TWITTER SHOW @newsofbahrain SPORTS 16 Kvitova battles into second Dubai final INSTAGRAM Dumplin’: Danielle /nobmedia 23 Macdonald shines LINKEDIN SATURDAY newsofbahrain FEBRUARY 2019 in Netflix’s beauty 200 FILS WHATSAPP pageant dramedy 38444680 ISSUE NO. 8031 Dumplin’ is an American FACEBOOK coming-of-age comedy /nobmedia film directed by Anne MAIL Fletcher and written by [email protected] Kristin Hahn. | P13 WEBSITE newsofbahrain.com Milo calls Mandy inspiring 14 CELEBS WORLD 6 Family of IS teen to fight UK decision Ensure eective implementation of VAT 80008001 For inquiries & complaints www.nbr.gov.bh @BahrainNBR Earthquake with 7.5 magnitude hits France says kills top Al-Qaeda commander in Sahel Ecuador Paris, France responsible for kidnapping a vehicles he was travelling with be second in command of the The operation was announced Quito, Ecuador number of Westerners in North north of Timbuktu, Parly said. Group to Support Islam and as Parly, Prime Minister rench forces have killed a top and West Africa. He reportedly served as Muslims (GSIM), also known Edouard Philippe and Foreign n earthquake with a Fjihadist leader, Yahya Abou A ministry statement issued AQIM’s “governor” in Timbuktu as Nusrat al-Islam, led by Iyad Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian Amagnitude of 7.5 hit El Hamame, in an operation in in Paris said he was “the mas- when the city was held by Isla- Ag Ghali. were due to visit Mali, where Ecuador Friday but there Mali, Defence Minister Florence termind and financer of several mist rebels from April 2012 to The group was formed by the some 4,500 French troops were no immediate reports Parly said yesterday. attacks”. January 2013. merger of Ansar Dine, the Maci- have been deployed since 2014 of casualties or major dam- The Algerian, a command- El Hamame was killed Thurs- A number of other “terrorists” na Liberation Front, Al-Mourab- to reconquer the north of the age. er in Al-Qaeda in the Islamic day when French land and air were “neutralised”, Parly added. itoun and El Hamame’s Saharan country after it fell to jihadist The quake struck before Maghreb (AQIM), was reputedly forces ambushed a column of El Hamame was believed to branch of AQIM. fighters. dawn in Ecuador’s eastern Amazon region 17 kilom- eters (10 miles) from the town of Montalvo near the border with Peru, the US Geological Survey said. It hit at a depth of 132 kilometers. Most major earthquakes in South Amer- Saudi bags $10bn oil deal ica are at shallow depths of 70 kilometers or less, the AFP | Beijing, China USGS said. audi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud met China is a good friend and SChina’s President Xi Jinping yes- partner to Saudi Arabia Apps send intimate terday and bagged a $10-billion oil deal. Prince Mohammed arrived in Beijing XI JINPING user data to on Thursday following visits to Pakistan Facebook and India. “China is a good friend and partner agreement to form a Saudi-Chinese joint San Francisco, United to Saudi Arabia,” Xi told Prince Moham- venture -- worth more than $10 billion States med in a meeting in the Great Hall of -- to develop a refining and petrochem- the People. ical complex in northeastern Liaoning news report yesterday “Saudi Arabia’s relations with China province. A said many smartphone can be traced back a very long time in the The Saudi Arabian General Investment apps were sending highly past,” the crown prince said. Authority also announced the signing personal information such “Over such a long period of exchanges of 35 non-binding memorandums of as menstrual cycles and with China, we have never experienced understanding, including deals related body weight to Facebook, any problems with China.” to energy, mining, transportation and without notifying users. He met with Chinese Vice Premier e-commerce. The Wall Street Journal Han Zheng earlier on Friday. The two countries should boost part- report based on its own in- China is looking to strengthen its eco- nerships in counterterrorism and law house tests showed that in- nomic ties with the kingdom, as Beijing enforcement, and exchange experience timate data could be shared pursues its ambitious Belt and Road on combating extremism, Han said in his with Facebook using a tool trade infrastructure initiative, while Ri- meeting with Mohammed. designed to help target ads, yadh rolls out “Saudi Vision 2030”. Saudi Crown Prince with China’s President Xi Jinping (Courtesy of Al Arabia) The Saudis said they “firmly support- even if app users were not Prince Mohammed told the Chinese ed” Beijing’s efforts to keep the country members of the leading so- President they could join the two pro- Vice Premier Han suggested during in energy, infrastructure construction, secure, and opposed “interference by ex- cial network. jects “to realise more progress and jointly his meeting with the crown prince that finance, and high-tech. ternal forces in China’s internal affairs”, confront challenges”. the two countries deepen partnerships Saudi Aramco said it had signed an Xinhua added. BIRTH PANGS DON’T MISS IT UK backlash at Meghan’s lavish US baby shower London, United Kingdom Amal Clooney, saw guests ser- website Mumsnet, quoting one enaded by a harpist and given person who was “quite disgust- All eyes on eghan Markle drew fresh expensive gifts, they reported. ed by the way she is burning Mscorn from British media Although neither Markle nor through money”. 