GN: Sharjah police enforce old law against men wearing accessories

According to Gulf News, CID and police in Sharjah are having a field day confiscating people's silver necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

"Sharjah: Thirteen-year-old Mohammad was with a group of friends in Al Qasba area when he was reportedly approached by a police officer and taken to the police headquarters. His silver necklace had to go.

Another resident, Jeril Jaison Varghese, says he was in front of the Multiplex in Mega Mall to watch a movie when a CID officer asked him for his identification.

"I was taken to the Sharjah Police office inside the mall by a security guy from the mall. My silver bracelet was confiscated by the CID," he said.

When Varghese asked why his bracelet was being taken away, he says, police said men are not allowed to wear bracelets or any fashion accessories in Sharjah malls even if it is silver and not gold."

More here: Sharjah police enforce old law against men wearing accessories (Gulf News)

Thanks to mr. f for the link

Investors are attracted by returns - GN

Yes, stating the obvious still passes as excellent journalism in the UAE. This is because Gulf News is letting its readers know that investors are attracted by returns. Along with an article a few days back about "temperatures increase as summer approaches" (or something similar), I wonder what future headlines are waiting for us:

- June to officially follow May.
- Restaurants to serve food during opening hours
- Shoppers are integral to mall revenues

Such entertainment! Such quality! No wonder Gulf News has about 50% of the UAE's readership and they are proud of it. Such is why they keep reminding us with their bar charts. I wonder what proportion of those readers need to be reminded that breakfast is taken in the morning and dinner in the evening.

http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Economy/10314004.html

Gulf News TV

I wonder if other bloggers are find some aspects of Gulf News TV annoying. For some reason, when I click on a new GNTV video it just comes up with a blank screen. When I check the archives a few days later, I am able to play the video.

Does anyone have a different experience? Does Gulf News have a view on this?

GN or the National?

You decide,

Accused had no intention to kill victim
and, and... so, so... It just leaves you wondering.

Motorist who reversed over woman ‘only meant to scare her’
Thank you. Now I can go on to the next story.

I have to admit I was skeptical on hearing that a new national newspaper was coming out of Abu Dhabi when The National was announced at the start of 2008. Abu Dhabi is hardly known for being informative or transparent when it comes to reporting what happens. Remember the March FOG crashes? Separate from Ghantoot was another 80-car crash near Shahama. There was no news coverage!

I've heard the complaint, "The National articles are too long." I won't dispute that. They are long, and who has time--we're all busy with school, work, family, etc. But I much prefer the option of choosing to stop reading rather than being left hanging by incomplete reporting. If it is a really tantalizing story, then I have to waste more time searching the Internet for the rest of the story.

It isn't even just that The National goes more in depth. The articles are also much, much better written. Compare just the opening lines of the two articles linked to. The National very clearly sets the stage, while the GN starts out and continues with a series of teaser lines.

Serious News

This appears as the leading feature story at the top of today's Gulf News website.

10 ways to save money when shopping with a woman

I can see the girls lining up to be with this man!

RTA to be in charge of final Creek Extension Phase 5

Longtime reader, first-time poster here...

The Gulf News tabloid Xpress is reporting here that the RTA will be in charge of the final phase of the Creek Extension project which will extend from it's current place of behind the Metropolitan Hotel under SZR, beside the Safa Park, under Wasl Road and Beach Road, and finally out to the Gulf beside Jumeirah Beach Park. This final phase of construction will start in December of this year to be completed in 3 years.

Up until now Dubai Properties has overseen the project but the leadership will change for this final phase, presumably because the final stretch will disrupt so much traffic on these three major roads.

This is of great interest to me because the projected path of the waterway winds right past my villa. But the project in general should be a concern for all Dubai/Sharjah residents because three new bridges will be built on these ever-so-critical thoroughfares.

Do you think it's a good thing that the RTA will be in charge of the final phase? How do you think this project will affect life in Dubai and your commute to and from work or leisure activities?

Thank You Gulf News

Thank you Gulf News for including my blog in your 28 August blogosphere round up. So far as I know, this is the first time that Bss & Brn in Al Ain have made the cut. The only problem is the post quoted didn't appear there, but here at clayfuture's place.

Slow Down!

RTA is soon lowering the maximum speed limit from 120kph to 100kph:
~ between Interchanges 2 & 5 on Sheikh Zayed Road
~ on the Al Khail Road

The minimum limit of 60kph will remain.

Speed reductions are also being considered on other 100kph roads down to 80kph.

Excerpts from the article in Gulf News:
~ "We are in the process of revising speed limits on most of Dubai roads in order to reduce fatal accidents, because speeding is the main killer," said Badr Al Siri, Director of Traffic Department at Roads and Traffic Agency in RTA.

~ "The measures are being taken after extensive studies," he said.

~ Motorists are allowed to drive at least 20km above the given speed limit before they are caught by radars and cameras.

~ 240 out of 312 people were killed in accidents caused by speeding last year. Around 45 people were killed and 273 got injured in 122 accidents last year on Shaikh Zayed Road alone.

