ABU DHABI // Suspected militants had been planning what appeared to be two separate plots targeting Saudi Arabia’s King Salman during his visit to Kuala Lumpur last week, Malaysian authorities announced on Tuesday.
Four Yemeni men were arrested between February 21 and 26, just before the Saudi monarch began his month-long Asian tour in Malaysia. One senior police official speaking anonymously told Reuters they were members of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen.
The men were arrested in Serdang and Cyberjaya, on the outskirts of the capital, Malaysian police officials said on Sunday when they first announced the arrest of six people, including the Yemenis, with alleged ties to militant groups.
“Four Yemenis, apart from their role involving in producing false travel documents, they are also involved in distributing drugs ... and they are also planning to attack the Arab royalties during the visit in Kuala Lumpur, so we got them in the nick of time,” another senior police official, Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, said on Tuesday.
The BBC reported that other sources claimed the men were not Houthis but rather linked to ISIL.
Although Sunni extremists are the main militant threat in Malaysia, one expert said it would not be a surprise if the reports of a Houthi network were verified.
“For the intelligence community and researchers it is not surprising at all,” said Ahmad El Mohammady, a terrorism analyst who studies radicalisation in South-east Asia at the International Islamic University Malaysia, and who consults for the Malaysian police.
In the past, he added, Malaysian authorities have uncovered Hizbollah operatives using the country as a base for regional activities.
The men were carrying a number of foreign passports as well as over US$60,000 (Dh220,350) in a variety of currencies, police said, without providing details on the nature of the alleged plot against the visiting Saudi delegation.
Malaysian police said earlier they had also arrested two men, a Malaysian national and an Indonesian, for plotting a large truck or car bombing attack during the king’s visit. The officials said the men had planned to travel to Syria to join ISIL.
Over the past year authorities in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have been scrambling to counter the spread of ISIL-linked or inspired groups in South-east Asia.
They fear that as the extremist group loses territory in Iraq and Syria, there will be a heightened domestic terror threat as some of those who travelled to join ISIL – more than 1,000 fighters from the region – return home and energise local militant networks.
Late last year, Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said at the inauguration of a new domestic counter-terrorism force that 250 Malaysians had been arrested for ties to the group, and that 60 were still fighting in Iraq and Syria, while 32 had died in combat there.
Although the number of people who have travelled to join ISIL are relatively small, “it is not about the size or level of [the immediate] threat, it is about the presence and potential threats that might escalate” over time, Mr El Muhammady said.
Authorities have made dozens of arrests and uncovered terrorist plots that in some cases reportedly involved civil servants and members of the security services.
“Malaysian authorities are on the high alert at all times in facing the terrorism threats, domestic and foreign,” Mr El Muhammady said. “A lot of terrorist plans were disrupted.”
In January 2016, a group of militants with suspected links to ISIL killed six people in an attack in Jakarta. Last summer, ISIL claimed its first attack in Malaysia after a militant threw a grenade outside a bar near Kuala Lumpur. The Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines last week beheaded a German citizen it had been holding for ransom.
During King Salman’s visit to Malaysia, there were discussions with its leaders on enhancing bilateral security ties to combat the ISIL threat. The Saudi ruler is currently in Indonesia, and is expected to travel on to the Maldives, China and Japan.
tkhan@thenational.ae
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
The line up
Friday: Giggs, Sho Madjozi and Masego
Saturday: Nas, Lion Bbae, Roxanne Shante and DaniLeigh
Sole DXB runs from December 6 to 8 at Dubai Design District. Weekend pass is Dh295 while a one day pass is Dh195. Tickets are available from www.soledxb.com
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Company%20profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company%20Profile
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
Results
UAE beat Nigeria by five wickets
Hong Kong beat Canada by 32 runs
Friday fixtures
10am, Tolerance Oval, Abu Dhabi – Ireland v Jersey
7.30pm, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Canada v Oman
At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
Asia Cup 2018 Qualifier
Sunday's results:
- UAE beat Malaysia by eight wickets
- Nepal beat Singapore by four wickets
- Oman v Hong Kong, no result
Tuesday fixtures:
- Malaysia v Singapore
- UAE v Oman
- Nepal v Hong Kong
The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
Virtual banks explained
What is a virtual bank?
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.
What’s the draw in Asia?
Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.
Is Hong Kong short of banks?
No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year.
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
On sale: now
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
FIXTURES
December 28
Stan Wawrinka v Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Milos Raonic v Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 29 - semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Stan Wawrinka / Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Milos Raonic / Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 30
3rd/4th place play-off, 5pm
Final, 7pm
The biog
Year of birth: 1988
Place of birth: Baghdad
Education: PhD student and co-researcher at Greifswald University, Germany
Hobbies: Ping Pong, swimming, reading
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
WORLD CUP FINAL
England v South Africa
Yokohama International Stadium, Tokyo
Saturday, kick-off 1pm (UAE)
Five personal finance podcasts from The National
To help you get started, tune into these Pocketful of Dirham episodes
·
Balance is essential to happiness, health and wealth
·
What is a portfolio stress test?
·
What are NFTs and why are auction houses interested?
·
How gamers are getting rich by earning cryptocurrencies
·
Should you buy or rent a home in the UAE?
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Cases of coronavirus in the GCC as of March 15
Saudi Arabia – 103 infected, 0 dead, 1 recovered
UAE – 86 infected, 0 dead, 23 recovered
Bahrain – 210 infected, 0 dead, 44 recovered
Kuwait – 104 infected, 0 dead, 5 recovered
Qatar – 337 infected, 0 dead, 4 recovered
Oman – 19 infected, 0 dead, 9 recovered
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
INFO
What: DP World Tour Championship
When: November 21-24
Where: Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae.
Company%20Profile
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
