Attack in northern Bahrain


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About forty veiled men threw Molotov cocktails at a security patrol on Friday night causing their car to catch fire and burn, yet no policeman was injured, reported the Saudi-owned newspaper Al Hayat in quoting Bahraini authorities. "The terrorists planned to kill the two policemen in the car," said the Police Acting Director General in the Northern Province. The official pointed out that the patrol was at the entrance to Duraz, a village west of the capital Manama. He added that the patrol car was completely burnt, but the two policemen  managed  to leave the car safely. "An investigation into the incident is under way to arrest the perpetrators of this cowardly terrorist act and bring them to justice," he said. Duraz has recently been the scene of clashes between demonstrators and riot police, reported Al Hayat.

The Jordanian newspaper Al Rai carried an opinion article by Fuad Hussein who wrote about the Western viewpoint towards the Holocaust and the sanctity of the prophets, decrying the biased attitude in favour of the former. "This policy is erratic; it gives ground for the Israeli media to lash out in blasphemy against Jesus and Mary in response to statements by a priest questioning the scale of the Holocaust. Reactions of this kind by Israelis were expected because the Christian West itself has created the sacred aura of the Holocaust, yet failed to treat religions and prophets with a similar degree of sacred respect. This has persisted as the West tolerated on many occasions offences against other people's religions. Such behaviour contradicts the freedoms of belief and opinion that the West claims to advocate."

The Qatar-based Al Raiya carried a lead editorial that commented on new developments in the political scene in Somalia which is marked by unilateral ceasefire announced by President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed who also agreed to implement Sharia law as part of his effort to achieve national reconciliation. "The president's call for reconciliation should  receive support from the opposition because their rejection of the present government is baseless. Restoring political and security stability in Somalia is a shared responsibility by all ends of the political spectrum. The two main opposition factions must back the new government and cease fire immediately," the paper commented.

"By the same token, the opposition should work hand in hand with the government and respond positively to the wise advice offered by Muslim scholars. Furthermore, they should come to understand the fact that it is pointless to continue fighting on the grounds of resisting Ethiopian troops while they have already left the country and the remaining troops are African peace forces." The newspaper called for the international community to play a greater role to help Somalia recover from its ordeal.

The Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika erased  all debts, valued at $560 million, owed by farmers to the state, reported the  London-based daily Al Sharq al Awsat. "We decided to write off all  farmers' debts owed to the state and  the Treasury will accordingly re-purchase them. We aim through this decision  to promote the rural sector which we expect will invest more to increase production," Bouteflika announced in a speech.

The agriculture sector has registered a steady annual growth since 2000 which coincided with the launch  of a national campaign aimed at promoting the rural areas. The plan has allowed for expanding agricultural land to more than 500 thousand hectares and providing one million direct and indirect job opportunities. * Digest compiled by Mostapha El Moulouda melmouloudi@thenational.ae

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
WOMAN AND CHILD

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Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi

Rating: 4/5

Museum of the Future in numbers
  •  78 metres is the height of the museum
  •  30,000 square metres is its total area
  •  17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
  •  14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
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Full list of Emmy 2020 nominations

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The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
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Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
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Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
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Little Fires Everywhere
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Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.