~ Some 136 people have been killed on Dubai roads during the first six months of this year.

Read the whole article here.

What?

Click on image to enlarge

Funny typo seen on Gulf News' headline ticker this morning.

Even the good employers get complaints!

GN actually meant the opposite.

Welcome the Moral Police!

Not that Etisalat a.k.a TRA wasn't enough with its moral police doing the unnecessary rounds to ban access to all websites possible, but now Gulf News has joined them. Under the headline "Gulf News IT department is watching you", we now have one more reason to be scared.

Some people will do anything to get their point across. The Gulf News IT department got an alert that one person from Abu Dhabi is trying to rig the poll results.

The question was whether Gulf News was right in highlighting the issue of adult content on orkut.com? Despite precautions taken against such rigging, people seem to go to extreme lengths to sway the votes.

I never knew the people or the government gave so much of a damn to Gulf News' online polls. Not that KT's narcissism wasn't enough, we have yet another one joining the league.

Source: http://gulfnews.com/nation/News_In_Brief/10137572.html

Facebook next???

According to ArabianBusiness.com the next online community website facing a ban could be FACEBOOK!!! I can't believe such a cool site might be blocked when it is so much better and advanced than Orkut. You can always count on Gulf News to lead the pack of morality wolves. Are there all mutawwas on the board of the TRA?!

Read the article here

Don't enter your PIN number in an ATM machine or you'll get the HIV virus. Shshsh..

Are newspaper editors really any good? One expects them to have an advanced knowledge of the language of the newspaper, but the editors of Gulf News, the paper that I love to hate, don't seem to have that.

In an article on the reasons for decline of the Muslim world, the writer, Hussein Haqqani writes,

and the melons were contaminated with the HIV virus, which causes Aids. No one paid any attention to the fact that the HIV virus cannot be transmitted by eating melons.

What is it with people saying 'HIV virus'? Do they even know what the abbreviation 'HIV' stands for? It's Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Saying 'HIV virus' is redundant. In fact, it's saying 'Human Immunodeficiency Virus virus'.

Other examples that I've heard include ATM machine [Automated Teller Machine machine] and PIN number [Personal Identification Number number.]

Are the editors of Gulf News way too busy munching on bakhlaweh and gahwah to actually do their job and edit out the mistakes of the writers?

Huh?

From Gulf News, 16/03/2007: Every time Indian pace bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth takes a wicket in the World Cup, 11 Indians freed from jail will each get a free ticket home, a local company promised yesterday.

One word: WTF?

A Heroine amongst us

Gulf News is running a worthy campaign to recognise Everyday Heroes - people in the UAE who work behind the scenes contributing their time, experience and value to help others and be of positive influence in the community.

Among those recognised is Jayne Winstanley - our very own Jayne with a Why - blogger and raconteur of wit, humour and bloody good jokes, interspersed with tales of Grandma and life in the varied, numerous countries in which she has lived.

For those of you who have had the pleasure of meeting her, Jayne is one blogger whose blog truly reflects her personality - straight-up, humorous, intelligent, and damn good value!

She has often written in her blog of her times spent as a volunteer at a centre caring for mentally and physically handicapped people in Abu Dhabi, and it's for this remarkable work that she is being honoured.

Anyone who has worked with the physically and mentally impaired will understand what fortitude this takes, and how you have to be so mentally strong to cope with the joy, frustration, sadness, happiness and the multitude of other emotions that caring for these people can invoke in their ablebodied caregivers. Jayne has just the right balance of compassion and humour to do it.

CONGRATULATIONS Jayne, kudos to Mike for nominating you, and well done to Gulf News for recognising outstanding UAE citizens working in the background to make a difference.

GN Article on Jayne
GN Article on Everyday Heroes
Nominate people for Everyday Heroes

Impact of Print News

How significant is the impact of Gulf News and other popular publications on government policy and other forces of change in society? Yesterday a GN headline read, Freehold buyers face hidden costs, and today, Dubai to investigate service charges for freehold units. Wow! That's impressive.

Most readers here will probably recall the pair of news stories a couple of weeks ago when a German tourist cum heart-surgery patient was found penniless, sleeping on a beach, only to be rescued 2-days later by GN readers and resurrected on the newspaper's front page, all smiles.

Again, wow! How many others would love to see their trials and tribulations spread across the front page leading to swift resolution of their problems?

Back to the freehold articles, the more recent one reports,

If homeowners already holding title deeds wish to transfer their property to another party, they must produce a "no objection certificate" supplied by the developer. Nakheel says it charges Dh1,000 for this service, while Emaar Properties levies a Dh5,000 fee.

That is just outrageous. Government should look into such practices. Kudos to GN for exposing them and putting on the pressure.

BTW: I love the way linking allows one to reference this or that story so easily with sources and additional content. But have any of you noticed how the online news sites (particularly GN, with which I'm most familiar) fail glaringly to do so. They'll even reference a website in an article and not provide a simple link to it. Why not provide a link to the organization it (GN) refers to in the Ghaf tree story? Why not even provide a link from today's freehold story to yesterday's? Come on, guys--get with the online groove.