Army, tribal forces kill five suicide attackers, south of Ramadi

Ramadi (IraqiNews.com) Security troops and tribal fighters have repelled an Islamic State attack in south of Ramadi, a security source said on Sunday.

“Security services and Tribal Mobilization Forces repulsed an IS attack in abul Jeir region, south of Ramadi,” the source told Baghdad News.

“Five suicide attackers were besieged and then killed,” the source added.

On Friday, army and tribal forces killed six suicide attackers in the same region.

Ramadi was recaptured by government and tribal forces from IS in December 2015, however, several occasional attacks by the group have occurred since then.

The militant group invaded, last week, al-Tash and the 5th Kilometer regions, south and west of Ramadi. The militants reportedly took over al-Tash and al-Jamea (university) areas after invading them with 20 pickup trucks, however, troops were able to repulse the attack. 40 IS militants were killed, while three injured others were wounded, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, spokesperson of Baghdad Operations said in a weekly press conference on Thursday.

Iraqi army announced the total recapture of the town of Annah, hours after recapturing neighboring Rayhana area, earlier this month. Troops also liberated Akashat region, between Rutba town, on borders with Jordan, and Qaim, on borders with Syria.

 

 

Source  :  Iraqi News

Over 140,000 families repatriated in Salahuddin: Ministry

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Number of displaced families in Salahuddin province has exceeded 140,000 families, the Defense Ministry has declared on Sunday.

In a statement, the ministry said, “the number of families repatriated in Salahuddin reached 41,903 families in Tikrit and 2,751 families in the residential area in al-Dor.”

Moreover, the whole number of families repatriated in al-Dor reached 6,796, compared to 5,169 in alBu-Ojail. “In Shirqat, 30,616 families returned to the town, while 56,032 families returned to Biji, making the total number of repatriated families reach 143,267 families.”

Federal Police announced, last week, liberation of eastern Shirqat, the group’s holdout in north of Salahuddin.

225 militants had been killed since the launch of operations in Shirqat, Jawdat previously announced.

Earlier this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and the Joint Operations Command announced launch of first phase of operations to liberate Hawija and western Shirqat. Federal Police, Rapid Response and the pro-government Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) took part in the attack, according to the command.

The Iraqi army said in September its forces recaptured the western coast of Shirqat, located south of Mosul, on the west bank of the Tigris river, after being surrounded for months by Iraqi troops and the pro-government Shi’ite militias.

 

Source  :  Iraqi News

Strong weekend rush at Gitex Shopper 2017

360 view: Strong weekend rush at Gitex Shopper 2017

For the first time in a Dubai school, dogs are helping students read

Loss of Tony Popovic is a loss of Western Sydney Wanderers’ core identity

ANALYSIS

OCTOBER 1 2017 – 8:36PM

Dominic Bossi

John Tsatsimas has fronted up to some difficult press conferences in his time as Western Sydney Wanderers chief executive, but never had he looked so solemn. He only had to glance left to explain why.

On the adjacent wall is the only image displayed in the club’s modest temporary boardroom – a black and white mural of the 2014 Asian Champions League-winning side. Only head coach Tony Popovic was portrayed in full colour with his famous post-match comments printed above: ​”We were called a small club yesterday. Today we are the biggest in Asia.”

Critical loss: Tony Popovic is central to the Wanderers’ DNA. Photo: AAP

 

As Popovic sat beneath his own motif announcing his shock resignation as head coach to join Karabukspor on the eve of the new campaign, it wasn’t just the hopes of the season that were left in tatters, but potentially the core identity of the club. And he knew it too.

“I told John I have an uneasy feeling in my stomach and a lot of that might be as well from starting the club from scratch,” Popovic said.

In 2012, he stood down from his role as assistant coach for Crystal Palace to lead the fledging Wanderers, building it from the ground up. He established a ruthless streak, a resolute mentality and a culture of success born of iron discipline.

