Habib Toumi

High incomes and a taste for fast food and sugary drinks have pushed nationals of the United Arab Emirates into the obesity club, the World Health Organisation has said. Now, in a report written, Michael Reid endeavours to reveal how the UAE government is tackling a problem that has caused cases of diabetes to skyrocket.

A multicultural field gathered at 07:00 for the start of the recent Abu Dhabi half marathon. Runners from Australia, Canada, France, India, South Africa and the United Kingdom, to name but a few of the countries represented, took their marks. Yet of the 306 runners who made it back to the Golf and Equestrian Club, not one was from the United Arab Emirates.

Chris Collier, from the Abu Dhabi Striders Club, which organizes the annual event, puts the absence of local entrants down to the lack of an exercise culture in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “We’re definitely not just a club for expats,” Collier, an Englishman, explained. “We welcome all nationalities and in the past have given young Emiratis the chance to join us on our weekly runs, but we have had little response.” He adds: “There is no culture of running here in the UAE. Why would you get willingly hot and bothered in this sort of heat?” continue reading…

Robert Ford

Syria has accepted the US nomination of a new ambassador to Damascus, a Syrian daily has reported.

“The Syrian foreign ministry has sent its acceptance of the US ambassador who will take up the position in Damascus around one month after US Middle East envoy George Mitchell gave the name of the envoy to the Syrian leaders during his latest visit to Syria,” Al Watan daily said, quoting unnamed Western diplomats.

However, the diplomatic sources refused to confirm whether the name of the diplomat would be Robert Ford, saying that, according to the protocol, the White House would announce it officially after it is submitted to the Senate for approval.

Diplomats last month said that the proposed ambassador is Robert Ford, an Arabist with deep knowledge of the region who is currently serving as the US deputy ambassador in Iraq.

“Syria’s acceptance of the new US ambassador comes days before a planned visit by US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Joseph Burns to Damascus on February 17 to discuss bilateral relations and the latest developments in the region,” the paper said on Thursday. continue reading…

Shaikha Mai being honoured - BNA

Two Arab women ministers were among seven cultural iconic figures honoured at a Moroccan international book fair.

Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammad Al Khalifa, the Bahraini culture minister since November 2008, and Siham Al Barghoothi, in charge of the culture portfolio in Palestine since May 2009, were cited for their outstanding contribution to cultural development. 

The honour was bestowed by Morocco’s King Mohammad VI on the sideline of the Casablanca Book Fair opened by Prince Rachid on Thursday. 

The other laureates were literary critic Ahmad Al Yabouri, Roger Alan, Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature in the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania, literary critic and researcher Jaber Asfoor, publisher Hmood Bu Ghaleb and artist Abdallah Al Hariri. 

The fair will be open to the public until February 21 

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Abdullah Al Durazi

The secretary general of the oldest human rights society in Bahrain has resigned following a row with society members over a press statement.

Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) said that Abdullah Al Durazi has resigned after he realized he made a mistake by making a statement in which he said that some of the officers named and shamed as torturers in a report by Human Rights Watch were in fact innocent.

The report released on Monday in Manama quoted former detainees who said that they had been subjected to instances of physical and mental torture during their interrogations and gave names of some of the torturers. The New York-based watchdog mentioned the names in its report.

However, Abdullah Al Durazi, BHRS secretary general, who was flanked by Joe Stork, HRW deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa and Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, a senior attorney at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, at the launch and accompanied Stork during meetings, told the local media on Tuesday that some of the security people who were named in the report were not involved in acts of torture.

His statement has irked those who fully supported the report and at an impromptu meeting on Wednesday evening, BHRS members said that Al Durazi had given a personal view that did not reflect the society views and blamed him for not consulting with the society before sending his statement to the media. continue reading…