Ahmed Rizvi
Last Updated: November 23. 2009 12:11AM UAE / November 22. 2009 8:11PM GMT
The Brazilian team celebrates at the podium. Jeffrey Biteng / The National
DUBAI // Brazil won their fourth consecutive Beach Soccer World Cup title last night with a 10-5 victory over Switzerland.
Egged on by a packed house, the Brazilians opened up an early 3-0 lead and never looked back. The Swiss, making their first appearance at the World Cup, tried their best to make a fight of it.
Outnumbered in the stands, the Swiss were outpunched on the pitch as Andre, Buru and Betinho got a brace for the winners, while Benjamin, Daniel, Sidney and Bueno scored one apiece. Swiss captain Mo Jaeggy, as well as Stephan Meier, Michael Rodrigues, Angelo Schirinzi and Dejan Stankovic scored for the runners-up.
The defeat was a rude awakening for the Swiss, who must have harboured dreams of an upset after running Brazil close in the group stages earlier.
The Samba Boys, however, were unstoppable on the night, defending with ease the title they have won for the past three years.
Earlier, in the play-off for the bronze, Portugal defeated Uruguay 14-7 in a goal-fest that was the perfect lead-up to the final.
Madjer, the Portuguese captain, rewrote the record books with seven goals, the most in a World Cup match. The 32-year-old held the earlier mark of six goals.
arizvi@thenational.ae
Original Link: http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091123/NATIONAL/711229842/1010
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Sunday, November 22, 2009
Expats rush for ID cards after warning
Anna Zacharias
Last Updated: November 23. 2009 9:53AM UAE / November 23. 2009 5:53AM GMT
Expatriates worried that they may be refused driving licences and vehicle registrations are queueing to get their ID cards. Pawan Singh / The National
RAS AL KHAIMAH // Long queues stretched around government offices in the Northern Emirates yesterday as expatriates scrambled to comply with the new requirement for a national identification card.
After a lukewarm response to repeated attempts to persuade residents to register for the cards, the Emirates Identity Authority announced a fortnight ago that it would take a tougher approach.
From this week, anyone without the cards will be denied driving licence and vehicle registration services in RAK, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm al Qaiwain.
Most Emiratis already have the cards, which are not yet required to access services in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
But others have been slow in applying. Around 400,000 expatriate professionals are thought to have missed a February deadline to have the cards.
However, with the threat of services being withdrawn, the story yesterday was different.
A crowd gathered even before the RAK Identity Authority office opened at 7.30am, as many who missed out last week were determined not be turned away again.
Within minutes of the doors being unlocked, every seat in the men’s section of the registration centre was taken.
Dozens of men stood shuffling with their papers, some waiting hours to be interviewed, photographed and fingerprinted.
“We came yesterday at 8.30 and it was so full,” said Naveen Sreeram, a 35-year-old purchasing executive at RAK Ceramics, as he waited in the family section with his wife and year-old daughter.
“We came here at 7.30 today when it opened. Because of our family, we got first preference to be helped and now we’ve almost finished.”
Even with first preference, it took more than three hours.
Many expatriates put off registration for months, but now that the card is needed for services, they are facing the inevitable.
“Every day more and more people come here from all the emirates,” said Esmaeel Hashem, the registration centre supervisor.
“A lot of people come from Dubai and Sharjah, but today most are from RAK.
“With appointments and walk-ins, we normally have around 50 a day. Today, I think it’s around 300. Last week was the same.”
His estimate did not include groups of up to 50 brought in by companies who wanted to ensure their employees met the deadline.
Last month, the Identity Authority announced it would merge labour cards, residency permits and driving licences within the national ID card from next July.
But many still consider the ID card an unnecessary inconvenience.
“We had to come today just to avoid any penalties,” said Najeeb Hamayun, 25, a Pakistani payroll officer who came with about 30 colleagues from his company. “But we still don’t know what the benefit of this card is.”
As he was given his number and shuffled off to another room, he sighed. “Looking at this situation, maybe we will be here until the evening,” he said.
Meanwhile, the marble halls of the Traffic and Licensing Department were filled with those hoping to beat the deadline. Officers gave many a one-day grace period, but from today there will be no exceptions, they said.
