Suleimani funeral: Arab allies show Iranian commander's operational skill


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A secular enforcer for the Syrian regime and the leader of Hamas were among Iran’s Arab allies at Qassem Suleimani’s funeral in a testimony to his skill in amassing regional clients for Tehran.

Squabbling Shiite players from Iraq were also at Suleimani’s main funeral, which was held in Tehran on Monday for him and his right-hand Iraqi militiaman, Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis.

It was presided over by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and choreographed to show unity between Iran’s Arab, and particularly Iraqi, clients and Tehran.

Suleimani's actual burial will take place on Tuesday in Karman, a city in south-eastern Iran, with Al Muhandis to be buried in the Iraqi town of Najaf on a date that has yet to be announced.

During his long reign as the head of Quds Force, Iran’s foreign operations division, Suleimani transformed the command into one of the powerful positions in Iran.

A US drone attack killed the two men last week after Al Muhandis picked up Suleimani from Baghdad airport.

In the 1980s, Al Muhandis escaped a death sentence in Kuwait for a botched bombing of the US embassy in Kuwait City, which killed five people, none of whom were American.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaks at the funeral of Qassem Suleimani. Reuters
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaks at the funeral of Qassem Suleimani. Reuters

At the funeral, broadcast live on pro-Iranian TV channels, Khamenei recited a prayer in front of their coffins. It was in Arabic, not Farsi, in a bid to establish or reinforce kinship with the Arab audience watching.

Suleimani was aware of the usefulness of psychological tools in keeping Iran’s diverse group of allies in line, despite their ideological differences, and suspicions of treachery among each other.

He played a major role in propping the Syrian regime, partly through his links with Hezbollah and other Shiite militias under his command. The militias participated in siege warfare and depopulation of Sunni regions of Syria in the past nine years since the revolt against President Bashar Al Assad.

Despite occasionally irking Russia, Suleimani expanded Iran’s influence among Syria’s security apparatus.

A top security lieutenant of Mr Al Assad, Ali Mamlouk, was at the funeral, making a rare public appearance.

He is in charge of overseeing the regime’s external clients, a role that declined after Hamas’s leadership left Syria in 2012 and moved mostly to Qatar.

Hamas, a Sunni group, found it unpalatable to maintain public support for Mr Al Assad as the regime was killing thousands of Sunni civilians in its response to the pro-democracy protest movement.

But Hamas kept its strong ties with Tehran and was represented at the funeral by its chief, Ismail Haniyeh. Hezbollah said it dispatched its deputy leader Naim Qassem to Iran to meet Suleimani’s family.

After offering his condolences, Mr Qassem told Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV channel that Suleimani “was not just for Iran, but for all the Islamic world”.

Suleimani had focused on Iraq in the months before his killing, prodding the country’s Shiite elite to coalesce to intensify the crackdown on the Iraqi uprising, killing hundreds of civilians in the process.

As Iran’s main player in Iraq, Suleimani adopted an approach similar to former Syrian president Hafez Al Assad’s tutelage of Lebanon, where Al Assad’s motto was “we are friends to all in Lebanon”.

Among Iraq’s Shiite figures, Suleimani cultivated broad ties and backed rivals who fought each other but all sought his favour.

In September, Suleimani met populist Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr in Iran. Mr Al Sadr was a younger rival of Mr Al Muhandis who proclaimed himself as “leader of the resistance” after the killing.

It was a rare instance when the meeting was made public, with Suleimani appearing together with Mr Al Sadr and Mr Khamenei in a picture released by Mr Khamenei’s office.

The image was a message to Mr Al Sadr’s rivals that he remained an important Iranian ally, although Iran trusted Mr Al Muhandis more. His support by Iran goes back to the late 1970s.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Qassem Suleimani and Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr appear together in Tehran in September last year.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Qassem Suleimani and Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr appear together in Tehran in September last year.

