Tag Archives: lifestyle
A fitting Mother’s Day gift to martyr’s mother
A fitting Mother’s Day gift to martyr’s mother (Wam) / 22 March 2014 Vice President decorates Tareq’s mother with ‘Mohammed bin Rashid Sash’ His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has presented the “Mohammed bin Rashid Sash” to the mother of martyr Tareq Al Shehi on the occasion of Mother’s Day. Shaikh Mohammed visited Hessa Abdullah Al Qadhi at her residence in the Sham area of Ras Al Khaimah and decorated her with the “Mohammed bin Rashid Sash”. The Vice-President affirmed that the highest degree of sacrifice is that of the mother who offers her precious son for the sake of the homeland. He added that the mother of the martyr and all mothers of Emirati martyrs are the true model of the UAE mothers and they are a role model for all mothers and they are worth being honoured and appreciated permanently. Shaikh Mohammed also pointed out that martyr’s reputation and love demonstrate good morals, noble values and principles that have been instilled in him since early childhood, adding that honouring is a kind of thanks and appreciation for the mother of Tareq. He also reiterated that Tareq is the martyr of the whole UAE and not only his family and he is the son of the UAE and his mother’s sacrifice for the homeland makes her a model for all Emirati mothers. The Vice-President added that Tareq’s sons will be under his personal care and guard since the UAE is only one family and the country never forgets those who sacrificed their lives for its sake and names of mothers of the martyrs would be immortal in the history of the UAE. Shaikh Mohammed was accompanied by Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister for Cabinet Affairs; Lt-General Misbah bin Rashid AI Fattan, Director of the Office of the Vice-President; and Khalifa Saeed Suleiman, Director-General of the Department of Protocol and Hospitality in Dubai. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
President Obama orders new round of sanctions on Russia
President Obama orders new round of sanctions on Russia (AP) / 21 March 2014 Obama said the latest penalties were the result of “choices the Russian government has made, choices that have been rejected by the international community.” President Barack Obama on Thursday expanded US economic sanctions against Moscow over its actions in Ukraine, targeting President Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff and 19 other individuals as well as a Russian bank that provides them support. Obama, warning of more costs to come for the Kremlin if the situation worsens, said he also signed an executive order that would allow the US to penalize key sectors of the Russian economy. Officials said Obama could act on that authority if Russian forces press into other areas of Ukraine, an escalation of the crisis in Crimea. The president said the latest penalties were the result of “choices the Russian government has made, choices that have been rejected by the international community.” “Russia must know that further escalation will only isolate it further from the international community,” Obama said, speaking from the South Lawn of the White House. European Union leaders, too, said they would expand the number of people targeted with various sanctions and indicated they would cancel an EU-Russia summit. Chancellor Angela Merkel told the German parliament that if the crisis deepens in Crimea and Ukraine, the EU is prepared to move to economic sanctions on a higher level. Those named in the sanctions Thursday include Sergei Ivanov, Putin’s chief of staff and a longtime associate, as well as Arkady Rotenberg and Gennady Timchenko, both lifelong Putin friends whose companies have amassed billions of dollars in government contracts. Also sanctioned: Bank Rossiya, a private bank that is owned by Yuri Kovalchuk, who is considered to be Putin’s banker. The U.S. sanctions followed a first round of U.S. economic penalties ordered earlier in the week on 11 people the U.S. said were involved in the dispute in Ukraine. Russia moved its military into Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula three weeks ago and has since formally annexed the strategically important region into its borders. The U.S. has declared Russia’s incursion into Crimea a violation of international law and does not recognize its annexation of the peninsula. Still, U.S. officials privately acknowledge that Russia is unlikely to give up Crimea. Instead, their top priority is keeping Russia from moving into other areas of Ukraine with pro-Russian populations. “The world is watching with grave concern as Russia has positioned its military in a way that could lead to further incursions into southern and eastern Ukraine,” Obama said. Senior administration officials said the individuals targeted by Thursday’s sanctions will have assets frozen in the United States, will be barred from doing any business in the U.S. and will be unable to make transactions in American dollars. The officials said some of those sanctioned are close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin has not been personally targeted by the first two rounds of U.S. sanctions. American sanctions on heads of state are rare, largely reserved for instances where the U.S. is seeking a change in government leadership. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Khushwant Singh, writer and journalist, passes away at 99
Khushwant Singh, writer and journalist, passes away at 99 (AFP) / 21 March 2014 Khushwant Singh, one of India’s best known writers who won fame for a searing book on partition of the subcontinent as well as his once-daring descriptions of sex, died on Thursday aged 99. The country’s most prolific author, who died at his home in New Delhi after suffering breathing problems, had only recently stopped writing despite his advanced years, his son said. “He was having some breathing problems. “He hadn’t been too unwell in his last few days and had only stopped writing recently. He was still reading newspapers and books… was mentally alert, and led a full life,” Rahul Singh told the NDTV news channel. Singh was a household name who wrote more than 100 books and countless newspaper columns, including one called With Malice Towards One And All. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called him “a gifted author, candid commentator and a dear friend” as tributes poured in for a great writer with an even greater sense of humour. “The world will always remember him as a lovable human being,” author and veteran BBC journalist Mark Tully said on NDTV. Fellow authors including Vikram Seth and former cricketers were among those who visited his Delhi home to pay their respects to a man hailed by President Pranab Mukherjee as a “fearless intellectual”, the Press Trust of India said. In an interview with AFP in 2005, Singh described his passion for writing as compulsive. “I don’t know what to do with myself if I don’t write, I have lost the art of relaxation,” he said. Singh, a Sikh born on February 2, 1915 in what is now Pakistan, occupied India’s literary centre-stage for half a century with his novels. Some in his early decades scandalised India with their sexually explicit scenes. He is best remembered for his historical novel Train to Pakistan, which recounts the tragedy and bloodshed of the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 into India and Pakistan. Singh, who penned his books and columns on yellow legal pads, became a writer relatively late. Born into a well-off family, he initially practised law in Lahore. But partition was the trigger for him to change professions. “I loathed the law. I thought I can’t waste my entire life living off other people’s quarrels,” he said. After coming to New Delhi, where his father became a prosperous property developer, he entered the diplomatic service in 1947 but soon tired of this and became a journalist and writer. Singh was cremated in Delhi later on Thursday. He is survived by his son, daughter and a niece. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