In a typical day, the
Original Link: http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091123/NATIONAL/711229858/1010
Last Updated: November 23. 2009 9:53AM UAE / November 23. 2009 5:53AM GMT
Expatriates worried that they may be refused driving licences and vehicle registrations are queueing to get their ID cards. Pawan Singh / The National
RAS AL KHAIMAH // Long queues stretched around government offices in the Northern Emirates yesterday as expatriates scrambled to comply with the new requirement for a national identification card.
After a lukewarm response to repeated attempts to persuade residents to register for the cards, the Emirates Identity Authority announced a fortnight ago that it would take a tougher approach.
From this week, anyone without the cards will be denied driving licence and vehicle registration services in RAK, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm al Qaiwain.
Most Emiratis already have the cards, which are not yet required to access services in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
But others have been slow in applying. Around 400,000 expatriate professionals are thought to have missed a February deadline to have the cards.
However, with the threat of services being withdrawn, the story yesterday was different.
A crowd gathered even before the RAK Identity Authority office opened at 7.30am, as many who missed out last week were determined not be turned away again.
Within minutes of the doors being unlocked, every seat in the men’s section of the registration centre was taken.
Dozens of men stood shuffling with their papers, some waiting hours to be interviewed, photographed and fingerprinted.
“We came yesterday at 8.30 and it was so full,” said Naveen Sreeram, a 35-year-old purchasing executive at RAK Ceramics, as he waited in the family section with his wife and year-old daughter.
“We came here at 7.30 today when it opened. Because of our family, we got first preference to be helped and now we’ve almost finished.”
Even with first preference, it took more than three hours.
Many expatriates put off registration for months, but now that the card is needed for services, they are facing the inevitable.
“Every day more and more people come here from all the emirates,” said Esmaeel Hashem, the registration centre supervisor.
“A lot of people come from Dubai and Sharjah, but today most are from RAK.
“With appointments and walk-ins, we normally have around 50 a day. Today, I think it’s around 300. Last week was the same.”
His estimate did not include groups of up to 50 brought in by companies who wanted to ensure their employees met the deadline.
Last month, the Identity Authority announced it would merge labour cards, residency permits and driving licences within the national ID card from next July.
But many still consider the ID card an unnecessary inconvenience.
“We had to come today just to avoid any penalties,” said Najeeb Hamayun, 25, a Pakistani payroll officer who came with about 30 colleagues from his company. “But we still don’t know what the benefit of this card is.”
As he was given his number and shuffled off to another room, he sighed. “Looking at this situation, maybe we will be here until the evening,” he said.
Meanwhile, the marble halls of the Traffic and Licensing Department were filled with those hoping to beat the deadline. Officers gave many a one-day grace period, but from today there will be no exceptions, they said.
In a typical day, the
Original Link: http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091123/NATIONAL/711229858/1010
Road accidents the leading cause of brain injuries in Dubai
Dubai Medical College students share findings on head trauma during a University of Sharjah medical conference
- By Rania Moussly, Staff reporter
- Published: 00:00 November 22, 2009
- Thirty to forty-year-olds are the leading age group suffering severe head injuries
- Image Credit: Regi Varghese, Gulf News
Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries in Dubai according to research findings of Dubai Medical College (DMC) students. Falls and assaults account for the second and third highest number of such injuries, the students said at the Fourth UAE Medical Students Conference held at the University of Sharjah last week.
The five female medical students assessed patients admitted to the Rashid Hospital Emergency Unit for four months, following which they reported 1,330 head injury cases with 13 fatalities in their findings.
"When we investigated if any research had been done in the UAE on head injuries there was none," said Nida Rashid, a fifth year student, explaining the focus on head trauma.
Study results
Under the supervision of the head of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Rashid Hospital Dr Raees Ahmad, the students put together a report titled "A prospective review of the incidences, causes and outcomes of traumatic brain injury in Dubai". They will publish their final results after running the study for a year.
The students classified head injury patients into mild, moderate and severe categories according to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) that objectively records the conscious state of a person. They then followed up on each individual over 28 days.
Their study revealed that 96 per cent of the patients admitted with head injuries were classified as mild while three per cent were severe. A majority of both the mild and severe cases was male.
