PARIS // The widow of Yasser Arafat has formally asked for a French investigation into his death, bringing a complaint of assassination weeks after raising new suspicions that the former Palestinian leader was poisoned before his 2004 death in a French military hospital.
Earlier this month, Palestinian authorities gave final approval for Arafat's body to be exhumed. In recent tests of Arafat's belongings requested by his widow, Suha, and the Arab satellite network Al Jazeera, a Swiss lab detected elevated traces of polonium-210 - a rare and highly lethal substance - but said the findings were inconclusive and that Arafat's bones would have to be tested. Questions remain about the results of any additional tests after so long.
French doctors have said Arafat died of a massive stroke and had suffered from a blood condition.
A French judge will still have to decide whether to accept the complaint - also brought on behalf of their daughter - and open an investigation. According to a statement from the family's French lawyer, Pierre-Olivier Sur, Tuesday's request was intended to "establish the truth in honor of their husband and father".
But there are signs that Palestinian officials are uninterested in an autopsy.
Arafat's nephew, Nasser Al Kidwa, said that there was no need to exhume the body. Al Kidwa is a key member of the team investigating Arafat's death and as a close relative also has veto rights over digging up the remains. Arafat's sister, Khadija, who lives in Gaza, also has said that the body should be left in peace.
Al Kidwa has alleged repeatedly that Arafat was poisoned by Israel, though he has not provided anything to back up the claim. Israel has vehemently denied a role in Arafat's death, and his widow's complaint does not name any people or countries.
He said an international investigation should be launched. "If an international investigative committee asks for an autopsy, we are ready to do it, but why do it (the autopsy) now?" he said. "Is it to convince ourselves? We are convinced (that Israel killed Arafat) and we need the world to make a move."
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
The specs
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- 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.
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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The Byblos iftar in numbers
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50 staff members required to prepare an iftar
200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly
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500 litres of soup is served during the holy month
200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes
350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes
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