Connect with us

World

Indian team Velammal Nexus School wins World School Chess Tournament at Expo 2020

DUBAI, 30th November, 2021 (WAM) — The Indian team Velammal Nexus School was proclaimed champion of the World School Chess Tournament after beating the Peruvian School Saco Oliveros during the finals of the competition at Dubai Exhibition Centre of Expo 2020 Dubai.

The Indian player from Velammal School Gukesh Dommaraju, 15 years old and Grandmaster, said, "We were favorites to win the tournament, but the Peruvian team fought, and they were quite close, it was a very interesting game".

The closing ceremony took place on Monday evening at the Spain Pavilion in the presence of Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director-General of Expo 2020 Dubai; and José Manuel Franco, Spanish Secretary of State for Sports.

During her speech, Al Hashemy said, "I would like to first thank all our friends and our colleagues from Spain for your successful conception and delivery of such a splendid tournament and appropriate celebration of a game that was introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by Arab travelers".

She added that "at Expo, we are honoured to welcome Chess events and activities over the coming weeks, the FIDE World Chess Championship is already taking place at Dubai Exhibition Centre and before the end of December we will also welcome the Dubai Sports Council Cup".

Secretary Franco said, "we are grateful for being able to host the final rounds of this chess tournament on-site, I would like to congratulate and highlight the enormous effort of all the institutions and federations involved".

He added that "chess is a vehicle which allows us to connect the historical relationship between the Arab and the Spanish culture".

During the Award Ceremony, representatives of the Emirati and Israeli teams played a friendly game.

The event concluded with the unconventional flamenco show ‘Con-vivencias’ on the giant chessboard of the Spain Pavilion and performed by the artists Manuel Liñán and David Carpio.

The finals of the World School Chess Tournament were held from 25th to 29th November in the Spain Pavilion at Expo Dubai 2020 with the participation of 118 young people from 10 different countries and 12 teams.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

World

Gulf states appeal to US on Israeli minister’s Palestinian comments


The Gulf Cooperation Council said Sunday it had written to Washington’s top diplomat condemning controversial comments from Israel’s finance minister in which he denied the existence of a Palestinian people.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

The GCC, in a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, called on Washington “to assume its responsibilities in responding to all measures and statements that target the Palestinian people”.

The letter from the six-member GCC’s foreign ministers also called on the US “to play its role in reaching a just, comprehensive and lasting solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, speaking earlier this month, said that the Palestinians did not exist as a people, comments that sparked outrage among Arab nations.

The US State Department said they had found Smotrich’s comments “to not only be inaccurate but also deeply concerning and dangerous.”

Smotrich is part of veteran Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government that took office in December.

The GCC ministers also denounced earlier remarks by Smotrich, calling for the Palestinian town of Huwara in the West Bank to be “wiped out” after two Israelis were shot dead there by an alleged Hamas militant in February, remarks he later walked back.

The GCC, whose foreign ministers met in Riyadh last week, includes the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which normalized relations with Israel under the US-crafted 2020 Abraham Accords, as well as Saudi Arabia, which has not.

Violence has intensified in the West Bank in recent months, which Israel has occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967.

On Tuesday, the State Department criticized a move by Israel’s parliament to annul part of a law banning Israelis from living in areas of the West Bank evacuated in 2005, calling it “provocative” and in direct contradiction of promises made to Washington at the time.

Blinken, appearing before a Senate committee, also reiterated previous US pushback on Smotrich’s comments about Palestinians, saying they do not reflect US values.

Read more:

Saudi Arabia condemns ‘racist comments’ from Israeli minister against Palestine

Israel sees ‘difficult days ahead’ after West Bank attacks, riot

Israel opposition sees Saudi-Iran deal as Netanyahu failure

Continue Reading

World

UK politicians caught in sting for lucrative second jobs


A senior British minister on Sunday defended former cabinet colleagues after they were shown negotiating top-dollar rates to work on the side for a fake South Korean consultancy.

The sting operation by the anti-Brexit group Led By Donkeys, which targeted former finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng among others, exposed nothing illegal.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

But the issue of Conservative MPs taking lucrative second jobs with companies has been provoking fresh controversy as Britons endure the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

Kwarteng’s involvement in particular focussed anger, after he and short-lived prime minister Liz Truss triggered a crash on financial markets that drove up borrowing costs for millions last year.

He and former health secretary Matt Hancock were shown separately negotiating a daily rate of £10,000 ($12,000) to advise a sham consultancy purportedly based in Seoul that was set up by Led By Donkeys.

“On this occasion, I think it is pretty clear that things that were offered and considered were within the rules,” cabinet member Michael Gove told Sky News.

Gove said it was “absolutely vital that we know who is paying” MPs for second jobs, “and that is what the register (of MPs’ interests) is there for”.

“And ultimately, the really important thing is, is an MP delivering for their constituents, is a member of parliament doing everything they can to put public service first?”

Led By Donkeys showed a clip on social media in which Kwarteng said he “wouldn’t do anything less than for about 10,000 dollars a month.”

Prompted by a recruiter representing the fictious “Hanseong Consulting”, he switched the currency to pounds, which are worth more than dollars, and the rate to daily.

Hancock had already drawn controversy for taking an unauthorised break from his work as an MP to take part in a reality television show, in which he ate animal genitalia among other challenges.

He was forced to resign as health secretary for breaking his own pandemic rules on social distancing, when it was exposed that he was having an extra-marital affair with a senior advisor.

A spokesman said Hancock had “acted entirely properly and within the rules” regarding the apparent job offer from South Korea.
Kwarteng has yet to comment.

The sting threatens embarrassment for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who replaced Truss in October with a vow to restore “integrity, professionalism and accountability” after her term and that of her predecessor Boris Johnson.

Senior opposition Labour member Lucy Powell told Sky News that she was “pretty appalled and sickened,” reiterating her party’s call to ban MPs from holding second jobs.

🚨MPs FOR HIRE: a Led By Donkeys undercover investigation🚨
Watch the trailer… pic.twitter.com/TOPxuhmbr9

— Led By Donkeys (@ByDonkeys) March 25, 2023

Read more:

UK inflation rate unexpectedly rises to 10.4 pct in February: ONS

Britain to announce plan to house migrants on military bases within weeks: Report

UK’s Sunak raises concerns over Israel’s judiciary with Netanyahu

Continue Reading

World

Burhan says Sudan’s army will be under leadership of civilian government


Sudan’s leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said on Sunday that the country’s army will be brought under the leadership of a new civilian government.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Speaking before a session for security and army reforms in Khartoum Burhan said his country will build a military force that will not intervene in politics and will be trusted by the Sudanese people in building a modern and democratic state.

More than a year after the military took power in a coup, the military and its former civilian partners and other political forces have agreed on a framework to form a new transitional government and write a new constitution to be announced next month.

Read more:

Sudan paramilitary leader jostles for role ahead of civilian handover

UN slams deployment of South Sudan troops in disputed region

Sudanese protester killed as marches enter 17th month, despite talks

Continue Reading

Trending