BAGHDAD // Iraqi security forces and Shiite militia fighting ISIL took control of the centre of a town on the southern outskirts of Saddam Hussein’s home city Tikrit on Sunday.
Sending in more troops amid fierce clashes for Al Dour, the army and militiamen were still struggling to drive out ISIL militants entrenched in buildings in the western section of the town, officials said.
Military commanders said the army and militia, known as Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) units, launched another offensive late on Saturday to break into the centre of Al Dour.
By Sunday they had succeeded in recapturing the central area where government headquarters are located, but ISIL insurgents were still holding positions in the west.
“Daesh snipers are still targeting our troops from some of the high buildings. We should be able to take them out with helicopter attacks this evening,” Ahmed Al Yasiri, a Hashid Shaabi leader fighting in Al Dour said referring to ISIL’s Arabic acronym.
Officials said security forces and Shiite militia fighters had also captured about a third of the village of Albu Ajil south of Tikrit.
The campaign to retake Tikrit is the biggest offensive so far against ISIL. If successful, it would be the first time the army and militia have recaptured a major city from the insurgents.
Progress in the offensive, which was launched a week ago, could also affect the timing and strategy for a wider offensive later this year to retake Mosul – the largest city under ISIL control.
It comes as Iraq’s tourism and antiquities minister called on Sunday for the US-led military coalition to use air power to protect the country’s antiquities from ISIL fighters looting and destroying some of the world’s greatest archaeological treasures.
Adel Shirshab said the government was investigating reports that the ancient archaeological site of Khorsabad in northern Iraq was being attacked by ISIL. He said only the US-led coalition could put an end to the pillaging.
“Our airspace is not in our hands. It’s in their hands,” he said from Baghdad. “I am calling on the international community and coalition to activate its airstrikes and target terrorism wherever it exists.”
The militants attacked the 2,000-year-old city of Hatra in northern Iraq on Saturday with bulldozers, days after assaulting the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud - both Unesco world heritage sites. Elsewhere in Iraq, authorities say a series of bombings targeting public places in predominantly Shiite districts have killed 11 people around Baghdad.
A bomb exploded near a busy street in Baghdad, killing at least four people in Talbiya neighbourhood, while a bomb went off near a restaurant in Hussainiya killing three people.
Another bomb hit a busy street and killed two passers-by in Madaen, a town 30km southeast of Baghdad.
A parked car bomb exploded in Mahmoudiya, killing three civilians and wounding 17.
* Reuters
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A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
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Los Angeles Galaxy 2 Manchester United 5
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United: Rashford (2', 20'), Fellaini (26'), Mkhitaryan (67'), Martial (72')
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
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TWISTERS
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Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
Company Profile
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Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
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COMPANY PROFILE
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Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
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Starring: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri
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Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
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SRI LANKS ODI SQUAD
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Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
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1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment
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5) Don't be rushed into a sale
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Power: Up to 201bhp
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Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
