Young mother dies of swine flu in UAE

A young mother has died of swine flu in the UAE just weeks after giving birth, becoming the second A(H1N1) fatality in the country, local daily the National reported on Monday.
The Pakistani national was admitted to hospital while she was still pregnant on Aug. 8 with severe respiratory problems, the newspaper said, citing hospital sources.
The woman was placed in intensive care and then moved to the labour ward where she gave birth by caesarean section, the paper said.
The mother was not able to see her baby before she died, the paper added.
Pregnant women are one of the groups most at risk from swine flu, the National reported, citing research by the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance.

Source: MB

Dubai's DP World H1 profit falls 34 percent

DUBAI, (Reuters) - Port operator DP World's DPW.DIfirst-half profit from continuing operations after tax fell 34percent to $188 million, the company said on Thursday, amid adecline in container volumes. "The first six months of 2009 have continued to present avery challenging operating environment across the portfolio,"the Dubai-based firm said in a filing on the Nasdaq Dubai. DP World said it had 2008 first half profit of $287 million. The company repeated its outlook that it expected its fullyear results to meet expectations, but said trends in globaltrade continued to be unpredicatable in the second half of theyear. DP World, one of the world's largest container portoperators, said last month it expected to meet 2008 expectationsas emerging market business mitigates a global economicdownturn. Revenues stood at $1.384 billion in the first half of theyear, from $1.598 billion dollars in the same period in 2008.

Source: Reuters

UAE-Qatar 'facing negative inflation'

DUBAI: Qatar and the UAE are likely to see negative inflation this year due to falling house prices, while inflation rates will slow sharply in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, EFG-Hermes said in a note yesterday.
Inflationary pressures have dropped off rapidly across the oil-exporting region as crude prices fell from peaks of $147 a barrel in July last year and the dollar strengthened, easing import costs for states that peg their currencies to the US currency.
"The UAE and Qatar will see the greatest reversal in inflation trends," EFG-Hermes said in the research note.
But Qatar's drop in rental prices was due primarily to an increased in housing supply last year, the UAE housing market was seeing a "structural correction," the note said.
It added that a decline in population - due to an exodus of expatriate workers as the financial crisis led to thousands of job cuts - was also a contributing factor in both nations, the note said.
"We are forecasting the rental prices (in the UAE) will drop further in the second half of 2009, resulting in overall rental prices falling in Dubai by around 23 per cent and in Abu Dhabi by 5pc in 2009," EFG-Hermes said.
Housing, which includes rents and utilities, accounts for 39.3pc of the UAE's overall consumer price index.
EFG-Hermes forecast negative inflation of 5.3pc in the UAE this year, compared to 12.3pc last year. It said that an estimated 5pc contraction in rental prices in Dubai next year would push the inflation rate back up to 1.5pc that year.
The investment bank forecast Qatar would have negative inflation of an estimated 4.6pc this year before resuming an upward tick to a positive rate of 2.7pc next year.
Qatar inflation soared to 15.2pc last year.
The bank said the decelerating pace of rental price growth in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait would slow inflation in those countries.
"The slowdown in housing costs is contributing to the disinflation, but it will nevertheless be the central reason for Saudi Arabia avoiding negative inflation in 2009," the bank said, noting that rental prices are still rising in Saudi Arabia, albeit at a slower pace.
Saudi Arabia will see inflation of around 4.8pc this year, EFG-Hermes predicted. This compares to 9.2pc last year.

Source: GDN

UAE, Oman thwart major drug gang

Dubai: UAE authorities in cooperation with their Omani counterparts have thwarted an international gang's attempt to smuggle 26kg of heroin.
Major General Abdul Jaleel Mahdi, Director of Dubai Police's Anti-narcotics Department, said that Dubai Police teams liaised with anti-narcotics teams from the Ministry of Interior and police forces of Sharjah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah to foil the smuggling attempt.
"We dealt a severe blow to the gang, which was trying to smuggle the drugs through Oman after we got a tip off," Mahdi said.
The gang was trying to smuggle the drugs from an Asian country to Oman's Dibba Bea coast and then to the UAE to be handed over to contacts.

