Tag Archives: sports
Phenomenal Phinney clinches Dubai Tour victory
Phenomenal Phinney clinches Dubai Tour victory Alex Leach / 9 February 2014 Kittel claims final stage as American cyclist Taylor clinches Dubai Tour. Taylor Phinney of the BMC Racing Team poses with the trophy after claiming the overall honours at the end of the four-day inaugural Dubai Tour on Saturday. — KT photo by Rahul Gajjar Taylor Phinney came away with the blue and white jerseys of the inaugural Dubai Tour on Saturday here having prevailed outright in the general and young riders’ classifications respectively. The American won Thursday’s time trial, which effectively meant he would be assured of both of his eventual prizes if he finished the subsequent three races among the first peloton to cross the finish line. That is exactly what he did too to deny the likes of Lasse Norman Hansen (Denmark/Garmin Sharp), his team-mate Steven Cummings (Great Britain/BMC Racing) and Tony Martin (Germany/Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) in the main competition. Marcel Kittel (Germany/Giant-Shimano) claimed the red jersey in the points’ classification after his three stage successes, whereas Willem Jakobus Smit (South Africa/Vini Fantini-Nippo-De Rosa) took home the honours in the intermediate sprints. “I’m super honoured,” Phinney said. “I definitely owe this victory to the team, the MC and Andy Rihs for believing in me and this is a great start of the season for us at BMC (Racing). “I couldn’t be happier than to come here, win the first (time trial) stage and then have such great teamwork in stages two, three and four to cap off a great couple of days. I’m very happy to be the first winner. It’s a cool feeling.” Phinney’s triumph this early in the season also sets him and the rest of BMC Racing team up nicely for the rest of the year – one which could prove quite fruitful on this evidence. “I’ve come into the season for the last three years and always had some sort of issue – a knee injury or an illness – that didn’t allow me to be at my best,” he added. “This is the first year that I’m coming in and I’m really not playing catch-up at all, so it’s great to see that I can come in early season and win some races before the races that are really big. “It has been a stressful last couple of days, but it’s been a really good preparation for me going forward. “I couldn’t be happier to have won this race here. It’s definitely something that I thought I could do back when they released the profiles and the stages, so to come here and actually do it is a great feeling. I’m definitely relieved at the moment too. “Until now, I don’t think this team has entirely delivered the results we’re capable of, so this is a great start to the year and hopefully it can be the year that we really are able to thank Andy (Rihs) to the fullest.” alex@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Healthcare is a right and gets highest priority: Mohammed
Healthcare is a right and gets highest priority: Mohammed Staff Reporter / 5 February 2014 VP calls on all the local and federal healthcare facilities to unite efforts to provide best medical treatment. Receiving quality healthcare services is a right for every Emirati as it is directly related to the society’s welfare and happiness, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said on Tuesday, adding that citizens’ health hence would get the highest priority. Shaikh Mohammed instructed that practical measures should be placed in action to apply the national regular medical checkups programme for all citizens. He called on all the local and federal healthcare facilities to unite efforts to provide best medical treatment and to raise the UAE healthcare sector to the international standards. Shaikh Mohammed and Minister of Health Abdul Rahman Al Owais at the Government Innovation Lab sessions at JW Marriott in Dubai on Tuesday. — Wam Shaikh Mohammed’s remarks came during his participation in the Government Innovation Lab organised by the Ministry of Health at the JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai. Pursuant to directives from the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Shaikh Mohammed urged stakeholders in the public and private healthcare sector to unify their efforts to develop the medical services, construct a quality healthcare system and provide best services to people aiming to improve the quality of life. In the presence of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai; Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai; Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs; Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Minister of Health; and Essa Al Maidoor, Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority, Shaikh Mohammed exchanged ideas with participants and listened to their views about the development of healthcare services in the UAE. Shaikh Mohammed issued directives to launch the implementation phase of the mobile healthcare services programme to provide services in remote areas, especially for senior citizens. “I want to deliver healthcare services to people wherever they are, and I do not want any citizen to suffer in this aspect as it is the government’s duty to reach people at any time and in any place and provide medical treatment with the same quality we provide in other government services,” he said. During his visit to the Government Innovation Lab, Shaikh Mohammed approved a study for the establishment of a specialised medical training centre, and directed stakeholders to speed up the process to complete the establishment of the centre to provide continuing training programmes for medical cadres and train them on the latest developments the medical field. He also reviewed recommendations of a study conducted on the national regular medical checkups programme. “The UAE Government utilises its full capacity to support creative and applicable initiatives that shall contribute to achieving the community’s health and happiness and assuring quality healthcare services for citizens, in the fastest way possible,” Shaikh Mohammed said. He lauded the efforts of the team that complete the medical cadres’ standardisations unification initiative. The team was composed of the Abu Dhabi Health Authority, the