MANILA // Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino world boxing champion in seven weight divisions, arrived in Manila this week pondering his future in boxing and a new career in politics. Accompanied by his wife, Jinkee, and the usual host of hangers-on, he was greeted at Manila's airport early on Monday by hundreds of adoring fans who had waited overnight.
His children, Jimuel, Michael and Princess, also welcomed their father while his youngest, Queen Elizabeth, waited back in his home- town of General Santos City with her nanny. During a brief press conference Pacquiao said he would make an announcement soon about his boxing career and whether he would fight the American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. Pacquiao is said to be under a lot of pressure, particularly from his family, to hang his gloves up.
His mother, Dionisia, is understood to have begged her son's promoter, Bob Arum, and trainer, Freddie Roach, to help convince him to call it a day, according to a report carried by GMANews.TV. The Pacquiao matriarch wanted the world's top pound-for-pound boxer to retire after his bloody bout with Miguel Cotto last November. However her plea went unanswered and the Filipino boxing icon went on to fight African boxer Joshua Clottey in Dallas, Texas, last week. The megabuck duel with Mayweather is still being considered but Pacquiao said "I'm in no hurry."
"The fighter in him longs for that multi-million gig and battle for bragging rights with Mayweather but the son in him makes him seriously consider giving in to Mum's wish," GMANews.TV said. His wife also wants him to quit boxing. She said recently: "He has been boxing for 15 years - he has achieved everything he has ever set out to achieve. It's time Manny thinks about the future." Pacquiao said his future boxing plans are "still up in the air".
"I will sit down with my family and discuss everything later," he said without elaborating. Asked when he will fight Mayweather, Pacquiao said: "I came this far in my boxing career without Mayweather. He needs me to bolster his career more than I need him." In keeping with tradition, Pacquiao drove to a packed Catholic church in downtown Manila for a mass after breakfast with close friends and supporters.
He then briefly met President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who gave him a three-layered chocolate cake topped with a replica of his WBO belt. Mrs Arroyo is known to be one of his biggest fans, but not big enough for him to join her party for the elections on May 10. "It is refreshing to see Manny Pacquiao start his political career with the same energy and dedication he shows in the boxing ring," Mrs Arroyo's spokesman, Gary Olivar, said.
Later this week Pacquiao will fly to General Santos City where he will spend some time with his children before embarking on his next fight, this time outside the ring and on the campaign trail as he runs for a congressional seat in Sarangani province for the Nacionalista Party of the presidential contender Manny Villar. Campaigning in the local and congressional elections begins on Friday and for Pacquiao this could be his toughest fight yet.
In the midterm elections in 2007 he was hammered by a woman, Darlene Antonino-Custodio, in the fight for a congressional seat in the first district of South Cotabato, losing 139,061 votes to 75,908. At the time many of his supporters and fans urged him not to run, saying he did more for the Philippines in the ring than if he gave it all up for the dark side of national politics. Apart from running for his own seat Pacquiao is also campaigning for Mr Villar, the richest politician in the country.
"What we need now is a man who rose from poverty, who understands the call of the poor like myself," Pacquiao said in an obvious reference to Mr Villar. Mr Villar, a son of a fish dealer who rose to become one of the country's most powerful men, has made poverty alleviation his principal platform. Pacquiao, who lifted himself out of deep poverty to become one of the world's richest sportsmen, has said helping the poor is also his main motivation in running for Congress.
According to a report by ABS-CBN on its web site, Pacquiao earned US$27.5 million (Dh100m) over the last two years even before his fight with Clottey last week not including pay-per-view earnings. In his fight against Cotto in November, Pacquiao reportedly got a $10m share from the 1.25 million pay-per-view buys the fight generated, ABS-CBN said. foreign.desk@thenational.ae
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)
West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)
Everton v Liverpool (10pm)
Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
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Price, base / as tested: Dhxxx
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Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
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Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
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Engine: Duel electric motors
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SPECS
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