“The Negotiators Cook Book” will be published by Sinn Fein in the coming months, and include recipes used during the talks that led to the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland.

“The British never fed us. They never had any food. But as intrepid republicans and being blessed by one or two great cooks these are the recipes that sustained the Irish negotiating team,” Adams told an event in Belfast on Monday night.

“It contains some of the best-kept secrets of the Irish peace process,” he said, in comments reported by the Irish Times newspaper.

Adams tweeted a picture of what appeared to be the front page of the book, saying: “Not 2 Long 2 Christmas. A Wee Taste of a Great Stocking Filler.”

A Sinn Fein spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that the book was genuine.

“I can confirm that he is publishing it. It’s called the Negotiators Cookbook and it’s set to be published by the party in the next few months,” she said.

Adams stepped down as leader of Sinn Fein earlier this year after almost 35 years, during which he went from being the political voice of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to an instrumental peacemaker.

During the bloodiest years of the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland he would defend the actions of paramilitaries and his voice was banned from British airwaves.

But he became a key figure in the peace process and is credited with eventually convincing the IRA to give up their armed campaign for uniting Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, and use purely political means.

Adams has written numerous books and in recent years cultivated a more kindly image with a series of whimsical Twitter comments, including about his dog.

American businessman Kroenke currently owns 67 per cent of the Gunners through his company Kroenke Sports and Entertainment and has offered to purchase the 30 percent held by Usmanov’s Red and White Securities firm, valuing the Premier League club at £1.8billion.

Usmanov confirmed in a statement released to Britain’s Press Association that he had accepted the offer but did not give a reason as to why he has now opted to cash in.

Kroenke, owner of the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL, said having a single owner would benefit the club but fans said it was a “dreadful” day.

Despite cup successes in recent years, Arsenal have slipped behind their rivals in the Premier League and have consistently failed to reach the latter stages of the Champions League.

They have not won the title since 2004 and last season finished sixth, 37 points behind champions Manchester City.

Arsenal, who play City in their season opener on Sunday, are also adjusting to life after Arsene Wenger, who left the club in May after 22 years at the helm, replaced by former Paris Saint-Germain boss Emery.

“We at KSE are moving forward with this offer leading to 100 percent ownership of the club,” Kroenke said in a statement published on the London Stock Exchange.

“We appreciate Mr Usmanov’s dedication to the Arsenal Football Club and the storied ethos and history the club represents.”

Later on Tuesday, Red and White Holdings released their own short statement to confirm the deal.

“I have decided to sell my shares in Arsenal Football Club which could be the best football club in the world,” said Usmanov.

“I wish all the best and great success to this wonderful football club and to all those whose lives and careers are entwined in it.”

– Battle for Arsenal –

The deal brings to an end a battle between billionaires Kroenke and Usmanov for control of the club.

In October last year, KSE offered around £525 million to buy the 18,695 shares held by Usmanov, the Russian businessman who himself attempted to buy out Kroenke in May 2017.

“The successful implementation of the offer will result in the opening of a new chapter in the history of the club in bringing 100 per cent private ownership by KSE,” the statement said.

“KSE believes moving to private ownership will bring the benefits of a single owner better able to move quickly in furtherance of the club’s strategy and ambitions. KSE is a committed, long-term owner of the club.”

Kroenke has been a part-owner of Arsenal since 2007, gradually increasing his stake.

Under Stock Exchange rules, Kroenke will have to make an offer for the remaining minority shares in Arsenal, most of which are small numbers held largely by supporters of the club.

It is not currently mandatory for those shareholders to accept but if Kroenke purchases Usmanov’s percentage, he can then push through a compulsory acquisition.

This would see KSE take those final shares to complete a 100 percent takeover of the club.

The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust issued a strongly worded statement opposing the move.

“Stan Kroenke taking the club private will see the end of supporters owning shares in Arsenal and their role upholding custodianship values,” it said in a statement.

“The AST is also extremely concerned to note that this purchase is being funded by a loan,” it added.

“The most dreadful part of this announcement is the news that Kroenke plans to forcibly purchase the shares held by Arsenal fans. Many of these fans are AST members and hold their shares not for value but as custodians who care for the future of the club.”

Within two hours of the announcement ‘#KroenkeOut’ was trending on Twitter in Britain.