Those traits remain in today’s squad, but sadly only Mark Bridge –  back at the club this season after a year in Thailand – played in that inaugural season. Popovic’s strict regime wears out many who go through the club’s training base in Blacktown and his reign was marked by a high turnover of players.

Source  :  The Canberra Times

Offer too good to refuse: Tony Popovic explains why he chose to walk out on Western Sydney Wanderers

OCTOBER 1 2017 – 4:48PM

 Dominic Bossi

Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic has quit the club on the eve of their A-League season after reaching an agreement to coach Turkish club Karabukspor.

Just one week before the A-League season starts, the Wanderers will begin the search for a new coach for the first time in five years, after Popovic abruptly left the club on Sunday.

Devil’s in the detail: Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic announces his retirement with CEO John Tsatsimas at a press conference on Sunday. Photo: Katherine Griffiths

He will travel to Istanbul to finalise a transfer to the Super Lig club after reaching an agreement on personal terms and will complete formalities once he arrives in Turkey.

The timing of Popovic’s departure has left the club’s preparations for the new season in tatters. It follows an off-season in which the Western Sydney board approved unprecedented spending on player signings and salaries, as Popovic moulded a squad to his requirements, in hopes of finally winning the A-League title.

Chief executive John Tsatsimas admits the club faces a major headache to ensure that the spending will still count for something as they frantically search for a replacement for Popovic.

“I’ve had better Sunday mornings,” he said, before suggesting that the recruitment process could be a lengthy one. “We’ll take our time to make the right appointment.”

However for Popovic, it was an opportunity that proved too good to refuse. A chance to coach in one of Europe’s stronger leagues, at a club where he has been assured of having full control and the freedom to sign his own support staff, was one he couldn’t refuse – even if it came at the cost of derailing the Wanderers’ plans for the season.

“There’s no great timing. It isn’t great timing, we’ve spent 14-15 weeks of pre-season preparing a team that can challenge for the title – which I’m sure they will,” he said. “But this has just come up last night and this morning, this is not something you can plan for. There’s been a change of management overseas and I’ve been given the opportunity to take on that role. It’s certainly not planned and I certainly understand the timing.”

Quick turnaround: Popovic was running training with the Wanderers just this week. Photo: AAP

Karabukspor finished 12th in the Super Lig last season in their first year back at the top after promotion from the First League, but they are currently battling against relegation.

Located near the Black Sea, the team have won just once in seven games this season and sit third-last, a beginning to the season that cost coach Erkan Sozeri his job.

‘Not something you can plan for’: Tony Popovic says the offer from Turkey came unexpectedly. Photo: AAP

“This one was in a league which I think is in a very strong level – it’s in Europe – and I want an opportunity to coach in Europe. It’s an opening for me to do that and to have success in Turkey,” Popovic said.

The Western Sydney Wanderers players are in disbelief with the abrupt departure of the Wanderers inaugural head coach.

The squad had not been told of the news from coaching staff, and had to learn of Popovic quitting on Sunday via social media. They are set to meet with Popovic and the coaching staff on Tuesday morning.

​The Wanderers players were on a day off after their season’s launch on Saturday at Spotless Stadium, where Popovic ran an open training session in front of fans.

 

Source  :  The Canberra Times

Mooy and his mates get rude awakening as Socceroos tune up for Syria clash

OCTOBER 1 2017 – 2:37PM

Michael Lynch

Key Socceroos midfielder Aaron Mooy may have had his pride dented after his Huddersfield Town team was taken apart by Tottenham this weekend, but the former Melbourne City man had little time to rest on his laurels.

Mooy had to head straight to the airport to travel to Malaysia, where he will join up with the national team squad for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Syria on Thursday, a match that has enormous ramifications for the game in this country.

Malaysia-bound: Aaron Mooy will feature in the Socceroos’ play-off against Syria. Photo: AAP

At least Mooy can take some consolation from the fact that the Syrians, tough and competitive as they are, have no players of the quality that he faced at the weekend.