Source: GN

Emiratis stuck on UAE-Saudi Arabia borders given permit to leave

Abu Dhabi: The UAE Embassy in Saudi Arabia has issued a total of 18 permits for Emiratis stuck on the UAE-Saudi Arabia borders following the kingdom's decision to suspend the use of ID cards as a travel document for Emiratis who are visiting the country, reported the local Arabic daily Al Khaleej. Many Emiratis who used their ID card to enter Saudi Arabia were caught off guard when Saudi authorities suddenly suspended the use of the card as an official document and required instead the use of passports. The UAE Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Al Asri Saeed Al Dhaheri, expected that the total number of Emiratis to be issued special permits to return home would be around 100, reported the daily. Most of the Emiratis are on Umrah pilgrimage and were turned away from the Saudi Al Bat'ha border crossing.

The UAE Foreign Ministry had earlier asked all UAE nationals who intend to visit Saudi Arabia to carry their passports since the use of ID cards was no longer valid.

Source: GN

Saudi and UAE border in dispute over ID cards

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has stopped United Arab Emirates citizens entering the kingdom using identification cards it says show Saudi territory as part of the UAE.
The revival of a border dispute dating from 1974 comes after the UAE pulled out of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) monetary union project in May in protest at the choice of Riyadh as the base for a regional central bank.
"Riyadh ... has suspended the mechanism of using national IDs for moving between the two countries," the Interior Ministry's Passport Authority said in a statement carried by the Foreign Ministry's website this week.
"Saudi Arabia has raised the issue with ... UAE authorities at the highest level, requesting that the UAE correct the map according to the bilateral border agreement of 1974."
UAE's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday night that it was surprised by the decision and urged its citizens to use their passports when travelling to Saudi Arabia.
The two countries are the biggest economies in the six-nation GCC, which allows the bloc's native populations to move across member states using national ID cards.
The 1974 border agreement was never ratified by the UAE's Federal National Council, a quasi-parliamentary body.
The accord granted Saudi Arabia a 25-km (16-mile) corridor on the Gulf called Khor al-Odaid, depriving the UAE and Qatar of a joint land border. The UAE retained the al-Ain area, which Saudi forces tried to seize in the 1950s.
Saudi Arabia has objected to plans for Qatar and the UAE to build a causeway over the Gulf bypassing Saudi Arabia.

"The (Saudi) decision may further compromise chances to see the UAE back in the monetary union club," a Riyadh-based GCC Secretariat official said on condition of anonymity.
"For the Emirates, this dispute kind of confirms their perception of hegemony by Saudi Arabia. The fact that the Saudis publicly spoke about it indicates that it can turn pretty nasty."

Source: Reuters

UAE eyes five-year retail boom

Retail sales in the UAE are forecast to grow by 59 per cent by 2013, outpacing the expansions in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait, according to a London-based market research firm. Business Monitor International’s latest retail report estimates that retail spending in the Emirates will rise to US$164.96 billion (Dh605.82bn) by 2013 from $103.5bn last year, based on economic growth, increasing household consumption, growing expatriate wealth and a maturing retail market.Comparatively, retail sales in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait, the other markets that BMI covers in the GCC, are forecast to grow at just 24.6 per cent, 10.8 per cent and 30.8 per cent respectively.In Saudi Arabia, retail sales are expected to rise from to $96bn in 2013 from $77bn last year. In Bahrain, sales will grow to $4.80bn in 2013 from $4.33bn last year, while Kuwait is expected to have sale rise, during the same time frame, to $51bn from $39bn.Lyndsey Anderson, a food and drink analyst at BMI, said the UAE was expected to fair better than its peers due to “higher tourist spending and higher expat spending. Both have been hit by current economic conditions but both are set to return to their positive positions.”Retail is one of the biggest non-oil contributors to the UAE GDP, and the Emirates was recently rated as the fourth most attractive destination for international brands, just behind London, Paris and New York.However, the last six months have been difficult for the retail sector, which had grown accustomed to double digit sales growth annually.Retailers have reported a drop of as much as a 40 per cent in sales in the first half, compared with the same period a year earlier, in the wake of the economic downturn. Still, BMI expects this to have a short-term impact, and retail sales will rebound based on increased tourism and growing urbanisation, especially in Abu Dhabi. The capital has been pegged as one of the next big retail hotspots, due to upcoming projects such as the Formula One racetrack on Yas Island and museum developments on Saadiyat Island, according to management consultancy AT Kearney.Retail space in Abu Dhabi is also expected to grow 70 per cent to 1.2 million square metres from 700,000 sq metres in the next two years, according to the firm. BMI also cites growth of the UAE’s population in the 20-44 age bracket, crucial to the retail sector for its spending power.According to UN figures, just 30 per cent of the population fell into this category in 2005 and it is expected to hit 57.6 per cent by 2015, BMI said. Ashish Panjabi, the chief operating officer of Jacky’s Electronics, said he expected retail sales in the UAE to grow in the coming years because it continues to be the go-to tourist destination in the region. “What we are seeing is the (Government) spending or investment in tourism, whether in terms of hotels, theme parks, in terms of the new malls coming up,” he said. “If we get the tourists here, there are a lot of ways to make money.”Vipen Sethi, the chief executive of the Landmark Group, said another factor is the UAE Government’s recent move to eliminate the minimum Dh150,000 capital requirement for new businesses, which will make it much easier for people to set up new enterprises. This, coupled with investments in infrastructure such as the soon-to-open Metro system, make it a key destination for business and tourists, he said. “I have full faith that the UAE market will come back sooner than other GCC markets,” he said. Laurent-Patrick Gally, a retail analyst at Shuaa Capital, agrees, but expects Saudi Arabia to also be a strong market for retailers. “There is a huge young population, with 50 per cent of the people less than 25 years old,” he said. “The people who are now between 14 and 16, over the next three to four years will become adults, get jobs and increase their spending power. We would expect Saudi Arabia to fare very well.”However, Mr Gally said the UAE is still the “big magnet” for tourism in the region, which will in turn drive retail sales.