Mr Al Sadr visited Suleimani’s home to pay his respects to the Iranian commander's family. But Mr Sadr was not at the Tehran funeral, where Ammar Al Hakim, a competitor from a rival family in Najaf, showed up.

Even Iraq’s Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, the country’s highest Shiite authority, sent a condolence letter to Mr Khamenei.

Mr Al Sistani has opposed the crackdown on the uprising, a policy supported by Suleimani, with news reports suggesting he had partly overseen the killings of Iraqi demonstrators.

The letter, which exalted Suleimani’s “unique role” in fighting ISIS, said: “We are distressed by the news of the martyrdom of the great General Hajj Qassem Suleimani”.

How being social media savvy can improve your well being

Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.

As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.

Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.

Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.

Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.

However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.

“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.

People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.

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Company/date started: 2015

Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif

Based: Manama, Bahrain

Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation

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Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)

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Know your cyber adversaries

Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.

Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.

Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.

Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.

Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.

Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.

Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.

Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.

Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.

Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.

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Name: Tratok Portal

Founded: 2017

Based: UAE

Sector: Travel & tourism

Size: 36 employees

Funding: Privately funded

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE

Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega

Director: Tim Burton

Rating: 3/5

RESULTS

Women:

55kg brown-black belt: Amal Amjahid (BEL) bt Amanda Monteiro (BRA) via choke
62kg brown-black belt: Bianca Basilio (BRA) bt Ffion Davies (GBR) via referee’s decision (0-0, 2-2 adv)
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Men:

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69kg black belt: Paulo Miyao (BRA) bt Gianni Grippo (USA), 2-2 (1-0 adv)
77kg black belt: Espen Mathiesen (NOR) bt Jake Mackenzie (CAN)
85kg black belt: Isaque Braz (BRA) bt Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE), 2-0
94kg black belt: Felipe Pena (BRA) bt Adam Wardzinski (POL), 4-0
110kg black belt final: Erberth Santos (BRA) bt Lucio Rodrigues (GBR) via rear naked choke

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Bournemouth 1
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Red card: Eric Bailly (Manchester United)

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On sale: now 

What is a robo-adviser?

Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.

These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.

Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.

Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.

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6pm: Mina Hamriya – Handicap (TB) $75,000 (Dirt) 1,400m

6.35pm: Al Wasl Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (Turf) 1,200m

7.10pm: UAE Oaks – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,900m

7.45pm: Blue Point Sprint – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,000m

8.20pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (T) 2,810m

8.55pm: Mina Rashid – Handicap (TB) $80,000 (T) 1,600m

Feeding the thousands for iftar

Six industrial scale vats of 500litres each are used to cook the kanji or broth 

Each vat contains kanji or porridge to feed 1,000 people

The rice porridge is poured into a 500ml plastic box

350 plastic tubs are placed in one container trolley

Each aluminium container trolley weighing 300kg is unloaded by a small crane fitted on a truck

Sole survivors
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  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
FIXTURES

Saturday, November 3
Japan v New Zealand
Wales v Scotland
England v South Africa
Ireland v Italy

Saturday, November 10
Italy v Georgia
Scotland v Fiji
England v New Zealand
Wales v Australia
Ireland v Argentina
France v South Africa

Saturday, November 17
Italy v Australia
Wales v Tonga
England v Japan
Scotland v South Africa
Ireland v New Zealand

Saturday, November 24
|Italy v New Zealand
Scotland v Argentina
England v Australia
Wales v South Africa
Ireland v United States
France v Fiji

RESULT

Everton 2 Huddersfield Town 0
Everton: 
Sigurdsson (47'), Calvert-Lewin (73')

Man of the Match: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton)

While you're here
ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

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While you're here

Michael Young: Where is Lebanon headed?

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Raghida Dergham: We have to bounce back

Three-day coronation

Royal purification

The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.

The crown

Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.

The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.

The audience

On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.

The procession

The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.

Meet the people

On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.

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