Tag Archives: tsi
Fire sweeps Sharjah tower
Fire sweeps Sharjah tower Afkar Abdullah / 21 July 2013 In yet another residential Sharjah blaze, a fire has partially gutted a 30-storey building leaving about 30 residents homeless and damaging nearby cars. The fire, which tore through the whole block in Al Hudah Tower started around 8.45am and took firefighters about an hour to get it under control, Sharjah Civil Defence Director-General Brigadier Abdullah Saeed Al Suwaidi said. “Firefighters arrived at the scene in less than five minutes and went about evacuating the residents through the building…(before) efforts were made to put out the blaze and control it from spreading to other blocks.” The fire started on the third floor and spread up to the 30th floor, leaving a long trail of damage up one side of the building. Five cars parked outside were also partly burnt by the flying debris caused by the blaze. Thankfully there were no fatalities or injuries reported, Al Suwaidi said. The blaze is the first big residential fire to be reported in the emirate this summer, with the emirate notorious for big residential fires such as those that gutted Al Baker Tower, which displaced 125 families last January. afkarali@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Belgium: King Albert makes way for son Philippe
Belgium: King Albert makes way for son Philippe (AP) / 21 July 2013 Belgium will get a new king Sunday when the current monarch, Albert, abdicates following a 20-year reign and hands over the throne to his son Philippe. At 79, Albert will first sign away his rights as the largely ceremonial ruler of the kingdom in the presence of Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, who holds the political power in this 183-year-old parliamentary democracy. After the morning ceremony at the royal palace, Philippe, 53, will take the king’s oath before the nation’s legislators at the parliament building a short walk across the Royal Park in the heart of the city. Afterward, King Philippe and new Queen Mathilde are expected to greet the crowds below in a balcony scene at the palace before fireworks end a slew of ceremonies marking the day. Albert announced his abdication plans less than three weeks ago, so there was little time to turn the occasion into a huge international event and no foreign royals were expected at the crowning. Since the royal transition coincides with Belgium’s national day celebrations, a military parade had already been planned. Philippe will face a tough task in the coming months. The fractious nation, ever-more divided by language, holds parliamentary elections in June 2014 amid calls for even more autonomy for the 6 million Dutch-speaking Flemings and 4.5 million French-speakers. The monarchy could find its role even more diminished. After the last elections in 2010, it took a record 541 days before a government could be formed amid much bickering about how much more power should be sapped from the central state to profit the separate language groups. Unlike his five predecessors, Albert tried to avoid politics as much as possible and Philippe is expected to do likewise. Philippe has been groomed for the job as a leader of foreign trade delegations over the past two decades. He and Mathilde have four children. Continue reading
Mohammed drops in for lecture
Mohammed drops in for lecture Muaz Shabandri / 20 July 2013 It was a pleasant surprise for more than 5,000 people attending an Islamic lecture at the Ramadan Forum when His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, walked in unannounced. Calm and composed, he surprised the show’s organisers by going and sitting in the audience rather than walking up to the front row. Sitting comfortably in the fourth row, Shaikh Mohammed paid keen attention to the talk on ‘Quran and Modern Science’ by Dr Zakir Naik. He also spent some time talking with senior officials from the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), who hosted the talk as part of the Al Multaqa Ramadan Forum. A few minutes later, he walked out of the hall from one of the side entrances, without disturbing the lecture. Speaking exclusively with Khaleej Times after the event, Naik, expressed his happiness over Shaikh Mohammed’s surprise visit. “It is an honour for me that he came for the lecture. It really shows his generosity and simplicity. I could not see him but later I was told he was among the audience.” One of the most well-known Islamic preachers in the world today, Naik attracts people from different faiths to his talks with his deep understanding of holy scriptures and ability to cite verses at will. “If we go back to the Quran and Sunnah, the Muslim world would be in a much better shape than it is today,” he added. Organisers of the 12-day Ramadan forum hosted this year’s talk at a much larger venue by selecting the Zabeel Hall at Dubai World Trade Center. However, the new venue also proved to be insufficient as seats were completely filled within a few minutes of the lecture’s start. His powerful talk in Dubai led three people to embrace Islam as they took the ‘Shahadah’ (the testimony of faith) in public. “It gives me immense happiness when someone converts to Islam during my talk. It is a very special feeling for me,” Zakir said. Mikhail Poll, a 28-year-old Russian who converted to Islam at the lecture, said Naik’s talks had been an inspiration. “I started reading Islamic books in the Russian language and I also watched some of his lectures on YouTube, which inspired me,” said Mikhail. A lively question-and-answer session followed the talk, with several non-Muslims posing questions on different aspects of Islam. The Ramadan Forum is being held under the patronage of the Chairman of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and organised by DTCM.” muaz@khaleejtimes. com Continue reading