Harry Kane up front, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Eric Dier and Harry Winks ran riot for Tottenham as they cruised to a 4-0 win.

The Australian was eventually subbed off in the second half as it became clear the Yorkshiremen were never going to get back into the match.

 It was the first time the Premier League new boys had faced one of the league’s real powerhouses, and it was a rude awakening for Mooy and crew.

At least he played and got game time, unlike his Socceroos squad mate Brad Smith, who once again did not figure for Bournemouth in their scoreless draw with Leicester.

Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has often declared his belief in Smith’s abilities and has picked him even when he has not been playing first team football, although the coach has also recalled Aziz Behich, another left-back, for the games against Syria.

Behich played for Bursaspor in their Turkish top division defeat to Kayserispor at the weekend, picking up a yellow card.

England-based Bailey Wright will arrive in Malaysia in a better frame of mind than Mooy after his Bristol City side won 3-1 at Ipswich. The team from the West Country, for whom Wright is a key defender, has now stretched its unbeaten run to 11 games.

He fared better than Massimo Luongo, whose Queens Park Rangers crashed 2-1 to Fulham in Friday night’s West London derby, while Jackson Irvine was an unused substitute in Hull City’s 6-1 romp against hapless Birmingham City, who made news recently by sacking their manager Harry Redknapp.

Mooy’s midfield teammate Tom Rogic was in the Celtic team that uncharacteristically failed to secure all three points in a 2-2 draw with Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League.

Australia need to beat the Syrians over two legs (the second game is in Sydney on October 10) to progress to a final two-legged play-off against opponents from North or Central America – possibly the USA, Honduras or Panama depending on how that qualifying group finishes up.

 

Source  :  The Canberra Times

MOH plans to privatize psychiatric hospitals

 

Abdul Kareem Al-Diyabi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

TAIF – The Health Ministry is seriously considering plans to privatize all mental health hospitals and build independent shelter homes for rehabilitating patients left to wander in the streets. It is also planning to take concrete steps to improve and expand mental health services across the country.

The privatization plan was disclosed by a senior official while speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette on the sidelines of a conference in Taif opened by Acting Governor Saad Al-Maimouni and attended by Deputy Health Minister for Planning and Transformation Dr. Khaled Al-Shibani.

The three-day conference organized by Taif Mental Health Hospital reviewed mental health services in the Kingdom and discussed ways to upgrade facilities required to treat chronic and mental diseases. A large number of psychiatrists and mental health experts took part in the event.

Dr. Yousuf Abdul Ghani, director general of mental health, said the ministry’s futuristic vision aims for total privatization of mental health hospitals.

“The ministry issued two orders in April-May to open mental health wings at public and private hospitals having more than 100 beds and mental health clinics at hospitals having less than 100 beds,” Abdul Ghani said while speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette.

These orders cover hospitals of the Defense Ministry, National Guard and Security Forces in addition to the general hospitals, he said, adding that the move comes as part of the national transformation program whose fruits are likely to be enjoyed by the public in 2020.

“We have got instructions that security agencies should not interfere in hospitalization of mental patients, except in special cases determined by the chief administrative officer,” he explained.

He said the new move would remove the misconception that mentally-ill people must be treated at specialized hospitals. “This is a wrong perception. Mental health services provided by all hospitals are important to treat mentally-ill individuals,” he added.

Dr. Abdul Hameed Al-Habeeb, secretary of the National Committee for Mental Health, said economic, social and technological changes have contributed to creating mental health problems among Saudis in recent years.

“We hope the conference would bring qualitative changes in mental health services. In the past the focus was on hospital treatment and in the future the focus would be on social participation and use of modern technology,” he said.

Asked whether there is any increase in psychiatric cases compared to previous years, he said: “The ministry is conducting a survey with the support of other government departments and its result will be published shortly. The survey result will contribute to preparing future treatment plans.”

