Habib Toumi

Qatari businessman Shaikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani is set to become the first foreign owner of a Primera Liga Spanish football club.

Shaikh Abdullah, chairman of Nasser bin Abdullah and Sons Group, will announce the details of the purchase of Primera Liga outfit Malaga CF, rumoured to be around euro 25 million, at a press conference. He will have 100 percent ownership of the club.

Spain, like Italy and England, has no rules preventing foreign citizens from owning clubs.

The press conference will be attended by Fernando Sanz, the current club president, and his father Lorenzo Sanz, former Real Madrid president. continue reading…

Lebanese superstar Haifa Wehbe and Hezbullah have denied media reports that the religious formation had banned the singer from boarding Mariam, the Gaza-bound ship carrying humanitarian aid.

Haifa said that she did not sign up to be among the activists planning to board the ship to break the Gaza blockade, but added that the media claims about Hezbullah rejection of her participation were malicious.

According to Nasreen Dhawahra, Haifa’s media officer, the singer “was not even aware of a Lebanese trying to reach the besieged Gaza Strip.” continue reading…

Bahrain has distanced itself from anti-Iran statements published by local media, saying that they did not reflect the country’s official stance.

“Bahrain is against anything that could harm its robust relations with all sisterly and friendly countries,” Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, the foreign minister, said. “We totally reject what has recently been published in the media. It does not reflect the orientations of His Majesty King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa on the issue or the respect that Bahrain has for the Islamic Republic of Iran. It does not mirror either our keenness on the development of bilateral relations, especially in light of the current situation that requires joint efforts to address any threat to stability and security in the region,” Shaikh Khalid reportedly said during a meeting with Hussein Amirabdolahian, Iran’s ambassador to Bahrain. continue reading…

A Jordanian detained in a local prison has asked his father not to launch his release procedures until the end of the World Cup to ensure he can watch all the matches.

The prison authorities have placed television screens to allow the prisoners to watch the one-month long World Cup finals, and the detainee is keen on not missing any game, Jordanian daily Ad-Dustour reported.

The final match of the World Cup currently held in South Africa will be played on July 11. continue reading…

The sweltering heat gripping Qatar has forced several fishermen, especially ‘solo’ boat operators, to stay indoors.

A representative of a fishermen’s group in Ruweis said that it was the first time in recent years that intense heat has forced “solo” boat operators in large numbers not to go to work.

“This time the hot spell seems to last longer than in the previous years,” said a fisherman.

Usually, such severe heat conditions set in by mid July and last until the end of August. “However, our problems seem to have started at least one month earlier than usual,” Francis Selvaraj, a member of a Ruweis-based fishermen’s group, said. continue reading…

The heat wave gripping the Middle East has hospitalized labourers working under the scorching sun, broken down electricity substations, taken power stations to their ominous limits and caused lethal protests.

However, weathermen said that while people should take all precautionary measures, they should not panic and should learn to deal with the situation. In Kuwait City, the minister of electricity and water said that people should worker together to address the difficult situation and not turn it into a self-serving political issue.

In Bahrain, officials from the Meteorology Directorate said the weather might have exceeded normal averages, but it should not be a source for concern.

“We had last week temperatures of more than 42C on a few occasions, but they quickly came back to under 40C thanks to shamaal, the northerly wind. When this wind blows, the weather is cooler,” one official said. “What we are witnessing today is a heat wave affecting the region, but people should not panic. The temperature today is 38 degrees Celsius, down from 46 degrees Celsius on Sunday,” he said. “The northerly wind has helped bring it down and we hope that the weather will remain fine.” continue reading…

Tunisia’s labour union is pushing for allowing public sector employees to take five-month maternity and six-day paternity leaves.

Under the proposal to be submitted to the government as part of collective bargaining, expecting mothers should be given one month before the due delivery date and two months off after giving birth regardless of whether the baby was alive or still born.

Mothers will also be given two extra months, although they would receive only half of their salaries.

Fathers will be given six days off instead of the existing one day following the birth of their baby, the labour union said. continue reading…

Fatima Al Hawwaj

A Bahraini lawyer who was one of the first women to contest in the parliamentary elections said that she would not run again this year.

“The Islamists’ domination has resulted in a crippled lower chamber that serves only one ideology and does not represent other tendencies,” Fatima Al Hawwaj said. “The current members of the lower chamber do not want lawyers with them because their interests are politically-motivated and not related to legislation,” she said.

Sunni and Shiite Islamists have 32 of the 40 seats in the lower chamber, with 17 MPs from Al Wefaq (Shiite), eight from Al Asala (Salafis) and seven from the Islamic Menbar (Muslim Brotherhood). The composition of the 2010-2014 is not likely to be changed, most observers said, citing the strong power of religious societies on common people. continue reading…

Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu Assad has been appointed President of the Jury for the 2010 Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) on October 26-30 2010.

Abu Assad will be the first Jury President of the festival launched last year and will preside over DTFF’s Arab Film Competition awarding prizes for Best Arab Film and Best Arab Filmmaker.

His 2006 film Paradise Now, about two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack in Tel Aviv, won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign language film in 2006, the Golden Calf for best Dutch film, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. continue reading…

Qatar will this weekend host a forum on the effects of “low” television channels on young people.

According to organizers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) cultural forum on June 26-30, the meeting will discuss how some channels are “intellectually destroying, morally corrupting and financially abusing young people in the region.”

“The theme of the forum is in line with the message launched by Shaikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, wife of Qatar’s emir, to encourage media freedom but without challenging laws and moral values and exploiting people financially,” the organizers said. continue reading…