Month: February 2010

Abu Dhabi, February 24: In a fantastic finish, RS Sanjar came up with a fine run to win the Al Wathba Stud Farm race for Private Owners, an event which is part of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage’s (ADACH) Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Flat Racing series.

Trained by Samir Hawa and brilliantly ridden by Safwan Al Reffai, RS Sanjar did very well to beat favourite Das Enbehar by a quarter of a length to win this race which attracted a field of 12 runners.

Abu Dhabi, February 24: Abu Dhabi’s translation project Kalima is expected to step up its activities in the first week of March.

“The KALIMA translation initiative reflects Abu Dhabi’s determination to consolidate the foundations of cultural awareness in a way that is open to the world, and which is based on respect for the achievements of other cultures” said Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH).

London, February 24: James Cameron’s “Avatar” and Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” had battled for best film and best director at the BAFTA awards on Sunday.

Bigelow’s so called Iraq war movie won best film and director awards. It also picked up gongs for original screenplay, cinematography, editing and sound.

Cameron’s computer-animated blockbuster, the world’s biggest-ever grossing movie, won only two awards; for special visual effects and production design.

Khartoum, February 24: Exiled Darfur rebel leader Abdelwahid Nur on Wednesday blasted a ceasefire pact between Sudan and his main rivals in the troubled region as “ceremonial” and said it ignores the security of civilians.

“What peace is it? A ceremonial peace… a struggle to get government posts, but one not interested in fundamentals: guaranteeing the security of the population,” said Nur, who heads the Sudanese Liberation Army.

The ceasefire accord “totally ignores the security of the Darfur population,” Nur, who lives in exile in France, said in a telephonic interview.

Baghdad, February 24: A small number of local NGO officials are running in the 7 March parliamentary elections, prompting accusations by some analysts that they could jeopardize the neutrality of NGOs.

Basil al-Azawi, who heads the Baghdad-based Commission for Civil Society Enterprises (CCSE), an umbrella group for over 1,000 local NGOs, is running on the Al-Iraqiya list, a secular, liberal party led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Dubai, February 24: Police on Wednesday widened their search in the hunt for the assassins of a top Hamas official in a luxury hotel, saying 15 new Western passport holders are now suspects, with the total number sought now 26.

The assassination is widely blamed on Israel’s notorious intelligence service Mossad.

A police statement said the 15, including the holders of six British and three French passports, are being sought after Mahmud al-Mabhuh was found dead on January 20 at a luxury Dubai hotel.

Tel Aviv, February 24: A son of one of the founders of Hamas spied from inside the movement for Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported in its Wednesday edition.

According to extracts of an article to be published on Friday, Israeli agents were able to prevent dozens of attacks thanks to the help of 32-year-old Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef.

Tel Aviv, February 24: The family of US activist Rachel Corrie, run over by an Israeli bulldozer during a demonstration in Gaza in 2003, will sue Tel Aviv over her death, their lawyer said on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old killed at the height of the 2000 Palestinian intifada, or uprising, became an symbol of foreign support for the Palestinian cause and the subject of a 2005 play based on her emails and diary.

Istanbul, February 24: Turkish prosecutors will on Wednesday question some of the suspects arrested over an alleged military coup plot.

The accused will also be brought before a judge to face possible charges over the alleged plot, which investigators say was designed to topple the government, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Police detained more than 40 suspects Monday over a purported plan codenamed “Operation Sledgehammer” which dated back to 2003.

The alleged plot was aimed at bringing down the Justice and Development Party (AKP) administration.

Washington, February 24: The US Supreme Court was urged Tuesday to help pin down the definition of “providing material support to terrorism,” a charge widely used in the United States since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In a case brought by both the government and a rights group, the Humanitarian Law Project, the nine justices were called upon to define what kind of support can be included in such a broad allegation.

The justices however appeared to be just as divided as the lawyers for both sides.

Amman, February 24: It’s late at night and the discotheques, music bars and shisha lounges that have sprouted around Amman are buzzing with clients, belying the city’s old image as the sleepy capital of a conservative kingdom.

Jordan’s increasingly young population is helping shape this new scene, a tamer version of the Middle East’s so-called “sin city”, Beirut, renowned throughout the Arab world for its lively nightlife.

Oslo, February 24: Israel’s nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu has requested that his name be removed from the list of candidates to the Nobel Peace Prize, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute said Wednesday.

“We have received two letters from Vanunu, both this year and last, in which he writes that he does not want to be considered a candidate to the Nobel Peace Prize,” Geir Lundestad said.