Al-Habeeb said there is a plan to establish a national charitable association for social care to support hospitals that provide treatment to mental patients. It will have offices in all regions.

Speaking about families who refuse to receive their mental patients, he said: “We’ll force such families to receive their patients and we’ll conduct regular home visits to follow up the condition of such patients.”

With regard to difficult cases including those who wander in streets, he said: “We’ll provide them shelter outside hospitals and encourage the private sector to invest in this project.”

Dr. Abdul Ghani said at least 1,000 hospital beds have been occupied as a result of families’ refusal to accept recovered patients. “Health Minister Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah is personally concerned with the issue of the long waiting list of mental patients who do not find hospital beds for treatment.”

Okaz/Saudi Gazette toured Taif Mental Health Hospital located on Shihar Street. The hospital buildings are separated by a busy road. The nearby chest hospital has been closed.

There are 20 mental health hospitals across the Kingdom with a total of 4,000 beds. Expansion projects are being implemented to increase their capacity to 6,000 beds. They have 60 outpatient clinics to receive patients and are manned by 847 doctors, 3,000 nurses, 1,248 social workers and 642 psychologists.

In addition to mental hospitals there are specialized clinics at general hospitals to provide treatment to mentally ill patients.

The new mental hospitals and de-addiction centers planned by the ministry will have 100 to 500 beds. Some of them have already been completed and started operations in areas such as Qurayyat, Al-Jouf, Madinah, Al-Ahsa and the Northern Border Province.

“Hospitals in Jazan, Dammam and Qassim are being furnished and provided with necessary medical equipment and facilities while five hospitals in Najran, Hail, Tabuk, Jeddah and Asir are still under construction,” a ministry official told Okaz/Saudi Gazette.

The ministry has allocated funds to establish a 500-bed hospital in Riyadh, another 500-bed hospital in Makkah and a 200-bed hospital in Baha, he added.

Source  :  Saudi Gazette

Panel to review cost of expensive medicines

Saudi Gazette report

 

Riyadh — The Saudi Health Council approved the establishment of a national committee under its supervision to study the issue of high cost of some medicines used in the treatment of Hepatitis C, hereditary and blood diseases and cancer.

The committee will also study the manifold increase in the prices of the latest medicines.

It recommended that scientific studies should be conducted locally to prove the efficacy of these medicines and encourage local manufacturing of medicines.

These decisions were taken at the Council’s 79th meeting held under the chairmanship of Minister of Health Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.

The Saudi Health Council also approved the establishment of a national center for evidence-based medicine (EBM).

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is an approach to medical practice intended to optimize decision-making by emphasizing the use of evidence from well-designed and well-conducted research.

The approval to establish the national center for EBM is in implementation of the 11 strategic bases for healthcare in the Kingdom.

This includes authorizing the Saudi Health Council to prepare the executive and the operational plans for the establishment of the national center for evidence-based health practice.

The meeting recommended the application of the regulations for national health centers issued as per the Saudi Health Council’s decision for the national center for evidence-based medicine.

The Saudi Health Council also issued directives to study the establishment of a specialized national center for the treatment of burn injuries in Riyadh.

The meeting approved the strategic plan for the protection of public health.

The Saudi Health Council discussed a draft proposal to develop a strategy for volunteerism in the health sector.

The project to promote volunteerism will encourage all health practitioners to provide free health services that will meet society’s health requirements.

The Council approved the recommendation of the committee supervising the national program for kidney diseases on the necessity to unify measurement units for lab analyses for renal patients in all health sectors to Si unit which is being used all over the world.

The Council stressed that all health sectors must admit cases of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) brought in by Saudi Red Crescent Authority.

STEMI is a very serious type of heart attack during which one of the heart’s major arteries (one of the arteries that supplies oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the heart muscle) is blocked.

 

 

Source  :  Saudi Gazette