Dubai Health Authority and the Ministry of Health. Shaikh Mohammed also praised the interactive response of the Ministry of Health with the instructions and initiatives that he launched through the Government Innovation Lab held recently at Sir Bani Yas. Initiatives aiming to improve healthcare services launched after the Cabinet retreat include: – Approving the launching of the mobile healthcare programme to serve citizens in remote areas specially senior citizens. – Launching a programme to evaluate hospitals and medical practices. – Approving the national regular medical checkups programme. – Establish specialised professional cadre for the public healthcare sector and develop occupational path. – Unify accreditation procedures for medical doctors and healthcare workers nationwide. – Introduce unified national standards for hospitals in the UAE. – Launching the cancer screening programme aiming to diagnose and treat cancer in its early stages. – Approving the establishment of national database for all medical records to facilitate patients’ transferring between hospitals. – Approving a set of procedures to control obesity and encourage healthy lifestyle. – Introduce a strategy to establish a medical research and development centre in cooperation with academia. – Establish a unified national record for cancer patients. – Launching the UAE Board as regional reference for all medical specialisations. – Launch a specialised training centre, with international standards, to train and qualify workers in the medical field. – Increase the appeal of nursing as a profession and introduce a programme to attract nationals to this occupation. – Launch a comprehensive programme to increase awareness about healthy lifestyles as preventive measure. – Establish unified standards for healthy diet in public and private schools. news@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
United States says Iran ‘not open for business’
United States says Iran ‘not open for business’ (AFP) / 5 February 2014 United States warns the growing number of business delegations traveling to Iran that sweeping sanctions remained in place. US officials declared on Tuesday that Iran is “not open for business” and vowed to scrutinise companies heading to the Islamic republic since it entered a temporary nuclear agreement. Testifying before skeptical lawmakers, President Barack Obama’s administration detailed initial sanctions relief to Iran, including the transfer of $550 million in frozen oil revenues as part of a six-month nuclear agreement. But Wendy Sherman, who is spearheading the diplomacy with Tehran, said that the United States was warning the growing number of business delegations traveling to Iran that sweeping sanctions remained in place. “Tehran is not open for business because our sanctions relief is quite temporary, quite limited and quite targeted,” Sherman, the under secretary of state for political affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “It doesn’t matter whether the countries are friend or foe — if they evade our sanctions, we will sanction them,” she said. Sherman said that Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius about a major French delegation that is visiting Tehran, telling him that the trip — while from the private sector — was “not helpful” in sending the message that “it is not business as usual.” The delegation from the French employers’ union Medef is the largest from Europe since the November nuclear accord and includes representatives from major companies such as Total, Lafarge and Peugeot. Addressing the delegation, Deputy Oil Minister Ali Majedi encouraged foreign companies to return. David Cohen, the Treasury Department official in charge of the sanctions, acknowledged “a slight uptick” in Iran’s economic indicators but said that the United States would “vigorously” enforce sanctions. “The Iranian economy is operating at significantly reduced levels and will continue to massively underperform for the foreseeable future,” Cohen said. The November agreement between Iran and six powers — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States — required Tehran to scale back its nuclear activities in return for the limited sanctions relief. The Obama administration has presented the deal as a way to a peaceful solution to address longstanding concerns with Iran but has said that it is not taking for granted that diplomacy will succeed. Iran insists that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. The clerical regime has particularly tense relations with Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised the negotiated deal. The US Congress, where support for Israel runs deep, has looked at ramping up sanctions on Iran despite the accord, but Obama has threatened to veto any bid to derail the ongoing diplomacy. Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has distanced himself from fellow Democrat Obama on Iran, demanded that any final deal with Tehran include the dismantling of “large portions of its nuclear infrastructure.” “We have placed our incredibly effective international sanctions regime on the line without clearly defining the parameters of what we expect in a final agreement,” Menendez said. Senator Jim Risch, a Republican, said that he was “disgusted” by the diplomatic effort. “I hope you will prove me dead wrong, but I don’t think (you) will, given the history of these people,” Risch said of Iran as he criticized its imprisonment of at least two US citizens. But Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat, said that sanctions brought Iran to negotiations, and it was now important to try “aggressive diplomacy.” Sanctions have “crippled the economy, but if anything it has also, by making Iran isolated, accelerated their path to try to develop nuclear technology for whatever purpose,” Kaine said. “So if we’re going to stop that nuclear programme and that quest for nuclear weapons, we have to either do it diplomatically or do it militarily,” he said. Kaine warned that he would support war if Iran pursued a nuclear weapon despite the deal. “We may have to undertake that significant step, but we shouldn’t do it if we leave diplomatic avenues unexplored,” he said. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
