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96kg date branch is Liwa’s winner
96kg date branch is Liwa’s winner Silvia Radan / 21 July 2013 A palm branch of dates weighing 96 kilograms has taken one of the top prizes at the Liwa Dates Festival — landing its owner with a lucrative prize. The branch won the “Biggest Adj” (branch) competition at the festival on Friday night. “They were ‘shahal’ dates from Liwa, which are usually very heavy,” festival director Obaid Khalfan Al Mazrouei told Khaleej Times. The winner was Rashed Faraj Salem Al Mansouri, who was awarded Dh50,000 for his fruitful production. Second place in the “Biggest Adj” competition and Dh40,000 were taken by Moza Mohammed Afsan Al Mazrouei, while the third place went to Mansour Ali Salman Mohammed Al Mansouri, along with Dh30,000. As with all other competition categories, the top 15 contestants are awarded here, too. The remaining top 12 prizes ranged from Dh25,000 to Dh2,000. On Friday, the second day of the festival, the winners of the Dabbas dates category were also announced. Musbeh Saeed Al Murar from the village of Latair (Liwa) had the best quality Dabbas, winning Dh125,000, followed by Fatima Mohammed Saeed Salem Al Murar from Liwa’s Al Nabtiya village who was awarded Dh100,000 and Hameed Jaber Sultan Battal Al Murar from Al Dhowaiher in Liwa, who won Dh75,000. The fourth to 15th place winners received prizes from Dh40,000 to Dh5,000, respectively. For the first time this year, the festival’s organisers have put together a supportive Dabbas dates competition for first time participants. The first Dh70,000 winner in this category was Saleh Abdullah Hatha Al Murar from Al Nabtiya (Liwa), the second prize of Dh40,000 was taken by Ateeq Khalfan Mohammed Jarash Al Murar also from Al Nabtiya and the third Dh30,000 award went to Fakhira Thamer Khalfan Al Murar from Al Sheya in Liwa. “Altogether, we had over 400 people taking part in these three competitions, not just from Liwa, but elsewhere in the UAE,” said Al Mazrouei. The winners of Hounaizi and Abu Maan dates competitions will be announced today. Although the festival is closed to the public during the daytime, since it falls during Ramadan this year, on Saturday morning Shaikh Tahnoon bin Saeed bin Tahnoon bin Mohammed Al Nahyan visited the festival and he was most impressed with the heritage area of the festival grounds. “We have allocated ample space to heritage displays and shows, having life-size replicas of ancient Emirati houses showcased and traditional household objects usually found in such houses,” explained al Mazrouei. From 8pm to 1am, the opening hours of the festival, there are performances of traditional Emirati folk groups, as well as storytelling. The festival will continue until July 25. — silvia@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
UAE allays Mers fears
UAE allays Mers fears Olivia Olarte-Ulherr / 20 July 2013 The Ministry of Health has said the deadly Sars-like coronavirus has not become a ‘public health emergency’ at the moment though four new cases have been detected in the UAE and two more in Saudi Arabia. There is no need for imposing any travel restrictions at this time, the ministry said, citing World Health Organisation’s latest updates. The ministry said it was following all latest updates regarding the new virus called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers-CoV) with the WHO. It confirmed that the virus was not a concern for public health at the moment as the detected cases globally continued to be very low. It reiterated that the current situation did not require a travel ban to any country in the world, nor screenings at different ports, or restrictions on trade. The MoH praised the cooperation and coordination among all health authorities in the country to follow up the situation and safeguard public health. Four healthcare workers in Abu Dhabi who took care of the first coronavirus patient in the country were identified as those recently infected with the coronavirus. According to the WHO, the medical personnel were from two hospitals in the emirate that treated the 82-year-old Emirati man. In two cases, a 28-year-old man and 30-year-old woman, did not develop symptoms of (Mers-CoV), while the other two, women aged 30 and 40, had mild upper respiratory symptoms and are in a stable condition. They are all now in isolation. State news agency Wam reported on Thursday that the four new cases were as a result of the screening of the first patient. “We screened 136 from the first contact and we found four positive,” Health Authority — Abu Dhabi (Haad) customer service and corporate communications director Dr Jamal Mohammed Al Kaabi said. The individuals screened included medical staff and family members of the patient. In addition to the four new cases in the UAE, two were also reported in Saudi Arabia, where the illness is thought to have originated and the most victims and fatalities have occurred. The WHO said both victims, from the Asir region, had mild symptoms but were not hospitalised. The first is a 26-year-old man who was in close contact with a previously laboratory-confirmed case and the second case is a 42-year-old female healthcare worker. This brought the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases of Mers infection to 88, including 45 deaths. The WHO advised healthcare providers to “maintain vigilance” and urged facilities caring for patients with suspected or confirmed Mers to take “appropriate measures to decrease the risk of transmission of the virus to other patients, healthcare workers and visitors”. olivia@khaleejtimes.com 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