The leading nationality of those suffering moderate head injuries was Pakistani males between the ages of 20 and 30; the leading cause reported as traffic accidents.
Almost 50 per cent of severe head injury cases resulted from road accidents; 22 per cent were pedestrians involved in collisions. The leading age group for severe head injuries was the 30-40 range.
"One of the main things we were interested in was the mode of injury and how we can prevent it," said Zeynab Mouziri.
She said many of the pedestrians injured and killed were children. She gave Campus Notes examples of cases where people, mostly labourers and construction workers, suffer falls. "Let us do something for them," she said. "Let us educate them so they can have more safety."
Accident figures
50% of severe head injuries are caused by road accidents
19,493 trauma patients admitted to the emergency room at Rashid Hospital in four months
1,330 of the patients sent to the emergency room suffered head injuries
Original Link: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/education/road-accidents-the-leading-cause-of-brain-injuries-in-dubai-1.530675
Rain hits parts of Dubai and Sharjah
Light rain also fell in Jebel Ali, but the rest of the country experienced dry weather
- By Mahmood Saberi, Senior Reporter, Gulf News
- Published: 16:28 November 22, 2009
- Raindrops on car window and heavy rain clouds loom during the first rain shower of the winter season in Dubai.
- Image Credit: Oliver Clarke, Gulf News
Dubai: The season’s first light showers were experienced on the coastal parts of Dubai and Sharjah on Sunday and the Dubai Met office announced that “winter is here’ and warned of strong Westerly winds.
Light rain also fell in Jebel Ali, but the rest of the country was dry.
A marine warning will be issued starting on Monday for the offshore area as it will experience strong westerly winds of between 20 to 25 knots.
“The seas will be rough,” said the duty forecaster, noting the warning will for the next 48 hours.
“This is the first of the North Westerly cold draughts," he said. Temperature will drop to 27 degrees Celcius for the next three days. Nights will be cooler.
Original Link: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/environment/rain-hits-parts-of-dubai-and-sharjah-1.530948
Shaikh Mohammad leaves for UK
- WAM
- Published: 14:37 November 22, 2009
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is leaving the UAE today on an official visit to the UK on which he will meet Queen Elizabeth II.
Leading a senior delegation, Shaikh Mohammad will hold talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on means of cooperation between the two nations.Original Link: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/government/shaikh-mohammad-leaves-for-uk-1.530882
Ex-minister acquitted of defrauding Lebanese woman
Dubai Public prosecution, businesswoman lose appeal.
- By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter, Gulf News
- Published: 11:49 November 22, 2009
- Image Credit: Gulf News
Dubai: The Dubai Public Prosecution (DPP) and a Lebanese businesswoman lost their appeal against an ex-minister and two managers who were acquitted of defrauding the businesswoman by the Dubai Appeals Court on Sunday.
Presiding Judge Adnan Al Farra acquitted the Emirati former state minister, K.B., American general manager S.A., and Indian finance manager, P.M., of swindling and misleading the businesswoman, M.J., to waive her stake in an information technology firm.
"K.B., S.A. and P.M. are innocent of the charge of swindling. The court rejected [the] DPP's appeal. The court also dismissed M.J.'s appeal in civil rights, regarding the swindling charge, because it fell beyond the criminal court's jurisdiction.
"The claimant in civil right has to pay court fees and Dh1,000 lawyers' fees as well," Presiding Judge Al Farra said yesterday as he delivered the verdict.
The appeal's verdict is still subject to appeal within 30 days before the Cassation Court, which is regarded as Dubai's highest and final prosecution stage.
Yesterday's verdict followed an almost two-month long retrial before the Appeals Court.
In July, the Dubai Court of Cassation overturned the acquittal of the three defendants and ordered a new panel of appeal judges to hold a retrial — concerning the swindling charge.
K.B., S.A. and P.M. had pleaded not guilty and denied the charge of swindling and defrauding M.J. by coercing her into waiving her late brother's stake in the company.
The Cassation Court's eight-judge jury had rejected the appeal submitted by the DPP and M.J. to overturn the acquittal of the former minister concerning the charge of breach of trust.
