"I bring them all together", says Shaikh Mohammed

April 2, 2012

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Dubai, April 2: Following the triumph of Monterosso, ridden by Mikael Barzalona, at the Dubai World Cup main event on Saturday night, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai — the founder of the Godolphin stables which owns Monterosso — spoke exclusively to CNN’s Winning Post prior to and after the Dubai World Cup at the Meydan horse race course the same night.

The Dubai World Cup returned to Godolphin hands after a memorable one-two for Shaikh Mohammed’s racing operation. Monterosso, ridden by Mikael Barzalona, pulled ahead of stablemate Capponi to capture the coveted trophy. Both horses are trained by Mahmood Al Zarooni.

Excerpts from CNN’s Winning Post interview with:

Q: On why he built Meydan and started the Dubai World Cup:

A: “Well we thought about it and it was the horse you know descended from the horse in UAE and the thoroughbred is fantastic, thoroughbreds descending from these horses. So we bring the horse back home.

So actually we race in England, we race in America, we race in Australia, we race in Japan but not all the best horses come together, the Japanese stay home, sometimes they come to England, the Australians stay home, the Americans mostly stay home and also the Europeans. And we thought it if we can make a big Meydan here we can invite them all here and they are – it’s near to them, you know – centralised, so they come and see the magnificent horse race here and compete with all the countries…

Well remember it is in our blood. An Arab with a horse and a falcon… Our love to the horses and that’s why we backed this.”

Q: On thinking the Dubai World Cup would ever become so big:

A: “You have to dream. And our dream, and my dream.”

Q: On his predictions for the outcome of the race:

A: “I feel a lot of competition will be there’s a lot of beautiful horses from America, Europe, Japan, Australia, so you cannot tell. But you know really I am to bring them all together and to see this big party tonight I am honoured.”

Q: On winning the race with Monterosso:

“Yes it is really we haven’t won this race for a few years so to win it really it’s great, great feeling. For me and this is so happy not only for me but for United Arab Emirates and all our people.”

Q: On getting first and second in the race with Monterosso and Capponi:

A: “One-two finish, I mean when they came to the straight I thought will we win or is somebody coming to catch us? But it’s great.”

Q: On Mikael Barzalona (the winning jockey) celebrating before he crossed the finish line:

A: “My heart was in my throat at that time and I didn’t know what to say but thank god we won it and everybody has won — all the country, Ireland won, France won and that’s the racing. I’m double happy now!”


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News Network
January 15,2025

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Another Palestinian journalist has been killed in an Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip, taking the death toll to 205 since early October 2023 when the occupying Tel Aviv regime launched its all-out onslaught against the blockaded coastal sliver.

Local organizations identified the new victim as Ahlam al-Nafed, who recently reported from the besieged Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza for Drop Site News and other media outlets.

She was killed on Tuesday as she was walking to al-Shifa Hospital – the largest medical complex and central hospital in the Gaza Strip, and located in the neighborhood of northern Rimal in Gaza City.

“For the past 100 days, Ahlam chronicled the genocide in northern Gaza, capturing evidence of Israeli war crimes from the besieged Indonesian Hospital.

“Through her words and images, she ensured that atrocities which might have been silenced were brought to light, allowing the world to witness the brutal reality unfolding there,” Drop Site News wrote in a statement published on its X account on Tuesday.

It underlined that Ahlam’s work documenting the attacks on the Indonesian Hospital was irreplaceable.

“She was one of the last remaining voices in northern Gaza — a voice the world desperately needed. Without her, the full extent of Israel’s actions might never have been known,” the statement also read.

For its part, the Indonesian Hospital said, “Ahlam courageously documented the genocide in north Gaza, residing in the medical facility during its siege, taking evidence of war crimes and bearing witness to tell the story with her pictures and her words, many of which we shared with you.”

Journalists working within the Palestinian territory face heightened risks while covering the genocidal war, particularly in light of Israeli ground assaults and airstrikes, as well as challenges such as disrupted communications, shortages of supplies, and power outages.