Arsenal great Ian Wright tweeted: “Incredibly sad day for so many of our fan shareholders that no longer own a part of this club.”

The anti-graft agency said in a statement on Tuesday (Aug 7) that the former prime minister had returned to assist their investigations into SRC International Sdn Bhd.

“He will be charged under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (Amla) 2001,” said the MACC.

He arrived to the MACC academy yesterday at 4.58pm with a small a small escort in tow. He left after 45 minutes once he had completed recording his statement.

Earlier Tuesday, photos of Najib’s car leaving his Langgak Duta residence escorted went viral, resulting in heated speculation online.

On July 4, Najib was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of using his position for gratification as part of a probe into money missing from 1MDB. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The charges are related to the RM42mil that allegedly went from SRC International into Najib’s personal bank accounts.

The pledge was made during a two-day meeting on the “National Coordination of Animal Welfare” in Jakarta earlier this month, which was attended by government representatives from the Agriculture Ministry and NGOs.

“All national participants agreed to issue a ban on the trade of dog meat in Indonesia and to prohibit the issuance of health certifications for dog meat for human consumption,” the Dog Meat-Free Indonesia coalition said in a statement to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The coalition comprises local and international pro-animal welfare groups such as the Jakarta Animan Aid Network (JAAN), Animal Friends Jogja (AFJ), Change for Animal Foundation (CFAF), London-based Humane Society International (HSI) and Four Paws (FP). They have long campaigned against dog meat consumption and the cruelty behind the trade.

The results of the meeting, initiated by the ministry’s directorate of veterinary public health, will be used as a recommendation to formulate a ministerial regulation regarding the ban on the dog and cat meat trade as well as other exotic animals in Indonesia. No further details were available as to when the regulation will be issued.

The statement cited the ministry’s director of veterinary public health, Syamsul Ma’arif, who was reported as saying that the trade posed a risk to Indonesia’s international reputation.

“Foreign countries find a low standard of animal welfare and cruelty unacceptable and will stop visiting Indonesia, which is bad for tourism,” he said as quoted by the statement, adding that the trade in dog meat and animals that were not registered as farm animals were illegal.

The coalition commended the move, saying that the regulation would be a victory for animal welfare that it would make Indonesia dog-meat free.

HSI president Kitty Block said the organization applauded the Indonesian government’s pledge to end the brutal dog meat trade.

“We hope that this bold step will send a strong message to other countries across Asia, such as China, South Korea, India and Vietnam where 30 million dogs and 10 million cats suffer unimaginable cruelty for the meat trade, many of them stolen pets,” Block added.

Several regions in the country such as Central Java, Yogyakarta, Bali, North Sumatra and North Sulawesi are known to have dishes made of dog meat that are sold at street food stalls and restaurants. In Surakarta, Central Java, an estimated 1,200 dogs are slaughtered and eaten daily by dog-meat connoisseurs in the city.

Jumpei Yasuda, a 44-year-old freelancer, was kidnapped in the war-torn country in June 2015, and appeared in a rare video that emerged last week warning that he was in a bad situation.

“There are a lot of people in Japan — his family, relatives, friends — waiting for my husband,” his wife Myu told a news conference in Tokyo.

“Please return my husband safe as soon as possible,” she said tearfully. “As his wife, as his family, I want him… to set foot back on Japanese soil.”

Last week Yasuda and captured Italian national Alessandro Sandrini appeared in two separate videos that were similar in their staging.

Both men were wearing orange outfits similar to those of captives in jihadist hostage videos, with armed men whose faces were covered standing behind them.

Myu, wife of Japanese journalist Jumpei Yasuda who went missing in Syria in 2015, speaks during a press conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on August 7, 2018. The wife of a Japanese journalist held captive in Syria for more than three years made an emotional plea for his release on August 7 after he sought immediate help in videos. / AFP PHOTO

The videos did not identify which group was holding the men or include specific demands.

Myu, who married Yasuda in 2008, said she had previously avoided speaking publicly about his abduction for fear she could affect negotiations for his release.

But she said when she watched the video, she felt her husband’s situation was “not optimistic but urgent” and decided to publicly seek his release.

The video also prompted some of the journalist’s friends and family to form a group to free him, campaigning to boost public awareness of the abduction.