K.B.'s advocates Samir Jaafar and Hussain Al Jazeri, and lawyer Abdul Moneim Bin Suwaidan, who represented S.A. and P.M., challenged the request of the claimants in civil right during the retrial. Advocates Essam Al Tamimi and Hassan Arab, M.J.'s legal representative in civil rights, asked for the cross-examination of some witnesses during the retrial.
"My client didn't defraud or deceive the businesswoman who was aware that my client partnered her late brother in an information technology company, before she willingly waived her stake.
Waiver
"When she signed the wavier agreement, she was fully aware that K.B. was her brother's partner," Jaafar argued before the court.
During the retrial, the managers' lawyer Bin Suwaidan said: "M.J. was aware of the counter agreement [signed between K.B. and her late brother H.J.] before she presented it to the Misdemeanors Court and before she signed the waiver in 2005."
In May, the Dubai Appeals Court acquitted the defendants of swindling the woman. The Appeals Court then scrapped the initial verdict — two-year jail terms for each of the defendants — and acquitted the trio.
Judiciary issues: How the courts work
The Dubai criminal courts go through three prosecution stages. These are the Courts of First Instance, Appeal and Cassation.
The Court of First Instance's judgment is subject to appeal before a higher court [the Appeal Court] within 15 days. Meanwhile the Appeal Court's verdict is subject, within 30 days, to appeal before the highest court [the Cassation Court]. According to the Criminal Procedures Law, a suspect and/or Dubai Public Prosecution are the only parties who have the legal ground to appeal court verdicts before the Courts of Appeal and Cassation.
Under certain circumstances, the Cassation Court has the capacity to order a retrial by a new panel of appeal judges.
Victims who inflict any damage caused by a defendant in a criminal case could appeal a criminal court judgment — as long as they present themselves as claimants in civil rights. They can do this by lodging a civil lawsuit before the criminal court and seek temporary compensation.
Original Link: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/ex-minister-acquitted-of-defrauding-lebanese-woman-1.530853
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Flights for Haj unaffected by H1N1 threat
Fear of vaccine intense despite announcements by WHO and health officials that they are safe and have no side effects
- By Mahmood Saberi, Senior Reporter, Gulf News
- Published: 00:00 November 18, 2009
- Reader comments (0)
- Saudi Arabia has made it mandatory that all Haj pilgrims be vaccinated against the H1N1 virus.
- Image Credit: Arshad Ali/Gulf News
Dubai The new flu scare has not affected Haj flights from Dubai where plane-loads of pilgrims are leaving daily on Emirates and Saudi flights bound for the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.
Scores of elderly Hajis could be seen in the crowd despite advisories from health ministers of Arab nations that the aged and the young should not go on the pilgrimage this year, as precautionary measures against the H1N1 virus.
Saud, 19, who is going on Haj for the first time, said he was not scared about H1N1. "We are taking all precautions," he said. The pilgrim is going with his mother and brother. "We have to go," he said.
For some reason the pilgrims seemed more worried about taking the H1N1 vaccine than contracting the disease. Saudi Arabia has made it mandatory that all pilgrims be vaccinated against the new flu.
The fear of the vaccine is intense despite announcements by the World Health Organisation and Ministry of Health officials that the vaccines are safe and have no side effects.
Doctors on call
Scores of Dubai Health Authority doctors are on call at the airport terminals to check if the pilgrims have been vaccinated. Additionally, all Hajis would need to take meningitis C vaccinations too.
A thermal scanner has been put in place at a special counter for the pilgrims — anyone with a temperature higher than 38.5 degree Celsius is sent to a catchment area for treatment before they can board the flight.
However, the rush of pilgrims continues and is so intense that Emirates Airlines is considering scheduling extra flights soon, airline sources said. Presently, Emirates is running five flights to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and two flights to Madinah every day.
About 6,000 pilgrims are expected to leave from Dubai International Airport's Terminal 1 and 3 within the next few days. Terminal 1 is specifically for pilgrims travelling on Saudi Arabian Airlines. The last Haj flight from Dubai is on November 26. Nearly two million people are expected to go for Haj this year.
Have you been vaccinated? Are you planning to go for Haj? Or have you changed your plans because of the H1N1 virus?
Original Link: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/flights-for-haj-unaffected-by-h1n1-threat-1.528874
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