It is a typical evening for 16-year-old Khamis al Yamahi as he walks down to the basketball courts in Fujairah City for some break-dancing.

Yet his uniform of jeans, T-shirt, baseball cap turned backwards and black Reebok trainers, underlines a deeper message about the radical changes in how a new generation of Emiratis see themselves.

“I only wear my kandoora when I can’t find my jeans,” he says.

Like many other teenage boys of this small northern emirate, Khamis and his friends are as comfortable musing in English over the message of the murdered American rap artist Tupac Shakur as they are speaking in Arabic with their parents.

“Tupac, man, he has meaning,” Khamis says in fluent English that carries an American twang. “Every single word he sings has meaning.”

Bombarded with MTV music videos and MP3 downloads of their favourite rap artists – Eminem, Lil Wayne, Akon, 50 Cent – they emulate with precision the hip hop slang spoken on American streets.

They attend private schools in which English is the language of instruction and where there appears to be less emphasis on Arabic studies. They mingle with foreign friends who have never learned Arabic.

By embracing American youth culture, many are defying their parents like no previous generation, dimming hopes that one day they will be the torch-bearers of their ancestors’ customs.

Khamis is the product of the English-language instruction at Fujairah Private Academy, a majority Arab national institution where he also studies French and Italian. Very little of his classroom pursuits, he says, goes toward learning classical Arabic, or Fushah.

“I take Fushah, but we just talk in our local languages in class,” he says.

Much of his day is spent watching English-language music videos, or hanging out with Emirati and Pakistani and Australian friends at the Ozone internet cafe, playing video games or downloading music onto his MP3 player.

But his fondness for American culture does not mean he has totally abandoned that of his parents, he says. You have to choose what feels right...MORE

RAS AL KHAIMAH – Red tides have hit some areas of Al Rams in the last few days and are stretching to the western coastal areas of Al Magharib in the emirate, raising fears of pollution that could harm marine life and affect the fishing trade.

Dr Seif Mohammed Al Ghais, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Department in Ras Al Khaimah, said the red tides, known as algal blooms mostly caused by natural occurrences, often hit some sea areas of the Northern Emirates every year.

Al Ghais, however, noted that the current red tides were of low concentration and had not affected the fish so far.

The worst red tide, which occurred in the recent months in Dibba Al-Husn in Fujairah, killed about 20,000 fish.

Al Ghais stressed that the environment departments in the Northern Emirates were discussing the possible measures to counter the phenomenon and committees have been set up to monitor and control the negative effects of the red tides, including marine pollution and fish deaths…SOURCE

Chinese gang held for abduction

11/24/2008 08:54 AM | By Alia Al Theeb, Staff Reporter

Dubai: Police arrested a Chinese gang of nine, including a woman, for kidnapping a Chinese businessman for ransom.

Police freed the kidnapped victim just 48 hours after receiving a complaint.

Colonel Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Deputy Director of Dubai Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said the gang had blindfolded the victim and tied him to a bed and was tortured with electric devices.

He said Al Rashidiya Police Station received a complaint of missing person from L.H., a Chinese woman who worked at a shop at Dragon Mart in Al Aweer on November 16.

The Chief of Dubai Police had also received the missing report from a Chinese official and was following up the case closely.

Under watch

L.H. told police that her boyfriend, 24, who owns the shop, had left the shop around 9.30pm for their residence at International City.

After an hour, she received a call from an unknown man who spoke Chinese and told her that they had kidnapped her boyfriend and asked her to inform his family to arrange a ransom of Dh20 million for his release.

Colonel Al Mansouri said the CID formed a team to follow up the case and monitor all the places where the suspects could keep the victim.

On November 18, CID officials came to know that the gang was moving the victim daily between two locations – an apartment in Ajman and a traditional house in Fujairah – in a rented car.

“We kept a vigil on the building which housed a large number of bachelors as we saw some suspicious activities. We also came to know that the victim was being held in the Ajman apartment and the gang members were keeping a strict guard inside and outside the building,” he said.

A CID team followed the suspects to Fujairah and kept the house under watch.

After getting permission from the Public Prosecution, CID teams raided the two locations at the same time to ensure the victim’s safety.

“CID teams from Dubai Police decided to raid the locations at 4am in cooperation with Ajman and Fujairah police. Eight of the gang members, including a woman were arrested in the Ajman apartment, while their boss was arrested in the Fujairah house,” Colonel Al Mansouri said.

He said the victim was found in a bad condition, blindfolded and his hands and legs tied to a bed. His body bore torture marks caused by electric devices. He was shifted to a hospital for treatment…

Diminished water tables, the introduction of non-native fish and pollution is affecting the survival of an indigenous fish species.Colloquially known as wadi fish after their habitat, the first study of this species is currently under way and results so far have spread light on the threats mountain ecosystems and endemic species are facing here.

The main study site for this fish is in the catchment of Wadi Wurayah near Fujairah, which covers an area of 129 square kilometres.

Sixty-eight freshwater wadi pool habitats have been mapped in the last 18 months which range from small, isolated pools to extensive, flowing streams. The largest habitat is a water fall which at 8 metres high is the highest perennial waterfall in the UAE… SOURCE