last autumn’s World Cup.
England are second in the Six Nations standings with eight points, behind defending champions Ireland.
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Image caption,’To school kids of the mid-forties Fearless Nadia meant courage, strength and idealism’
By Meryl Sebastian
BBC News, Kochi
“The single most memorable sound of my childhood was the clarion call of ‘Hey-y-y’ as Fearless Nadia, regal upon her horse, her hand raised defiantly in the air, rode down upon the bad guys,” acclaimed Indian playwright and director Girish Karnad wrote in 1980.
“To school kids of the mid-forties, Fearless Nadia meant courage, strength and idealism.”
Actress and stuntwoman Mary Ann Evans, best known by her stage name Fearless Nadia, took the Indian film industry by storm in 1935 when she appeared in the Hindi film Hunterwali (The Woman with a Whip).
A blonde, blue-eyed woman of Australian origin, she made a splash as she appeared in a cape, leather shorts and knee-high boots with a whip in hand.
Evans was born in Perth, Australia, in 1908 to a Greek mother and British father, according to Rosie Thomas, author of Bombay before Bollywood. She arrived in India in 1911 with her father’s army unit but settled with her family in Bombay (now Mumbai) after his death.
According to Thomas, Evans – who’d grown up learning dance and horse-riding – toured India with a Russian ballet troupe and briefly performed for a circus.
The young performer became known as a singer and dancer, performing at all kinds of venues across the country.
She was working in theatre and circus in the early 1930s when she was discovered by prominent Bollywood movie director JBH Wadia.
Image caption,Fearless Nadia took the Indian film industry by storm in 1935 when she appeared in Hunterwali (The Woman With a Whip)
Wadia initially cast her in small roles in films produced by his studio Wadia Movietone, which he ran with his brother Homi.
Evans was great at stunts and had a “can-do-anything attitude”, says Roy Wadia, JBH Wadia’s grandson.
So the Wadia brothers cast her in her first lead role in Hunterwali, in which she played an avenging princess who turns into a masked vigilante as she seeks revenge for her father’s death at the hands of an evil court official.
But while they were thrilled with their new star, others were not quite as ready to embrace their vision.
“The financiers of the film were quite horrified that these Parsi brothers would star a blonde, blue-eyed, white woman in a film where she was wearing hot pants and leather vests and carrying a whip and basically beating up all these bad guys in the film,” Roy Wadia says.
So they pulled out and the Wadia brothers released the film themselves.
The 1935 film was a huge hit, running houseful in theatres for weeks, and Evans went on to become the top box-office female star of the 1930s and 1940s, according to Thomas.
The film’s success also transformed Wadia Movietone into a studio known for films with fantastic stunts and theatrics. Evan’s famous yell “hey-y-y” in Hunterwali became a catchphrase.
Image caption,Fearless Nadia was perhaps the first foreigner to attain cult status in Bollywood
“The roles she played, and the screenplays that my grandfather created for her, were about emancipation, about the freedom struggle, about literacy, about anti-corruption – all themes that were particularly relevant at that time of huge social change and turmoil [of the Indian Independence movement],” says Roy Wadia.
“Although strict British censorship forbade overt references to the freedom movement, film-makers of the 1930s and 1940s would slip casual references to Congress [party] songs and symbols into the soundtrack or screen,” Thomas writes.
“Nadia saw her role – on-screen and off – as supporting the nationalist movement and stated explicitly, ‘In all the pictures there was a propaganda message, something to fight for, for example for people to educate themselves or to become a strong nation’.”
Her roles often featured her as a cosmopolitan woman who took charge to physically fight off villains in her films, often flipping burly men over her shoulder.
“She would be jumping off waterfalls, jumping off planes, riding horses bareback, swinging on chandeliers, jumping 30ft from the roof of a castle – all stunts she did herself,” Roy Wadia says.
“In those days, there were no safety nets, no body doubles and certainly no stamped insurance.”
The actor’s dynamism and skill at stunts helped sell her on-screen persona to a fascinated audience. But they were not always an easy feat.
In a 1980 interview with Karnad, Evans talked about one of her most terrifying moments from a film shoot. The actor was working on Jungle Princess (1942), which had a scene with a lion.
“We started shooting and suddenly a lioness called Sundari gave an enormous roar and jumped. She jumped straight across my head, Homi’s head, the photographer’s head and barged through the cage, and there she was, hanging with her head and front paws on the outside and the rest of her inside.”
The lion trainer eventually got her out unharmed.
In her films, Evans often switched easily from Western clothing to Indian attire. “Always with a sense of humour and glint in the eye that lets you know that she’s like a chameleon but not really changing because under all that she remains the same person,” Roy Wadia says.
Evans eventually fell in love and became Homi Wadia’s partner, a relationship that was not approved by many in the Wadia family. The couple had the staunch support of his brother JBH Wadia, but they only married after Wadia’s mother passed away.
Roy Wadia remembers Evans as a down-to-earth, ordinary woman with a great sense of humour. “She had this huge laugh, she would make all sorts of jokes – naughty ones as well.”
Every year Evans and Homi Wadia would throw a Christmas party at their shack in Juhu, where they entertained everyone from industry colleagues, family members to friends.
“Homi would dress up as Santa Claus and make his appearance in all sorts of dramatic ways. And Mary was his partner in crime there,” Roy Wadia recalls.
The couple did not have children, but Homi Wadia adopted Evans’s son from a previous marriage. Evans died in 1996 soon after her 88th birthday. She was perhaps the first https://belakangan.com/ foreigner to attain cult status in Bollywood.
