Tag Archives: environment
Fine, black points for throwing out cigarette butts
Fine, black points for throwing out cigarette butts Amira Agarib / 25 August 2013 The Director of Dubai’s General Department of Traffic says he has personally given out Dh500 fines and four black points to people he has caught throwing cigarette butts out of their cars. Newly announced federal laws on tobacco control which will come into force next February will include traffic violations for smokers inside cars — but Dubai Police are slapping any driver caught throwing cigarette butts out of their car windows with a Dh500 fine and four black points. One of the new laws, announced several days ago, includes a ban preventing anyone from smoking while driving a private car if a child under the age of 12 is present, as well as restrictions on advertising, labelling and importing. The Director of General Department of Traffic, Major-General Mohammed Saif Al Zafin, said there was “no doubt” the new laws would limit the growing phenomenon of smoking, especially amongst young people. Since the percentage of smokers among children under the age of 15 reached 28 per cent in Abu Dhabi, it had become necessary for everyone to review the impact of the bad habit and refrain from harming others, he said. Maj-Gen. Al Zafin said that in addition to the Dubai Municipality, which penalises anyone who throws objects out of car windows onto the road with a Dh500 fine, the Dubai Police are also issuing penalties. He said he has even personally issued black points and fines several times. Maj-Gen. Al Zafin said that since smoking had a serious impact on health everyone should work to reduce the exposure of smoke to children. However, there were still many parents who both smoked in enclosed homes or cars. He said some parents were badly affecting their children when they smoked in their cars, especially in the summer when the high heat forced people to close car windows, which then allowed for the spread of toxic gas. In worst possible cases, this could lead to suffocation, especially for children who suffered from asthma or breathing difficulties, he said. – news@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Gang extorts money with footage of sexual scenes
Gang extorts money with footage of sexual scenes 25 August 2013 UAE victims are among those ensnared by an international gang of cyber criminals who lure people into sharing sexually explicit video clips, before putting them online and demanding money for their removal. The Abu Dhabi Police are warning residents to be careful online, after they received a number of complaints from victims who were hoodwinked by the criminals, who pose as beautiful woman. Criminal Investigation Department Director Colonel Dr Rashid Mohammad Burasheed said the gang, who targeted the Arabian Gulf, had recently begun threatening victims in the country, who were using social networking sites, with the revealing recordings. They were made in response to sexual images of the women they were supposedly talking to, though Burasheed said the footage was just duplicated scenes and the women were not connected to the criminals. He said the victims told police they were blackmailed by that gang which extorted money from them by promising to remove the compromising video clips from a free video-sharing website on the Internet. The money was then to be transferred to offshore bank accounts. “Blackmailers target the youth, particularly males, and chat with them through PC chatting applications over social networking sites like Skype,” he noted, adding the gang used nicknames for the supposed women, dubbed voices and showed videos of exposed parts of their bodies. Burasheed called on Internet users not to trust strangers who they meet over the Internet or e-mails sent from suspicious websites. “Since these criminals are working from outside the country, it is difficult for the Abu Dhabi Police to locate them, but it is not impossible as Abu Dhabi Police address and pass the information to the security bodies at countries where such kind of crimes are known, so to locate the criminals and arrest them,” he said. news@khaleejtimes.com Men and women being targeted, says Al Dhahiri The head of organised crime at CID, Lt. Colonel Tahir Al Dhahiri, warned the cyber blackmailers were targeting women as well as men. He said an Arab woman in her 40s said she was lured into porn scenes by one of the gang members who posed as a famous, powerful man, who hoped to recruit her into a private company. It transpired the perpetrator had hacked the woman’s e-mail account. In another case, the gang drained the savings of a Gulf man who paid Dh10,000 so the blackmailers would take out the video clip in which he appeared in sexual scenes. Al Dhahiri said an Arab architect also lodged a complaint that he was lured by a gang and involved in porn scenes. The victim said he was a father with teenage children, but had got involved in such illicit activities because he was living alone as his wife was back home. Continue reading
Obama, Cameron weigh Syria chemical weapons response
Obama, Cameron weigh Syria chemical weapons response (AFP) / 25 August 2013 US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed their grave concern on Saturday about the ‘increasing signs’ of a major chemical weapons attack in Syria. A White House statement said the two leaders vowed during a telephone call to “continue to consult closely” regarding the alleged attack near Damascus on Wednesday, as well as potential international responses. But Downing Street went further, noting that Obama and Cameron “are both gravely concerned by… the increasing signs that this was a significant chemical weapons attack carried out by the Syrian regime against its own people.” “The fact that President Bashar Al Assad has failed to cooperate with the UN suggests that the regime has something to hide,” the British statement said, stressing that “significant use of chemical weapons would merit a serious response from the international community.” Cameron also spoke separately with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Another White House statement regarding Obama’s meeting with top aides in his National Security Council appeared to give credence to reports of the chemical attack on rebel-held areas near the Syrian capital. “In coordination with international partners and mindful of the dozens of contemporaneous witness accounts and record of the symptoms of those killed, the US intelligence community continues to gather facts to ascertain what occurred,” it said. “The president also received a detailed review of a range of potential options he had requested be prepared for the United States and the international community to respond to the use of chemical weapons.” The meeting came a day after US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel said the military had presented options to Obama and was moving forces into place ahead of any possible decision. Obama has so far voiced caution, warning that a hasty military response could have unforeseen consequences, including embroiling the United States in another prolonged Middle East conflict. But he is under mounting pressure to act following reports of the alleged chemical weapons attack, which Doctors Without Borders said had killed 355 people, due to “neurotoxic” symptoms. Opposition groups say the reported attack was carried out by Assad’s forces and that it killed more than 1,000 people. Continue reading
