Tag Archives: entertainment
Oil slick after diesel tanker overturns
Oil slick after diesel tanker overturns Ahmed Shaaban / 31 August 2013 An Asian man sustained several injuries after the diesel tanker he was driving overturned, spilling its contents, in Ras Al Khaimah on Thursday night. According to a senior police officer, the traffic accident, the second in a month, damaged part of the concrete median of the Etihad bridge where the tanker overturned. Lt-Col Ahmed Al Samm Al Naqbi, Acting Director of the RAK Traffic and Patrols Department, said the tanker driver was to be blamed for the mishap as he was the one who lost control over the steering wheel and crashed into the concrete median. “He veered off the road, ran into and broke part of the concrete median of the bridge, and overturned on the left side.” The Central Operations Room of the RAK Police, on being alerted about the accident, dispatched the police, traffic patrols, and rescue teams to the scene. “The rescue team safely pulled out the injured driver who was stuck in the damaged tanker, and shifted him to the hospital for treatment and medical care.” Lt-Col Al Naqbi said all the diesel that the tanker was carrying spilled on to the road, covering a wide area. “The concerned authorities, in collaboration with the RAK Civil Defence department, swiftly swung in action and cleaned the road, ensuring a smooth flow of traffic.” The authorities closed the road under the bridge after the accident and shifted the tanker hanging up from the middle on the bridge wall. Al Naqbi urged all motorists and truck drivers to be more cautious and attentive on the road and abide by the set rules and regulations. “Heavy truck drivers are advised to take enough rest when they feel tired, sleepy or unwell so as not to put their lives or the lives of other road users in danger.” Earlier this month, a collision between a water tanker and pick-up truck, had damaged a 55-metre-long concrete part of the Etihad Bridge, in the direction of Al Faisal Road. The pick-up driver, a 75-year-old Emirati man, received several injuries due to the accident. Director-General of Central Operations at the RAK Police Brigadier Ghanem Ahmed Ghanem, said the 33-year old driver of the water tanker, also received minor injuries and was to blame for the accident. A tougher unified traffic law with higher fines and a black points system was implemented in 2008 all over the country, in order to encourage safer driving, especially amid the high incidence of traffic accidents involving heavy duty vehicles. ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
UN experts quit Syria as Obama weighs strike
UN experts quit Syria as Obama weighs strike AFP / 31 August 2013 UN experts probing a suspected chemical weapons attack quit Syria on Saturday, opening a window into a possible US strike after Washington concluded the Damascus regime unleashed posion gas on civilians. The 13 inspectors, led by Ake Sellstrom , left their Damascus hotel before dawn and crossed early morning into Lebanon at the town of Chtaura in a convoy of vehicles, an AFP reporter said. They are due to report back immediately to UN chief Ban Ki-moon , who has appealed to the West to allow time for their findings to be assessed. Their departure heightened expectations of a US-led military strike on the Syrian regime, after US President Barack Obama on Friday gave his clearest indication yet that an attack was imminent. “We cannot accept a world where women and children and innocent civilians are gassed on a terrible scale,” Obama told reporters at the White House. “We are looking at the possibility of a limited, narrow act,” he said, while stressing no final decision had been taken on unleashing military strikes against Bashar Al Assad’s regime. His remarks came after the United States released an intelligence report that concluded the regime had launched a chemical onslaught in the suburbs of Damascus last week, killing 1,429 people, including at least 426 children. “This kind of attack is a challenge to the world,” Obama said. “The world has an obligation to make sure we maintain the norm against the use of chemical weapons,” the president said, slamming the failure of the UN Security Council to agree on action. Obama said he was looking at a “wide range of options” but had ruled out “boots on the ground” or a “long-term campaign.” France gave its backing to the US plans, saying a “strong message” should be sent to the Assad regime, but British lawmakers have voted against any involvement in military action and other close US allies said they would not sign up. Russia, Syria’s most powerful ally, has questioned US intelligence about the August 21 gas attacks and has warned against any military strikes without UN backing. US Secretary of State John Kerry cited “multiple streams of intelligence” indicating that the Syrian government had carried out the chemical attack and that Assad himself is the “ultimate decision maker”. Kerry said failure to act would not only erode the nearly century-old norm against the use of chemical weapons, but would embolden Syrian allies Iran and Hezbollah. But the United States, faced with an impasse at the Security Council and the British parliament’s shock vote Thursday, has been forced to look elsewhere for international partners. While Germany and Canada ruled out joining any military strikes, French President Francois Hollande — whose country was a strident opponent of the US-led war on Iraq — said the British decision would not affect his government’s stance. Hollande said he and Obama “agreed that the international community cannot tolerate the use of chemical weapons, that it should hold the Syrian regime accountable for it and send a strong message.” Turkey, Syria’s neighbour, went further still, demanding not just surgical strikes to send a message about chemical weapons but a sustained campaign to topple the regime. Gruesome pictures of some of the reported victims of the attacks, including children, have shocked the world and piled on the pressure for a response that