Source: The National

Thousands left without electricity in Sharjah

Thousands of people were left without electricity for more than 24 hours, after an overloaded network caused a mass power failure in a densely populated area of Sharjah.Residents in several of the emirate’s industrial areas remained in the dark yesterday as to when the electrical supply would return to their homes and businesses.
The power in Industrial Areas 1, 3 and 6, as well as Hamriya Free Zone, where more than 10,000 people live, went off at midday on Tuesday and remained disconnected late into yesterday afternoon.Last night, the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) said that it was working to rectify the problem.However, business was almost at a standstill in Hamriya – the economic heart of the emirate – with factories halting their operations. Families were forced to flee their homes because of the lack of air conditioning.
According to the authority, the problem occurred because of a sudden breakdown at a major electricity plant supplying the affected areas.“We have started to implement the first phase of our emergency plan as a result of a sudden failure in one of the main power generating plants; the failure was caused by a malfunction in one of the main transmission lines overpowered by the large load it was carrying as the consumption in summer is high,” it said in a statement.

“We appeal to the residents to co-operate in this emergency by conserving electricity as the cost of electricity production is very high especially in times when there is a big expansion in residential and commercial buildings in Sharjah.”Supermarkets and grocery shops were among the worst affected, with food spoilt through the lack of refrigeration. The municipality voiced its concern about the possibility of food poisoning if shop owners were to return the spoilt food to the shelves.
Taqiudin, who runs the Jameela Supermarket, said he had asked his salespeople to throw away all of the milk, fish and other products that were affected by the lack of refrigeration.“It’s a bold decision but a painful one also to lose so much because these products make up most of our income, but it’s worth throwing them [rather] than poisoning a customer as the reputation of my supermarket is more important than a few days’ income,” he said.
Outside many of the residential buildings several families simply waited for the power to return; their homes were too hot for them to stay inside.Others sought refuge in their cars or stayed with relatives and friends in other areas. Imran Ali, from Pakistan, who lives in a building in Industrial Area 1, said he had moved his family to stay with his brother in Al Khan.“At around midnight we decided we had to go back home and sleep with or without power,” he said. “Our six-year-old was supposed to go to a summer camp in the morning; we also had to go to work and all this needed us to stay at our home.”
Yesterday Mr Ali’s family spent the day at Sharjah City Centre, to escape the heat. “I picked them up from the centre when I left from work and I had to keep driving them around in my car for some time. After I got tired of driving we decided to go back home and sleep without air conditioning,” he said.The situation was made even more chaotic after the blackout caused traffic lights to fail at most junctions and roundabouts, resulting in worse traffic than normal in the industrial areas.
Police were called to the affected areas yesterday, as motorists struggled to move through the heavy congestion.“What actually happened here was a real mess,” said Attallah Khan, who was stuck in traffic for more than two hours as he tried to reach his home in Sharjah.The traffic lights were finally restored by late yesterday afternoon.

Source: The National