Suicide drama at Sharjah apartment

(By a staff reporter)

14 June 2008

SHARJAH - A suicide attempt by an 18-year-old Indian girl was foiled yesterday after timely intervention by Sharjah Police and Civil Defence personnel who managed to pull the girl back to safety from the balcony of a 13th floor apartment near Concord Cinema. Eye-witnesses said the drama started around 5pm when the girl was noticed standing in the balcony.

'She stood on the narrow balcony and her family members were shouting and crying in an attempt to persuade her not to jump off,' said Ashraf, an eyewitness.

'A large crowd gathered on the ground and people were seen making efforts to save the girl in case she jumped.

Police and Civil Defence personnel rushed to the scene and engaged her in a conversation,' the eye-witness said. 'While police personnel on the ground were talking to the girl, some CID officers entered the apartment. They distracted the girl and suddenly pulled her to safety,' he added.

The entire drama, he said, lasted for almost an hour. The girl's differences with her family were believed to be the reason for her frustrated act. Police officials were not available for comment.

Most Beautiful Goat

Muhammad Hawas of Saudi Arabia poses with his Damascene goat, or Maaz Al Shami, named Qahr, which won the first prize for the "Most Beautiful Goat" title at the Mazayen al-Maaz competition in Riyadh on Friday, June 13.

once the world's most obese man

Manuel Uribe drinks a beer with friends and relatives outside his house in the suburb of San Nicolas de los Garza in the northern city of Monterrey on June 11. Uribe, once the world's most obese man, celebrated his 43rd birthday on Wednesday with a very short trip outside his house.

Hummer driver faces trial for mowing down woman

By Alia Al TheebStaff Reporter
Published: June 06, 2008, 00:12

Dubai: An Arab motorist, who deliberately ran over a woman and fled the scene last week, has been referred to the public prosecution on charges of murder.

A 52-year-old British woman died when the Hummer mowed her down as she got out of a taxi on Airport Road last Friday.

According to the Dubai Ambulance Services Centre, the centre had received an accident report around 12.51am and an ambulance arrived at the scene at 12.58am.

The victim had sustained serious head injuries and was taken to Rashid Hospital. However, she died on arrival. A senior police official told Gulf News the suspect, a young man, was arrested on the second day after the incident and he was detained at Al Rashidiyah police station.

The official said the suspect has been referred to the Public Prosecution on charges of premeditated murder and the Public Prosecution will carry out more investigation in the incident.

According to police sources, the victim and her husband had taken a taxi and were allegedly under the influence of alcohol on the day of the incident.

Road rage

A witness told the police the Hummer driver, who was also described as being drunk, grew angry when the taxi driver stopped in front of him several times, and that the suspect had also quarrelled with the victim.

The witness told police the driver of the Hummer allegedly ran over the victim when she got out of the taxi and fled the scene.

The suspect, a young man who fled the scene, was arrested the following day after the incident on Airport Road last Friday.

Link: http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Police_and_The_Courts/10218832.html

Face on bamboo shoot stumps cook

GEORGE TOWN: A food stall operator made a surprise find of a human face imprinted on the base of a bamboo shoot that he was about to cook.

Mohd Asri Hamid of Sungai Burung, Balik Pulau, found the “face” when he was about to make a special spicy bamboo shoot dish for his customers on Tuesday night.

The shoot was one of two he had bought from a villager in Sungai Burung on Monday evening. “I did not notice anything special about the shoot when I took it home. In fact, I cut one of the shoots that night but as I was about to do the same to the second one, something stopped me from doing it,” he said.

Mohd Asri looking at the bamboo shoot with the imprint of a human face at its base. He was about to make a dish out of it, but decided not to and keep the shoot now.

Mohd Asri said he was amazed to discover the human face. ”It has a face, two eyes - one open and the other closed - a nose and the shape of a mouth.”

Mohd Asri said he also heard “weird noises” of children playing and crying near his house on Monday night although his wife and three children were away in Yan, Kedah.

He said his aunt who lives next door also heard the same things.

Mohd Asri has now decided to keep the bamboo shoot.

Link: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/6/5/nation/21450633&sec=nation

Pilots run out of fuel, pray, land near Jesus sign

Wed May 21, 7:50 PM ET

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - It seemed like an almost literal answer to their prayers. When two New Zealand pilots ran out of fuel in a microlight airplane they offered prayers and were able to make an emergency landing in a field — coming to rest right next to a sign reading, "Jesus is Lord."

Grant Stubbs and Owen Wilson, both from the town of Blenheim on the country's South Island, were flying up the sloping valley of Pelorus Sound when the engine spluttered, coughed and died.

"My friend and I are both Christians so our immediate reaction in a life-threatening situation was to ask for God's help," Stubbs told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

He said he prayed during the ill-fated flight Sunday that the tiny craft would get over the top of a ridge and that they would find a landing site that was not too steep — or in the nearby sea.

Wilson said that the pair would have been in deep trouble if the fuel had run out five minutes earlier.

"If it had to run out, that was the place to be," he said. "There was an instantaneous answer to prayer as we crossed the ridge and there was an airfield — I didn't know it existed till then."

After Wilson glided the powerless craft to a landing on the grassy strip, the pair noticed they were beside a 20-foot-tall sign that read, "Jesus is Lord — The Bible."

"When we saw that, we started laughing," Stubbs said.

Nearby residents provided them with gas to fly the home-built plane back to base.

Victims of juvenile crime cannot claim damages

By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
Published: May 23, 2008, 00:19

Dubai: A court has issued a landmark ruling which bars victims of juvenile crime from claiming civil compensation before a juvenile court.

The Dubai Court of Appeal which issued the landmark ruling said a juvenile court is a special court which prosecutes juveniles and not their custodians. The Dubai Court of Appeal recently turned down a civil compensation claim filed by the custodians of a 16-year-old French boy who was kidnapped and forced to have sex by two Emirati adults and a teenager.

Threatened

The two adults and 17-year-old teenager, E.D., drove to a desert area where they threatened and assaulted the French schoolboy before having sex with him against his will. The Dubai Court of Cassation confirmed a 15-year prison term against the adult offenders. Meanwhile E.D. is serving a three-year prison term.

The French boy's custodian lodged a civil lawsuit against E.D. claiming Dh20,200 in temporary compensation before the Dubai Juvenile Court which dismissed the lawsuit.

The Appeal Court issued its landmark ruling in which it rejected the victim's claim for civil compensation.

The landmark ruling said that any victim who sustains damage caused by a juvenile does not have the right to lodge a civil lawsuit and claim compensation from the minor's custodian in a juvenile court.

"According to Federal Law no 9 of 1976, the Juvenile Court was formed to look into cases of juvenile delinquency in secret hearings and no one is allowed to attend the proceedings without the judge's permission.

"The juvenile court looks into the youngsters' benefits and interests and supplies them with all precautionary methods which develop them socially and helps them integrate into society. The above law made it precise that the juvenile court handles teenage cases... A victim has the right to claim civil compensation for any accrued damages but not against juveniles who are being prosecuted in juvenile courts," said the landmark ruling.