ARAB GAZETTE - Weekly Newspaper - Founded by Chairman and Editor : Alauddin Saeed .

Read to your children’, urges director of Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

Posted by مؤسسة الوطن العربى الإعلامية - لندن ، المملكة المتحدة . WA MEDIA FOUNDATION - LONDON, UK | Sunday, 31 March 2019 | Posted in education

Read to your children’, urges director of Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

ARAB GAZETTE - BY: Dana Moukhallati, DUBAI

A child is never too young for a story, and mums and dads should pick up a book and read to their children as soon as they are born.

Isobel Abulhoul, chief executive and trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation and director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, said parents should read to their children as early as possible.

"I would advise parents to read to their children from the moment they’re born and continue long after they’ve learnt to read," said Ms Abulhoul at a reading event hosted by the Dubai Women Establishment at the Dubai Ladies Club.

"From when [my children] were born, they would lie or sit on my lap and we would share a book together. What message are you sending? You are saying that this is very important."

Ms Abulhoul, who came to the UAE in 1968, has spent most of her life promoting reading and writing with a focus on children.

"The gift of reading for [pleasure] is priceless and one that we should all try to give to the next generations," she said, adding that she spends just as much time reading children’s books as she does reading more grown up titles.

Ms Abulhoul said there are challenges that need to be addressed to encourage children to read, especially in Arabic.

"I see a challenge with many people not being educated in their mother tongue," she said. "I also think there should be more [production] of books in Arabic that are interesting and exciting."

Ms Abulhoul, who was awarded the Cultural Personality of the Year by Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, in 2010, credits her parents for her passion for books.

"It started with my parents, both were avid readers and books were always there," she said. "Books have always been warm, creative, and a place to escape to.

"I was so fortunate in my parents that their love for books was transferred to me and my brother. I can’t imagine a house without books in it.

"If you want to do well in any field, be it marketing, engineering, science, reading is going to help you. Statistics show that any child that reads for pleasure will usually outperform their peers and are more empathetic and tolerant."

The UAE leadership designated 2016 as the Year of Reading to create a generation of book lovers and to establish the country as a global hub for culture and knowledge.

In addition to recently honouring 45 Emirati individuals and entities that contributed to the UAE Year of Reading at the UAE Pioneers Award 2016 ceremony, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, issued a decree to establish the Mohammed bin Rashid library, the largest library in the Arab world, in Dubai.

Shamsa Saleh, chief executive of Dubai Women Establishment, lauded the UAE’s keenness to develop its people’s knowledge and culture.

"The vision of our wise leadership is to ensure sustainable development and a future full of prosperity, establishing the UAE among the most advanced nations in the world," she said.

Ms Saleh said that reading is key to the nation’s development and a source of inspiration for innovative and creative ideas.

As the Year of Reading comes to a close teachers, students, and officials have pledged to continue promoting reading in their communities and to instil a passion for the written word among their friends and colleagues.

Report : Every Year 700 Million People Fall Ill from Contaminated Food

Posted by مؤسسة الوطن العربى الإعلامية - لندن ، المملكة المتحدة . WA MEDIA FOUNDATION - LONDON, UK | | Posted in arab street, reports and studies

Report : Every Year 700 Million People Fall Ill from Contaminated Food

ARAB GAZETTER - ROME, (IPS)

It may sound like an endless tale of modern seven plagues: mad cows, avian flu, led-poisoned fish, swine fever, desert locusts being the most dangerous of migratory pests, let alone new, aggressive rust threatening entire wheat crops in three continents, just to mention a few. Now it is about contaminated food that every year causes illness to 1 in 10 people around the world – or around 700 million – killing 420,000 people as a result.

The leading United Nations body in the field of food agriculture has something to say on this. And it does: food availability and food hygiene are compromised every day by diseases and pests that plague plants and animals as well as various types of contaminants.

“This happens on farms, in factories, at home, in fresh or sea water, in the open air and in the midst of dense forests,” warns the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Whether in the form of pathogen, insect or contaminant, threats are now travelling faster and further, making effective and timely responses more difficult and putting people’s food supplies, their health and livelihoods, and often their lives at greater risk, it adds.

Over 70 per cent of new diseases of humans have animal origin, with the potential of becoming major public health threats, FAO adds.

On this, another UN specialised agency, the World Health Organization (WHO), has something to add: the great majority of people will experience a foodborne disease at some point in their lives.

This highlights the importance of making sure the food we eat is not contaminated with potentially harmful bacteria, parasites, viruses, toxins and chemicals, according to WHO.

“Food can become contaminated at any point during production, distribution and preparation. Everyone along the production chain, from producer to consumer, has a role to play to ensure the food we eat does not cause diseases.”

Should this not be enough, the UN food and agriculture agency reminds that with more people, plants and animals travelling internationally, there are more pathogens moving with them.

“Pests plaguing plants and trees, diseases passing from animals to humans, pollutants compromising waters and soils, climate patterns undergoing drastic change, the threats to our food supply know no borders.”