In the face of these difficulties, Palestinian journalists have continued to document the atrocities of the war, acting as the global community's eyes and ears throughout one of the most deadly wars of the 21st century.

Backed by the United States and its Western allies, Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the Israeli regime in response to its decades-long campaign of oppression against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed at least 46,645 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 110,012 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

On November 21 last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

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News Network
January 22,2025

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Israeli forces have killed at least eight Palestinians and injured 35 others in an attack on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, prompting Hamas to call for full mobilization of Palestinian youths against the occupation forces.

Palestinian media reported that the regime’s forces, backed by helicopters, raided Jenin and its refugee camp on Tuesday morning following several drone strikes.

The spokesman for the Palestinian security forces, Anwar Rajab, said in a statement that Israeli forces had "opened fire on civilians and security forces, resulting in injuries to several civilians and a number of security personnel, one of whom is in critical condition".

Israel’s military also confirmed that its soldiers, police and intelligence services had begun an operation, which Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, described as a "large and significant" operation to "eradicate terrorism.”

The attack on Jenin, where the regime’s forces have carried out multiple raids and large-scale incursions over the past year, comes only two days after the start of a long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

Hamas said in a statement that people in Gaza “mourn the martyrs of Jenin who fell to the fire and bombardment of the occupation.”

The resistance group also urged Jenin’s “rebellious youth to mobilize and escalate confrontations with the Israeli army.”

Hamas said that the offensive “launched by the occupation in Jenin will fail, just like all its previous military operations against our people,” in Gaza.

The resistance group, which fought Israeli forces for 741 days in the besieged Gaza Strip, said its unprecedented operation against the occupied territories in October 2023, was “the final nail in the coffin of the collapsing Israeli regime.”

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News Network
January 19,2025

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The planned ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian Hamas resistance group and Israel has taken effect after deadly strikes by the usurping regime on the Gaza Strip.

The truce deal was set to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time (06:30 GMT) on Sunday to end the 15-month-long Israeli genocidal war on the besieged territory but was delayed for almost three hours. It finally went into effect at 11:15 a.m. local time.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said that it continued to carry out attacks on Gaza as Hamas had not provided a list of captives to be released under the ceasefire.

Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement that the regime’s military “continues to strike within the Gaza area at this time. According to the prime minister’s directives, the ceasefire will not come into effect until Hamas fulfills its commitments.”

He echoed an earlier statement from prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ordered the occupation’s military not to implement the Gaza truce until Hamas issues the names of the Israeli captives to be released.

Meanwhile, Hamas said the delay in handing over the names of the captives is due to “technical and field reasons.”

In a statement issued on Telegram, the resistance group reaffirmed its commitment to the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

Afterwards, Hamas provided a list of the three Israeli captives to be freed later on Sunday.

13 Palestinians killed during ceasefire delay

Gaza’s Civil Defense said 13 people have been killed and more than 30 others injured in the Israeli bombing of Gaza on Sunday morning during the nearly three-hour delay in the start of the ceasefire.

Gaza’s Government Media Office announced that it had begun deploying thousands of Palestinian police officers tasked with maintaining security and order in the blockaded territory.

“Ministries and government institutions are fully prepared to begin work according to the government plan [and] to implement all measures that ensure life returns to normal as soon as possible,” it added.

Israel unleashed its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after Hamas carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

However, the Tel Aviv regime failed to achieve its declared objectives of freeing captives and eliminating Hamas despite killing nearly 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza.

Earlier this week, Israel was forced to agree to a ceasefire, accepting Hamas' longstanding negotiation terms.

The ceasefire deal consists of three phases, each lasting 42 days. Negotiations for the second and third phases will begin 16 days after the implementation of the first phase. 

The first phase will see the release of some 1,900 Palestinian abductees in exchange for 33 Israeli captives held in Gaza. It also requires Israeli occupation forces to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor - also known as the Salah al-Din axis - on the Gaza-Egypt border.

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