Tag Archives: tsi
Liwa Dates Festival kicks off today
Liwa Dates Festival kicks off today Silvia Radan (silvia@khaleejtimes.com) / 18 July 2013 The ninth Liwa Dates Festival kicks off today in Mazeirah, the main town of Liwa oasis. In the morning, judges will be visiting the first competitors’ farms and inspecting their palm trees, while in the evening, from 8pm, the doors of the air conditioned tent will open to the public with the winners of the first round announced on Friday. This will be the format of this year’s festival, which, for the first time, falls during Ramadan. After Iftar and until 1am, visitors will get to sample the competing ratab (fresh, half-ripen dates), enjoy traditional shows, kids’ competitions, have a look at the exhibition featuring organisations representing dates and farming in general, and enjoy a bit of shopping in the Emirati souk. The dates competition itself, as well as the mango and lemon one will give away prizes totalling Dh5 million to the top 15 winners in each category, which include seven different varieties of dates. Since the festival falls during the holy month of Ramadan, a special atmosphere is expected, which will largely be created by the traditional souk. The 160 shops, which will financially benefit 306 Emirati families, will give an insight into the lives and traditions of this land’s ancestors. “The traditional market is a special event that reveals before the curious eyes of interested tourists our local heritage, which is rich in handicrafts related to the palm tree and dates. The visitors will find in the souk a model of the flourishing oasis decorated with palm leaves that are meticulously woven. They will have a chance to discover all products related to the lives of simple Bedouin families, such as Al Sadu — a traditional form of weaving — and knitting,” explained Obaid Khalfan Al Mazrouei, director of the festival. Al Surood (a round mat made of palm leaves), Al Mukhrafa and Al Jahfeer (two baskets made of palm leaves), floor mats, Al Meshab (a table-mat made of palm leaves), Al Yrab (a large bag made of palm leaves and used to conserve dry dates), along with pastries made of dates and all varieties of ratab will be up for sale. “The market includes a number of majlis — traditional meeting places — that will be shared by women artisans to display their products. This will give visitors the opportunity to discover the splendour of the traditional products made by a group of Emirati mothers,” said Al Mazrouei. The majlis area is also an opportunity for younger girls to learn the art of handicraft making from their elders. The festival will continue until July 25. Buses from Abu Dhabi and Al Ain to the festival grounds are available. Continue reading
Man who uploaded assault video on YouTube arrested
Man who uploaded assault video on YouTube arrested Amira Agarib (news@khaleejtimes.com) / 18 July 2013 The Dubai Police have arrested the person who filmed a senior government official assaulting a van driver after a minor accident and uploaded the video which went viral on YouTube. Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police Major-General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina said on Wednesday that the man was arrested after the son and other family members of the government employee involved in the incident lodged a complaint at the Qusais police station. Maj-Gen Al Mazeina said that this person could have contacted the police and given them the video recording instead of publishing it. He said that the Dubai Police were committed to taking legal action against people who commited mistakes or crimes. The man who took the video confessed that he uploaded it on YouTube after he distributed the footage to a number of his friends. Maj-Gen Al Mazeina commented that this type of footage might be exploited in a wrong way by certain authorities or people. It is worthy to mention that a number of people, through various media forums, debated whether people have the right to photograph accidents or certain incidents which can bring wrongdoers to justice and used as evidence by authorities. In this regard, Maj-Gen Al Mazeina said the police were examining whether there was a possibility of allowing people to photograph traffic accidents and sending the footage to the police using the 3G network. He warned members of the public from publishing such footage on social networking sites or sharing it with friends and relatives as it would, more often than not, included the car number plates. Under the UAE’s cybercrime laws, recording videos in public without the permission of those being filmed is illegal and constitutes defamation, so people should not involve themselves in this act in order to avoid legal action against them. The assault was viewed by tens of thousands of people shortly after it was posted. It showed the official punching and hitting an Asian minivan driver with his Igal (head dress) following a minor accident in Al Muraqqabat area. Maj-Gen Al Mazeina earlier said that both parties were summoned for questioning. He stressed that whatever the reason behind the incident, no one had the right to assault others or to take the law into their own hands and he should have rather resorted to the police. Prosecution orders detention of assailant Marie Nammour dubai — The acting Attorney-General in Dubai, Youssef Hassan Al Mutaweh, ordered that the Emirati official, who was caught on a film that went viral on Youtube beating up an Asian driver, be put in provisional detention for investigation. The Deira prosecution questioned the official, who has not yet been named, as soon as they received the complaint from the police. “The physical assault accused was confronted with the video clip. The prosecution is also set to listen to the assault victim”. Al Mutaweh said that the law in the UAE applies to all, and everyone is equal before justice. “According to the UAE constitution, all foreigners enjoy all the rights and forms of freedom that are granted in the international treaties and conventions”. Asked whether the assault case against the official might be closed at the Prosecution or whether it would be referred to the court, a prosecution source told Khaleej Times that everything is possible. The source did not rule out the possibility that an amicable settlement could be worked out if the assault victim signs a waiver of his rights to pursue the case. The source pointed out that no criminal report has reached the prosecution as yet filed on the official’s part against the individual who filmed the incident and posted it on Youtube. “If there is any such criminal complaint it would still be with the police”. mary@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Shortages in Syrian refugee camps
Shortages in Syrian refugee camps Amanda Fisher / 15 July 2013 Chronic shortages of resources are causing tensions to flare in Syrian refugee camps, says the managing partner of a Dubai-based company that has built accommodation for 6,000 more people fleeing the ongoing conflict. UAE-based company Modular & Mobile Solutions UAE managed the camp, which was knocked up along the Syria-Turkey border in three short months. Kilis Camp, which houses four schools, two mosques, a hospital, clinic, rehabilitation clinic, kitchen and 1,000 “modular homes” that can each accommodate a family of six, was opened two weeks ago and was at half capacity already. The homes, made up of pre-fabricated modules, measure 21 square metres and have running water and electricity, but company managing partner Ben Long said the new camp was no solution to alleviating the pressures facing the ever-growing number of refugees. “Absolutely not, there’s lots more needed. If you look at the project, it’s a big project, there’s 6,000 refugees but there’s 1.6 million registered refugees, and at least that number unregistered.” Tensions were rising inside camps, as people who had had to leave behind their livelihoods battled to get a share of limited resources. “Things are happening at the camps, incidents unfortunately, because there isn’t enough resources, there isn’t enough food or enough water.” Long’s company jointly managed the $6 million project, funded primarily by Kuwaiti charity Islamic Charitable Organisation, alongside Turkish company IHH which works closely with the United Nations — while the Turkish government was providing food. The British expatriate said there were measures in place in order to keep the number of people living at the camp capped with fences around the perimeter and security manning the entrances. “Security is one of the key issues and it is a secure camp, they’ve made sure people can’t just come in…there is an issue with there not being enough housing, but that’s why we need to act together to make more of these communities. We can do it quickly, that the whole thing has been done in three months and we can do it even faster if we get more people working together.” The rehabilitation centre that was operating at the camp was run by doctors and psychologists in order to help people through the emotional turmoil they had experienced. “We have people who can come in and talk about their issues…there’s all kinds of things happening that we can’t even begin to imagine so the rehabilitation team have gone in there with specialists to deal with it,” he said. The community also had provision to help people start working, including a workshop for sewing, while it was hoped a market would eventually start running to “get some trade going”. “Everything’s sort of there in place for people to start moving forward. You’ve got some families who might have a little bit but you’ve got other families with nothing.” amanda@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