Yasuda is thought to have been seized by the group previously known as the Al-Nusra Front, a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, in northern Syria.

But with the shifting territory of Syria’s complicated conflict, it is unclear whether he is still being held by his original abductors or has been transferred to other captors.

In the latest video, he identified himself as Korean and gave a different name, but spoke in Japanese.

He gave the recording date as July 25, saying he was in a bad situation and asking for help.

His wife said she had no idea why Yasuda had identified himself as Korean in the video, but confirmed that it showed him and that he is Japanese.

She said Japanese government officials were in frequent contact with her but she was not aware if a ransom had been demanded.

In 2015 militants from the Islamic State group beheaded Japanese war correspondent Kenji Goto and his friend Haruna Yukawa in Syria.

The Japanese government was criticised for what detractors saw as its flat-footed response to the crisis at the time, including apparently missed opportunities to free both men.

Collectively dubbed the Mendocino Complex, the wildfires have burned through 283,800 acres (114,850 hectares) — an area nearly the size of the sprawling city of Los Angeles — and are just 30 percent contained, according to state fire authority CalFire.

Two people have died in the inferno, taking to 11 the number of people killed by major fires that broke out last month and are still ongoing.

“Today a higher pressure system brought warmer weather, drying, and strong winds to the region,” CalFire said in an update.

“Tonight fire crews will try to … increase suppression and hold current containment lines.”

It was the second fire to break records in the fire-prone, most populous US state in as many years, following the Thomas Fire in December 2017, which destroyed 281,893 acres.

Further north in the state, the deadly Carr Fire has burned through more than 164,400 acres since July 23, and killed another seven people along the way.

Its intensity was so great at one point, that it generated a tornado-like fire storm — as well as its own weather system.

Authorities say it was triggered by the “mechanical failure of a vehicle” that caused sparks to fly in tinderbox-dry conditions.

The fire has razed more than 1,600 buildings, including some 1,000 homes, state officials say.

Fires ‘extremely dangerous’

More than 14,000 firefighters were battling the blazes across the state.

Several thousand people have been evacuated, although some have been given permission in recent days to return to their homes.

The wildfires are “extremely fast, extremely aggressive, extremely dangerous,” said Scott McLean, a deputy chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“Look how big it got, just in a matter of days… Look how fast this Mendocino Complex went up in ranking. That doesn’t happen. That just doesn’t happen.”

Evacuations will continue

Firefighters were battling the Mendocino Complex blaze supported by helicopters and airplanes — including two gigantic DC-10s and a 747 jumbo jet — that doused the flames with water.

The objective of the firefighters is to protect surrounding communities, which have been evacuated. Some 9,300 structures are threatened by fire, while 75 homes have already been destroyed.

“Evacuations are going to continue until is safe” Sheriff Brian Martin said Sunday, without specifying the number of people who had left their homes.

Another major fire, Ferguson, has left two dead and forced the closure of part of the Yosemite national park, and is currently only 38 percent contained.

The weather forecast for the week ahead is not encouraging: very hot and very dry, the perfect conditions for the fires to expand.

The Pentagon announced on Monday it would send 200 soldiers to help firefighters to fight the fires, many of which reached federal lands.

Trump tweet raises eyebrows

President Donald Trump raised eyebrows by tweeting about the wildfires inaccurately, claiming there was not enough water to fight them and appearing to place the blame on environmental laws, not climate change.

“California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amounts of readily available water to be properly utilized,” Trump said.

“It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Must also tree clear to stop fire from spreading!”

“We have plenty of water to fight these wildfires, but let’s be clear: It’s our changing climate that is leading to more severe and destructive fires,” Daniel Berlant, CalFire assistant deputy director, told The New York Times.

The American sports mogul, who already owns 67 per cent of Arsenal through his company KSE, has reached a deal with Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov for the sale of his 30 per cent stake, according to a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

“KSE believes moving to private ownership will bring the benefits of a single owner better able to move quickly in furtherance of the club’s strategy and ambitions,” it said in the statement.

“KSE is a committed, long-term owner of the club”.

Kroenke, owner of the Los Angeles Rams American football team, has been a part-owner of Arsenal since 2007, gradually increasing his stake in the club since.