03 Sharm el-Sheikh this week after celebrating the British taxpayers footed the The Times added: “To some imminent arrival of her first bill, The Times led the critical- British minds the mere concept KNOW WHAT Thailand baby with what they described ly-toned coverage, headlining of a baby shower -- an American 04 jewellery expo as an “extravagant” trip to New its article on Friday: “Meghan’s import -- seems inappropriate.” York in a private jet. extravagant New York baby In the right-wing Daily Mail, The Duchess of Sussex, due to shower provokes flood of indig- columnist Jan Moir asked what Markle, 37, has been Hidden ‘bomb’ give birth in the spring, returned nation.” could Queen Elizabeth II make dubbed “the difficult 05 found in Dhaka to Britain Thursday after enjoy- It said the visit had “prompted of the duchess’s “lavish trip”. duchess” following fire ing a party with celebrity friends a debate about extravagance, She added: “can you be a several royal staff at what British papers referred style and the environmental self-identifying internation- departures to as “the most expensive hotel impact of crossing the Atlantic al humanitarian and have a suite in the US”. in a private jet”, including criti- £300,000-plus baby shower held favoured newspaper each morn- The party, hosted at Man - cism from environmental lobby for your already fabulously priv- ing -- reported the “glamour” hattan’s Mark Hotel by Serena Friends of the Earth. ileged unborn child?” of the American gathering may Williams and attended by other The paper also trawled com- Meanwhile the Daily Tele- have “surpassed” Markle’s wed- high-profile figures including ments posted on the parenting graph -- said to be the Queen’s ding last year to Prince Harry. Meghan Duchess of Sussex SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2019 02 Lending a helping hand Proceeds from the strongest Bahraini Championship will go towards supporting Cancer patients TDT | Manama he supporting activities of the second edition of Tthe Strongest Bahraini Championship were held yes- terday at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) under the patron- age of HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The move was part of human- itarian and sports initiatives by the First Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President of Bah- rain Athletic Association and Honourary President of Bahrain Sports Federation for Disabil- ities. HH Shaikh Khalid The 2nd Strongest Bahraini Championship will conclude the BIC. today with the main activities On this occasion, HH Shaikh of the event are organised at Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa stressed that the Championship aims to instil sports principles among youth in Bahrain in a bid to create a society that is more Our initiatives have active. been introduced to “Our initiatives have been in- support youth and troduced to support youth and encourage them to encourage them to practice dif- practice different ferent types of sports as we in- types of sports as tend to inject more talents into we intend to inject our national teams. “This event carries an impor- more talents into tant message towards growing our national teams and building as well as develop- In pictures, highlights of yesterday’s event First Hala Febrayer Festival organised in Bahrain under the patronage of SHAIKH KHALID ing our sports environment as Shaikh Hisham Bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, the Governor of the Capital we aim to introduce more sports It’s worth noting that the 2nd The event’s proceeds will Governorate yesterday at 7:00 pm in Water Garden City project located in events that embrace young peo- Strongest Bahraini Champion- be donated in support of Seef area opposite to City Centre. Above, scenes from the event ple,” added Shaikh Khalid. ship began on Thursday. cancer. Bahrain pledges full support to combat terrorism TDT | Washington states. The meeting kick-started top Bahraini official yester- with welcoming words by Dep- A day pledged Kingdom’s full uty Assistant Secretary of State support to combat terrorism in for Arabian Gulf Affairs Tim all forms and dry out its sources Lenderking, US Deputy Secre- of financing for better freedom tary of Defence for Middle East of navigation and maritime se- Affairs, Mike Melroy and Dep- curity.