World Bank President Jim Yong Kim announces resignation

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim announces resignation

WASHINGTON, JAN 07  - World Bank President Jim Yong Kim announced on Monday he would step down next month, more than three years before his current term was due to expire.

“It has been a great honour to serve as president of this remarkable institution, full of passionate individuals dedicated to the mission of ending extreme poverty in our lifetime,” Kim said in a statement.

Kim, who took over leadership of the global lender in 2012, is to join an as-yet unnamed firm focusing on investments in developing countries.

World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva will serve as interim president upon Kim's February 1 departure, the bank said in a statement.

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Salah set to retain African Player of the Year title

Salah set to retain African Player of the Year title

JOHANNESBURG, JAN 07 - Liverpool star Mohamed Salah is set to be named 2018 African Player of the Year for a second successive time at a gala awards ceremony in Senegal Tuesday.

The sharpshooter is competing against fellow English Premier League stars, Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane from Senegal and Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal.

Consistent scorer Salah has already won the 2018 BBC African Footballer of the Year prize and it would be a shock if he did not add to his collection of individual honours in Dakar.

Should he be confirmed as the best footballer in Africa once again, Salah will become the first player from the north of the continent to claim back-to-back titles.

Ivorian Yaya Toure, Samuel Eto’o from Cameroon and Senegalese El Hadji Diouf achieved the feat in a competition first staged 48 years ago with Malian Salif Keita voted number one.

Manchester City midfielder Toure, the younger brother of former Arsenal defender Kolo, went on to finish first four times in a row from 2011.

Eto’o and Ghanaian Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew are also four-time Player of the Year winners, but not in consecutive years.

Paris-based France Football magazine organised the annual award until the mid-1990s when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) took over.

Votes from national team and selected club coaches, CAF officials and unnamed ‘experts’ count toward deciding who lifts the trophy.

Salah scored 44 goals in all competitions for Liverpool last season, his first at Anfield after moving from Italian Serie A outfit Roma.

Slow start

After a slow start to the 2018/2019 campaign, the right-side attacker has netted 13 goals, one less than Aubameyang and Tottenham Hotspur and England star Harry Kane.

The Egyptian also scored the winning goal against Napoli at Anfield last month that took Liverpool to the knockout phase of the Champions League at the expense of the Italian club.

Salah had less success with Egypt last year as injury ruled him out of the loss to Uruguay at the start of the World Cup in Russia.

He did score against both Russia and Saudi Arabia, but the north Africans were beaten in both matches and exited without securing even one point.

Later in the year, Salah scored twice but failed to convert two penalties as the Pharaohs ran riot at home to Niger in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, winning 6-0.

Aubameyang, the son of former Gabon star Pierre, has made the top three for the fifth successive year, finishing second in 2014, then first, second and third.

Mane was third behind Algerian Riyad Mahrez and Aubameyang in 2016 and second last year, 118 points adrift of Salah.

Madagascar and Mauritania, first-time qualifiers for the Cup of Nations, will compete with Uganda for the national team of the year award.

Asisat Oshoala from reigning African champions Nigeria is seeking a third straight victory in the Women’s Footballer of the Year category.

Her rivals are compatriot Francisca Ordega, and Chrestinah Kgatlana from South Africa, runners-up to Nigeria in the 2018 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations.

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Assets worth $1tr to shift from UK to EU due to Brexit

Assets worth $1tr to shift from UK to EU due to Brexit

LONDON, JAN 07 - Assets worth nearly 800 billion pounds ($1 trillion) are being moved from Britain to new financial hubs in the European Union ahead of Brexit, consultancy EY said on Monday.

Britain, which is due to leave the bloc in March, has yet to approve a deal to avoid an abrupt severing of ties with the EU.

Although the British parliament is due to vote on a proposed settlement next week, it is unclear if it will be approved. “The closer we get to March 29 without a deal, the more assets will be transferred and headcount hired locally or relocated,” EY UK Financial Services leader Omar Ali said.

EY has been tracking the Brexit plans of 222 financial firms since Britain voted in June 2016 to leave the EU. In its latest update to the end of November 2018, it said that 80 firms are considering or have confirmed relocating assets and staff.

The latest estimate from EY says that 800 billion pounds in assets would move, a fraction of Britain’s 8-trillion-pound banking sector. 

Frankfurt Main Finance, which promotes the German financial centre, has said it expects 750 to 800 billion euros of assets to transfer there alone, largely during this quarter.

Around 2,000 new European roles have been created by financial services companies in response to Brexit, with Dublin, Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Paris the most popular locations, EY said.