Uzbekistan-born Usmanov, who made his fortune in the steel industry, had reportedly made previous bids to take control of the club but was repeatedly rebuffed.

He was critical of Kroenke’s passive ownership style, which has been increasingly echoed by Arsenal fans unhappy with what they see as the board’s willingness to settle for on-field mediocrity so long as commercial stability was maintained.

Under takeover rules, if Usmanov accepts the offer it would trigger the sale of the remaining minority shareholders’ shares, many of whom have preserved a small holding for decades, and place the club under the private control of Kroenke.

“We at KSE are moving forward with this offer leading to 100 per cent ownership of the club,” Kroenke said in the LSE statement.

“We appreciate Mr Usmanov’s dedication to the Arsenal Football Club and the storied ethos and history the club represents.”

Further detail of the all-cash offer will be published by KSE later on Tuesday, it said.

    The shallow 6.9-magnitude quake killed at least 98 people and destroyed thousands of buildings in Lombok on Sunday, just days after another deadly tremor surged through the holiday island and killed 17.

Rescuers on Tuesday resumed the search for survivors, and to recover the bodies of victims in the rubble of houses, mosques and schools destroyed in the latest disaster.

More than 20,000 people are believed to have been made homeless on Lombok, with 236 severely injured, and authorities have appealed for more medical personnel and basic supplies.

Emergency crews were Tuesday working through the wreckage of a collapsed mosque in the northern village of Lading-Lading, where authorities fear a number of people are trapped.

At least one body has been recovered from the rubble of the mosque, which was reduced to a pile of concrete and metal bars, with its towering green dome folded in on itself.

Some 4,600 tourists have been evacuated from the Gili Islands, three tiny, coral-fringed tropical islands that lie off the northwest coast of Lombok and are popular with backpackers and divers.

Hundreds crowded onto its powder-white beaches on Monday, desperately awaiting transport off the normally paradise destination. Seven Indonesian holidaymakers died on the largest of the three, Gili Trawangan.

– ‘It was terrible’ –

Margret Helgadottir, a holidaymaker from Iceland, described people screaming as the roof of her hotel on one of the islands collapsed.

“We just froze: thankfully we were outside,” she told AFP tearfully from a harbour in Lombok to where she had been evacuated. “Everything went black, it was terrible.”

Hundreds of weary tourists continued to arrive with their baggage at Bangsal harbour, the main link between Lombok and the Gilis, on Tuesday.

Some said they felt stranded and complained about a lack of coordination and affordable transport to the tourist hub of Senggigi or Lombok’s airport, where dozens slept on the floor overnight awaiting flights out.

“There’s a massive rush of people wanting to get out of Lombok because of unfounded rumours, such as of a tsunami,” Muhammad Faozal, the head of the tourism agency in West Nusa Tenggara province, told AFP.

“We can help tourists to get to the airport but of course we can’t buy them tickets for free,” he said, adding that authorities were providing free accommodation, food and transport to those in need.

Lombok airport’s general manager said airlines had been laying on extra flights since Monday and that his staff had been providing stranded passengers with blankets and snacks.

“We have been doing our best to manage the tourists flocking the airport,” he told AFP. “We are doing our best so we can fly out as many as possible.”

Immigration authorities said that seven foreigners — from Belgium, Britain, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, South Korea and the United States — were injured in the quake and are being treated in hospital.

– Survivors cut off –

Sunday’s shallow tremor sent thousands of residents and tourists scrambling outdoors in Lombok, where many spent the night as strong aftershocks including one of 5.3-magnitude rattled the island.

The quake knocked out power in many areas and parts of the island and remained without electricity on Tuesday.

A lack of heavy equipment and shattered roads have hampered efforts to reach survivors in the mountainous north and east of the island, which had been hardest hit.

Najmul Akhyar, the head of North Lombok district, estimated that 80 percent of that region was damaged by the quake.

Hundreds of bloodied and bandaged victims have been treated outside damaged hospitals in the main city of Mataram and other badly affected areas.

Patients lay on beds under wards set up in tents, surrounded by drip stands and monitors, as doctors in blue scrubs attended to them.

“What we really need now are paramedics, we are short-staffed. We also need medications,” Supriadi, a spokesman for Mataram general hospital, told AFP on Monday.

