Month: December 2009

Baghdad, December 07: At least six Iraqi policemen have lost their lives in the latest string of terrorist attacks targeting security forces across Iraq.

In the first development, two members of Iraqi police personnel were killed on Sunday after a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) ripped through southern Kirkuk.

The explosion happened on al-Korneesh Street while an emergency police patrol vehicle was passing the location. The incident claimed the lives of two security agents and inflicted heavy damage to the vehicle they were aboard, according to Brig. Sarhad Qadir.

Kabul, December 07: A new Human Rights Watch report has criticized Afghanistan’s government for failing to protect women from crimes such as rape and murder.

“Women will not seek help because of their fears of police abuse and corruption, or their fears of retaliation by perpetrators of violence,” said the report, which was published Monday.

The situation for women in Afghanistan is dismal in every area, according to the report that is based on 120 interviews from different provinces.

Mogadishu, December 07: Two top military commanders have been sacked in Somalia four days after a bomb killed three ministers in the capital of the Horn of Africa nation.

Somalia’s transitional government had already been debating for several weeks over the dismissal of police commander Abdi Hassan Awale and military commander Yusuf Hussein to bolster security.

Former diplomat Ali Mohamed Hassan is now to take on the role of police commander while senior military colonel Mohamed Gelle Kahiye has been appointed as Somalia’s military commander, a government spokesman announced on Sunday.

Jeddah, December 07: The Muslim Hajj for 2009 is already over, and most of the nearly 3 million participants have returned to their countries of origin.

Baghdad, December 07: Iraqi lawmakers have approved plans to hold parliament elections early next year that are seen as an important step toward political reconciliation and easing the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The vote-during an emergency session convened just before a midnight deadline-followed marathon talks by political leaders to break an impasse over balloting provisions that would satisfy the nation’s rival groups.

Jerusalem, December 07: A new type of Russian-made rocket was fired into southern Israel from the Islamist Hamas-run Gaza Strip for the first time on Sunday, but it caused neither casualties nor damage, military radio said.

It said the S5K rocket was of the kind usually fired by helicopters, but that it had been modified to be launched from the ground. The army did not immediately confirm or deny the attack.

Gaza-based Palestinian militant groups usually fire home-made “Qassam” rockets into Israel.

West Bank, December 07: With a desperate look in his eyes, Ghazi Dodeen is gazing at his house in the West Bank village of Hijra.

“I have always dreamed of building this house on this land,” Dodeen told. “Now, I’m asked to either demolish it by my own hands of let Israeli bulldozers do it.”

The helpless Palestinian man received an order from occupation authorities to demolish the house by himself or get Israeli bulldozers bring it down.

Dubai, December 07: An office supervisor at a heavy truck transport company accused a worker of stealing Dh450,000 belonging to the company.

The 25-year-old Indian worker on a visit visa here stood trial on the charge of theft in the Court of First Instance on Sunday.

His accomplice, an Indian driver, 27, also went on trial on the charge of possession of stolen money.

The Pakistani supervisor alleged that on August 26 he was assigned by the company’s manager to withdraw the money from the company’s account and was about to transfer it to the Netherlands.

Ras Al Khaimah, December 07: Ras Al Khaimah authorities have warned fishermen of stiff penalties against catching baby fish, after the RAK Municipality inspectors came upon a large haul of baby fish being sold in fish markets recently.

Dubai, December 07: The UAE is debating a reordering of priorities in administering the H1N1 vaccine when it resumes the national immunisation campaign after a long Haj and Eid break, according to a senior health official.

The country might not inoculate the entire healthcare workforce in the
first phase.

Priority will now be given to those working in the critical care units in hospitals followed by pregnant women, those with chronic diseases or underlying conditions and then children.

Dubai, December 07: A federal law on food is being studied to better ensure food safety, said the Minister of Environment 
and Water.

Organic food experts on Sunday also called for government body to verify organic food produced in the UAE to boost consumer confidence. Dr Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, environment minister, in a statement on official news agency Wam, said the safety of food, produced locally or imported from abroad, needed to be guaranteed.

Fahad said new food markets presented threats including the emergence of pollutants and diseases.

Ajman, December 07: A doctor is being interrogated by the Ajman Public Prosecution over a case in which a man was allegedly punched and in due course suffered severe eye damage, a senior official said.

The health ministry has expressed concern about the case and said strict legal action should be taken if fault was found. The ministry has said it will bear all costs in Hassan’s treatment.

Imran Hassan, a 22-year-old Emirati, was allegedly punched by a doctor at GMC hospital last Wednesday. Hassan suffered severe damage to his eye and had to go through an operation.

Dubai, December 07: The next time you are inclined to stand at a jaunty angle and take pictures of an iconic leaning tower, head to Abu Dhabi — not Rome where the Leaning Tower of Pisa, one
of the world’s most recognisable building, leans.

The tipsy tower, as some call the 185-foot-tall white marble Tower of Pisa, was not supposed to lean. It was an accident.

Dubai, December 07: Textiles that have been worn traditionally by native Inuits in the frozen tundra region of Northern Canada could soon be available to residents of the UAE, never mind the high temperatures for most part of the year.

A delegation from the Canadian company Inuk Art Souk, headed by Inuit MP Peter Ittinuar, is in Dubai scouting for potential buyers for its products.

On offer is seal fur and Qiviaq pelts from goats, which Steven Cooper, a director of the company said, was an equivalent to cashmere and costs Dh1,050 when sold in scarves.

Dubai, December 07: While philosophers have beaten their brains out over centuries, the younger generation has another way to seek the meaning of life: Google it.

According to statistics from Google, among the top 10 UAE internet searches over the last year include the questions ‘what is life?’ and ‘what is love?’

“People type anything into Google, even the big questions of life,” said Gaurav Aidasani, Managing Director of internet marketing firm Cosmos Star Consultants.