Forecasts of hundreds of thousands of UK financial jobs moving to the EU have not materialised, and the Bank of England expects about 4,000 jobs to have moved by March 29.

“Whilst roles will no doubt move from the UK, many firms are only moving those employees deemed essential and are hiring locally given the expense of relocation,” Ali said.

Moves so far would be only the “tip of the iceberg” if there is a no-deal Brexit, EY said.

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Real Madrid confirm Brahim Diaz transfer from Manchester City

Real Madrid confirm Brahim Diaz transfer from Manchester City

MADRID, JAN 07 Real Madrid have signed Brahim Diaz from Manchester City, the European champions confirmed on Sunday.

Diaz, a 19-year-old winger, has agreed a contract for six and a half years with Real and will undergo a medical on Monday, before being officially unveiled at the Santiago Bernabeu.

A Real Madrid statement read: “Real Madrid and Manchester City have agreed to the transfer of the player Brahim Diaz, who will be linked to the club for the remainder of the season and the next six, until June 30, 2025.”

Diaz’s deal at Manchester City was set to expire in June. Madrid have reportedly agreed to pay 17 million euros up front, with a further seven million euros due depending on performance.

He moved to the Premier League from Malaga in 2013 but has struggled to establish himself in City’s first team.

He will join a talented group of young Spanish players at Madrid, which already includes Marco Asensio, Dani Ceballos, Marcos Llorente, Alvaro Odriozola and Sergio Reguilon.

Real sit fifth in La Liga after they were beaten 2-0 by Real Sociedad on Sunday.

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AIOU completes process of tutors’ appointment

AIOU completes process of tutors’ appointment

ISLAMABAD, JAN 07 - Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) and its 44 regional offices across the country have completed the process of appointing tutors for autumn 2018 semester.

Names and addresses of these tutors have been placed on the University’s website www.aiou.edu.pk, it was announced on Monday.

The designated tutors for Matric to Ph.D-level programs have been advised to send information letters to their concerned enrolled students at the earliest, so that they could submit them academic assignments by the scheduled date.

While appointing the tutors, relevant rules and regulations were strictly followed to ensure quality education, as per the instructions of the Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Zia Ul Qayyum, the announcement added.

Meanwhile, admissions of Spring 2019 semester from Matric to PhD programs in various disciplines will start from February 1.

According to Directorate of Admissions, besides the degree programs, short-courses of professional nature will also be launched with the new semester.

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Saudi women to get divorce confirmation by SMS from courts

Saudi women to get divorce confirmation by SMS from courts

RIYADH, JAN 06  - Saudi courts are now required to inform women of changes to their personal status following a divorce or a marriage by sending them confirmation messages on their mobiles.

The decision was taken by the justice minister after several courts reported serious cases resulting from husbands not informing their wives they had divorced them.

In such an instance, a woman filed a legal case against her former husband who divorced her without telling her, but continued to have relations with her, which amounted to a sinful situation.

Under the ministerial decision to be applied starting Sunday, family status courts are required to inform women that a divorce case has been filed against them.

Details of the divorce will be available on the website of the justice ministry and can be accessed only by the divorced woman.

the message will not include the word “divorce ” to alleviate possible shocks for wives who did not expect such a move by their husbands against them, especially that women do not have to be present as the divorce is pronounced.

The message will instead be: “To the holder of national identity number …, we hereby inform you that Decision number … has been issued by (name of the court) on (date), and you may contact the court to obtain a copy.”

To the holder of national identity number …, we hereby inform you that Decision number … has been issued by (name of the court) on (date), and you may contact the court to obtain a copy.

Family Court

Under the ministerial decisions, the courts will also inform women that their status has been changed to married following their marriage contracts.

“We are pleased to provide you with the service of registering your marriage contract as the wife of the holder of national identity number…. 

We would like to assess the standard of the service on the attached link. We appreciate your participation.”

Sources told that the marriage conformation will be sent only to the new wife and that the other wives, in case the husband is already married, will not get any notice.

The new measures have been hailed by the ministry as a positive step to protect the rights of women.

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AIOU to hold Int’l moot on education

AIOU to hold Int’l moot on education

ISLAMABAD, Jan 06 - An International; Conference on Research and  Practices in Education (ICRPE) will be held here next month at main  campus of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU).

The theme of conference is ‘Social Impact of Research’. The event is  scheduled to take place from February 19 to 20.

For past three years, the University’s Faculty of Education has been  regularly holding ICRPE to share with the researchers and teaching  community new development and trends in the educational sector.

AIOU to hold Int’l moot on education

Five modes of presentations and talks will be held during the two days  conference – oral presentation, posters presentation, round table  discussions, panel presentations and projects. 

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