WASHINGTON: Yale School of Management has decided to honour its deanship in the name of PepsiCo Chairperson and CEO, Indra Nooyi after she donated an undisclosed amount to her alma mater. While Yale did not reveal the amount, it said her “landmark gift” to endow the deanship of the school and inaugurate an innovation fund has made her the “most generous graduate” of Yale in terms of lifetime giving to the school. She is the first woman to be given such an honour at a top business school. “My experience at the Yale School of Management forever altered the course of my life. My gift to this wonderful institution pales in comparison with the gift that Yale gave me- the fundamental understanding that leadership requires an expansive worldview and a deep appreciation of the many points of intersection between business and society,” she said.
Saudi king ‘plots to bypass nephew’ in handover of crown
RIYADH: If American diplomatic sources are to be believed, King Salman of Saudi Arabia could be making preparations to upend the succession of the House of Saud by abdicating in favour of his controversial 30 year old Prince Mohammed bin Salman, bypassing his designated successor. The King is due to be succeeded by his nephew, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, however, a media report claimed that he could change the rules and install his son. American officials believe it could trigger further instability in the Middle East, especially as Saudi Arabia already has tense relations with Iran. Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the deputy crown prince and the country's defence minister. “Things are tense and there is something afoot,” said one US diplomatic source. “We’ve been told to expect changes in the summer and there has been a very concerted effort to project the image of Prince Mohammed [bin Salman] and push him forward.”
IS attacks Pak consulate in Afghanistan
JALALABAD: In its first attack at the Pakistani government, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a deadly gun and bomb siege targeting the Pakistani consulate in Afghanistan's Jalalabad. Officials said all three attackers and seven security force personnel were killed in the assault in eastern Nangarhar province, where IS has made alarming inroads in recent months. The four-hour siege near the consulate comes amid renewed international efforts to revive peace talks with the Taliban. In a statement released via Twitter, the IS said two of its fighters blew themselves up at the scene by detonating explosive belts, while a third managed to escape unharmed. “The attack lasted almost four hours during which the consulate building was destroyed and tens of its employees were killed together with a number of officers from the apostate Pakistani intelligence services,” the statement said.
Musharraf acquitted in murder case of Baloch leader
KARACHI: Former Pak President General Pervez Musharraf has been acquitted in the murder case of former Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, by an anti-terrorism court in Quetta. A media report said the court also rejected the request by Nawabzada Jamil Akbar Bugti, son of late Bugti, to order exhumation of the body of his father to confirm that the body buried in Dera Bugti belongs to his father. Also acquitted were home minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani and former federal interior minister Aftab Sherpao. Bugti was killed in an operation in Balochistan's rugged mountains of Taratani in Kohlu district on August 26, 2006. His son, Nawabzaa Jamil Akbar Bugti had nominated former president Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, former Governor Balochistan Owais Ahmed Ghani, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, and others in the murder.
17 killed as serial blasts rip Indonesian capital
JAKARTA: Seven blasts ripped through Indonesian capital Jakarta, leaving 17, including 5 attackers, dead. The first blast reportedly took place at a Starbucks cafe in Jalan Thamrin across Sarinah Plaza. While no organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack, police spokesman Anton Charliyan told reporters, “We have previously received a threat from Islamic State that Indonesia will be the spotlight.” Four perpetrators have been killed - two in a shootout in front of the Djakarta Theater, and two in a suicide bomb at the police post in front of Sarinah shopping centre, across Starbucks. Two civilians have been killed, one of whom is a foreigner. Ten people are wounded, including five police officers, and one Algerian.
Bangladesh opposition protests attack on party chief adviser
DHAKA: Bangladesh opposition alliance-led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party protested attack on BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia's adviser Riaz Rahman. Rahman was shot and and his car was set on fire on the night of January 13, when he was returning from a meeting with Khaleda. While she says the police have illegally confined her to her office in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave for more than a week, the government denies Khaleda is being held against her will, and says she is free to leave the premises. People torched a car while bombs were hurled in the old part of Dhaka during the BNP-sponsored strike and the ongoing blockade that has been going on since January 5. Shops remained closed and traffic movement was less than usual.
Lord Hanuman part of Obama's lucky charm
LONDON: Always a charmer, United States President Barack Obama revealed in a recent interview with a Youtube vlogger that he carries a selection of lucky charms and religious trinkets along with a statue of Monkey God Lord Hanuman in his pocket. He said he is not a superstitious person, but carries around the lucky charms all the time. He said these trinkets remind him of all the different people that he has met along the way with their hopes and dreams from him. Rosary beads from Pope Francis, a lucky poker chip from a biker in Iowa, a little Buddha from a Buddhist monk and a Coptic cross from Ethiopia are a part of his lucky charm collection.
Davos forum revokes invitation to N Korea
GENEVA: North Korea is no longer invited to this month's World Economic Forum meeting in Switzerland as the invite was revoked after Pyongyang carried out a nuclear test in defiance of a United Nations ban. The World Economic Forum said that North Korea's foreign minister Ri J Su Yong, would go to Davos for the gathering of the world's business and political elite from January 20-23, but later said he was no longer welcome. Philip Roesler, a member of the WEF managing board said that the forum had invited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea because “there had been some convincing, encouraging signals out of the DPRK that there may be an opportunity for international global dialogue.”
Qaida siege kills 27 in Burkina, 2 Indians freed
OUAGADOUGOU: Two Indians were among 120 people freed from a four-star hotel and a nearby restaurant in Burkina Faso's capital in Ougadougou, during a siege by four al Qaeda-linked gunmen who killed at least 23 people from 18 countries before being gunned down. A total of 126 people were freed, including 33 wounded, from Splendid hotel, after security forces retook the 147-room facility in early hours. Four jihadists, including two women, were killed in the counter-assault. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack saying it was “revenge against France and the disbelieving West”.
IS abducts over 400 civilians in Syrian city after deadly assault
BEIRUT: More than 400 Syrian civilians have been abducted by jihadis from the Islamic State, in an assault on the city of Deir al-Zor that left dozens dead. Britain-based Syrian Observatory of human Rights said IS had killed at least 135 people in the multi-front attack that began on Saturday. 85 civilians and 50 regime fighters were killed, according to the monitor, which also said that the IS had kidnapped more than 400 civilians from captured territory. “Those abducted, all of whom are Sunnis, include women, children and family members of pro-regime fighters,” said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman. He said they had been taken to areas under IS control in the west of Deir al-Zor province and to the border with Raqa province, the main IS stronghold in Syria.
Jailed former Maldives leader in UK for surgery
Male: Jailed Maldivian opposition leader and former president Mohamed Nasheed finally left the country for urgent medical treatment in Britain after his departure was delayed following legal dispute with the government. Finally the deal was brokered by diplomats from neighbouring India and Sri Lanka as well as former colonial power Britain, with the help of his lawyer, Amal Clooney. The former leader refused a government request to leave a relative behind to return to serve the rest of his 13-year sentence.
Al-Shabaab raid ‘killed 100 Kenyan troops’
Nairobi: Al-Shabaab militants claimed to have killed more than 100 Kenyan soldiers and taken many others as prisoners when they raided a base in El Adde, close to the borders with Kenya and Ethiopia. Kenyan officials refused to give any details of the casualties in Friday’s dawn assault. Speaking at Wilson airport in Nairobi as wounded soldiers were airlifted home, General Samson Mwathethe, chief of Kenya’s defence forces, admitted that the insurgents had taken prisoners but he refused to say how many.