Indonesia, one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations, straddles the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide and many of the world’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

In 2014, a devastating tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in western Indonesia killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, received Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and party at her office in Nay Pyi Taw on August 6 and they held a joint press conference.

Regarding the question of a Japanese journalist, Aung San Suu Kyi replied, “Dr Kofi Annan’s Commission proposed 88 points. More than 80 points have been already implemented. The commission already mentioned that remaining six to seven points were considered as long-term matters and therefore they would be undertaken through a step-by-step approach. We would carry out the tasks like so. Short-term and long-term matters could be witnessed in the report of Kofi Annan’s report. Citizenship is also the same matter.

“The central committee was formed to carry out rule of law and development since our government took office. We formed it as we knew how to deal with long-term issues in Rakhine. Just before the start of the central committee, the first terrorist attacks occurred along with other issues. We will have to tackle the problems step by step.”

She added that the independent investigation commission would be given exclusive rights to carry out

its work and that its members were qualified and she expressed her hope that other friendly countries, including Japan, would offer technical assistance to the commission.

Our government has to listen to different kinds of views and voices. The people outside of the country can view as they like. The government inside the country has to take all different views into consideration and has to seek a certain solution capable of dealing with all problems. We hear voices that our government must do much work. There is an effort to get a solution between two communities, but it will take some time to implement this matter, said Aung San Suu Kyi.

Rakhine issue is very complex. In addition to human rights and humanitarian matters, it is required to eradicate poverty facing the whole Rakhine State. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has an enormous capacity, said Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono.

But steps, including bringing harmony between the two communities in Rakhine State, need to be firm in the long-run. The government of Japan will work together with Myanmar government, which is trying to resolve difficult issues, and will explain Myanmar’s efforts to the international community, said Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono.

China will allow international students at Chinese universities nationwide to take part-time jobs during their studies to make the country’s higher educational system more attractive, the Ministry of Education said in a statement provided to China Daily exclusively.

The government has been introducing a number of exploratory changes allowing international students in Beijing and Shanghai to take part-time jobs or internships off campus as long as they obtain approval from their academic institutions and the entry and exit administrative authorities.

In 2015, Shanghai, one of the educational innovators, implemented a pilot policy that enables international students who have graduated from a Chinese university to accept internships or to start their own business in the Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone for up to two years after graduation.

One year later, the city further eased the restriction and started to allow international students to start a business at the zone during their studies.

In 2016, the Ministry of Public Security implemented new policies to allow foreign students recommended by their host universities in Beijing to take part-time jobs with companies in the city’s Zhongguancun Science Park or become involved in entrepreneurship in the area, where they get an annotation of “entrepreneurship” added to their student visa.

In early 2017, the central government introduced a program for international students with postgraduate degrees or who had attended “well-known” universities to obtain Chinese work permits after graduation. Previously, international students and those with degrees obtained overseas had to have a minimum of two years’ work experience outside China before they could apply for a work visa.

Wang Huiyao, director of the Center for China and Globalization, an independent think tank based in Beijing, said it makes sense for the country to more broadly expand such innovative policies since it serves the strategy of reinvigorating China’s workforce development.

While these changes to visa policies are quite small and specifically targeted, they are positive signs that the government is considering opening up more opportunities for international students to undertake part-time work during their studies and have work opportunities upon graduation.

Foreign employees can give domestic enterprises an advantage as they expand overseas, plus it’s only logical that these graduates want to put into practice what they have learned, he added.

Fang Ruting of the international students office at Renmin University of China in Beijing said there is an increasing demand for international students at the university to apply for internships to take advantage of China’s rapid development.

The university has worked with large State-owned enterprises, multinational corporations and embassies in China to secure internship opportunities for international students, she said.

Australian student Thomas Linnette described the relaxed policies as a “welcome change” and said he expects there will be a large increase in students seeking part-time jobs and new graduates seeking employment in China.

The 21-year-old Tsinghua University student finished an internship at consultancy firm KPMG, where he analyzed China’s outbound investment trends. He will soon start another internship at ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing.

“I love China. I have a girlfriend here, and I’m ready to start my life here with her after I graduate,” he said.

“China is growing quite fast, with new and innovative industries springing up every day,” Linnette added. “I want to seize this growth opportunity and grow with China.”