could draw a reluctant West into the vicious Syrian civil war. But Russia and Iran, and even some US allies, have warned against any intervention, saying it risks sparking a wider conflict. The military buildup continued, with US warships armed with cruise missiles converging on the eastern Mediterranean. In Damascus, the mood was heavy with fear and security forces were making preparations for possible air strikes, pulling soldiers back from potential targets. The capital’s streets were largely empty on Saturday with few cars or pedestrians, although this is normal for the second day of the Syrian weekend. Residents were seen stocking up with fuel for generators in case utilities are knocked out in any military strike. The sound of bombardments in the distant suburbs could be heard, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting shelling near Beit Sahem, on the way to the international airport; Al Nabak in the north and in East Ghouta, one of the sites of the suspected poison gas attacks. Syria has denied using chemical weapons and the foreign ministry said that the US intelligence report was “entirely fabricated stories” spread by “terrorists” — its term for rebels. More than 100,000 people have died since the conflict erupted in March 2011 and two million have become refugees, half of them children, according to the United Nations. Continue reading
Obama says world cannot stand by on Syria
Obama says world cannot stand by on Syria (AFP) / 31 August 2013 President Barack Obama insisted that war weariness cannot excuse world powers from their duty to punish Syria after the gassing to death of hundreds of women and children. US President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with Baltic leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington on August 30, 2013. While he said he had made no “final decision” on taking military action against Bashar Al Assad’s regime, Obama gave his clearest indication yet that a “narrow, limited” attack is imminent. His remarks came after the United States released an intelligence report that concluded the regime had launched a chemical onslaught in the suburbs of Damascus last week, killing 1,429 people, including at least 426 children. “This kind of attack is a challenge to the world,” Obama told reporters at the White House. “We cannot accept a world where women and children and innocent civilians are gassed on a terrible scale,” he said, calling the attack a threat to US “national security interests.” “The world has an obligation to make sure we maintain the norm against the use of chemical weapons,” he said, slamming the failure of the UN Security Council to agree on action. Obama said he was looking at a “wide range of options” but had ruled out “boots on the ground” or a “long-term campaign.” “We are looking at the possibility of a limited, narrow act,” he said. France gave its backing to the US plans, saying a “strong message” should be sent to the Assad regime, but British lawmakers had already voted against any involvement in military action and other close US allies said they would not sign up. Russia, Syria’s most powerful ally, has questioned US intelligence about the August 21 gas attacks and has warned against any military strikes without UN backing. In Damascus, UN experts completed their investigation into the attacks east of the capital and said they would “expedite” a report on whether chemical weapons had been used there. The team is due to leave the war-battered country on Saturday and report back immediately to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who has appealed to the West to allow time for their findings to be assessed. US Secretary of State John Kerry cited “multiple streams of intelligence” indicating that the Syrian government had carried out the chemical attack and that Assad himself is the “ultimate decision maker.” But the United States, faced with an impasse at the Security Council and the British parliament’s shock vote on Thursday, has been forced to look elsewhere for international partners. While Germany and Canada ruled out joining any military strikes, French President Francois Hollande said the British decision would not affect his government’s stance. Hollande said he and Obama “agreed that the international community cannot tolerate the use of chemical weapons, that it should hold the Syrian regime accountable for it and send a strong message.” Turkey, Syria’s neighbour, went further still, demanding not just surgical strikes to send a message about chemical weapons but a sustained campaign to topple the regime. “A limited operation cannot be satisfactory for us,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying by the NTV news channel. Gruesome pictures of some of the reported victims of the attacks, including children, have shocked the world and piled on the pressure for a response that could draw a reluctant West into the vicious Syrian civil war. But Russia and even some US allies, have warned against any intervention, saying it risks sparking a wider conflict. Divisions over Syria have further chilled the frosty relations between Washington and Moscow ahead of the G20 summit next week in Saint Petersburg, where pointedly there will be no face-to-face talks between Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Syria has denied using chemical weapons, and the foreign ministry said on Friday that the US intelligence report was “nothing but tired legends that the terrorists have been circulating for more than a week, with their share of lies and entirely fabricated stories.” The military build up was meanwhile continuing, with US warships armed with scores of cruise missiles converging on the eastern Mediterranean. In Damascus the mood was heavy with fear and security forces were making preparations for possible air bombardments, pulling soldiers back from potential targets. More than 100,000 people have died since the conflict erupted in March 2011 and two million have become refugees, half of them children, according to the United Nations. Continue reading