Moreover, FAO says that a third of global crop production is lost annually due to insects and plant diseases that can spread to multiple countries and through continents.

Why All This Happens

According to the specialised agency, a number of trends are contributing to this, including certain types of intensive farming, deforestation, overgrazing and climate change.

In addition, conflicts, civil unrest and globalized trade are all increasing the likelihood of threats emerging, passing to other countries and becoming devastating in these newly infected countries, it adds.

“Food can be contaminated in the processing and marketing phases, processes that often take place in different countries making it more difficult to identify the point of contamination.”

To address the rising number of trans-boundary animal and plant pests and diseases, FAO has published “Averting risks to the food chain“, a set of proven emergency prevention methods and tools. They show how prevention, early warning, preparedness, good food chain crisis management and good practices can improve food security and safety, save lives and livelihoods.

“Keeping the food chain safe is becoming increasingly complicated in an interconnected and more complex world. That’s why we believe it’s important for sectors involved in food production, processing and marketing to watch out for current and potential threats and respond to them in a concerted manner,” said FAO Assistant Director-General Ren Wang

Trump seeks to cut foreign aid to 3 Central American nations

Posted by مؤسسة الوطن العربى الإعلامية - لندن ، المملكة المتحدة . WA MEDIA FOUNDATION - LONDON, UK | | Posted in world news

ARAB GAZETTE - PALM BEACH, Fla.(AP)..

Taking drastic action over illegal immigration, President Donald Trump moved Saturday to cut direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, whose citizens are fleeing north and overwhelming U.S. resources at the southern border. The State Department notified Congress that it would look to suspend 2017 and 2018 payments to the trio of nations, which have been home to some of the migrant caravans that have marched through Mexico to the U.S. border. Amplified by conservative media, Trump has turned the caravans into the symbol of what he says are the dangers of illegal immigration — a central theme of his midterm campaigning last fall. With the special counsel’s Russia probe seemingly behind him, Trump has revived his warnings of the caravans’ presence. Trump also has returned to a previous threat he never carried out — closing the border with Mexico. He brought up that possibility on Friday and revisited it in tweets Saturday, blaming Democrats and Mexico for problems at the border and beyond despite warnings that a closed border could create economic havoc on both sides. “It would be so easy to fix our weak and very stupid Democrat inspired immigration laws,” Trump tweeted Saturday. “In less than one hour, and then a vote, the problem would be solved. But the Dems don’t care about the crime, they don’t want any victory for Trump and the Republicans, even if good for USA!′ As far as Mexico’s role, he tweeted: “Mexico must use its very strong immigration laws to stop the many thousands of people trying to get into the USA. Our detention areas are maxed out & we will take no more illegals. Next step is to close the Border! This will also help us with stopping the Drug flow from Mexico!” When reporters asked Trump on Friday what closing the border could entail, he said “it could mean all trade” with Mexico and added, “We will close it for a long time.” Trump has been promising for more than two years to build a long, impenetrable wall along the border to stop illegal immigration, though Congress has been reluctant to provide the money he needs. In the meantime, he has repeatedly threatened to close the border, but this time, with a new group of migrants heading north , he gave a definite timetable and suggested a visit to the border within the next two weeks. A substantial closure could have an especially heavy impact on cross-border communities from San Diego to South Texas, as well as supermarkets that sell Mexican produce, factories that rely on imported parts, and other businesses across the U.S. The U.S. and Mexico trade about $1.7 billion in goods daily, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which said closing the border would be “an unmitigated economic debacle” that would threaten 5 million American jobs.

Ukraine presidential vote begins under bribe claim cloud

Posted by مؤسسة الوطن العربى الإعلامية - لندن ، المملكة المتحدة . WA MEDIA FOUNDATION - LONDON, UK | | Posted in world news

ARAB GAZETTE - KIEV, Ukraine (AP)..

Voters in Ukraine are casting ballots in a presidential election Sunday after a campaign that produced a comedian with no political experience as the front-runner and allegations of voter bribery. Opinion polls have shown Volodymyr Zelenskiy who stars in a TV sitcom about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral, leading a field of 39 candidates. The polls also had Zelenskiy outpacing incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the other top candidates, by a broad margin. “Zelenskiy has shown us on the screen what a real president should be like,” voter Tatiana Zinchenko, 30, who cast her ballot for the comedian, said. “He showed what the state leader should aspire for — fight corruption by deeds, not words, help the poor, control the oligarchs.” If no candidate secures an absolute majority of Sunday’s vote, a runoff between the two top finishers would be held April 21. Concern about the election’s legitimacy spiked in recent days after the interior minister said his department was “showered” with hundreds of claims that supporters of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko offered money in exchange for votes. Campaign issues included endemic corruption in Ukraine, the struggling economy and a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country of 42 million people. Like the popular character he plays, Zelenskiy, 41, has made corruption a focus of his candidacy. He proposed a lifetime ban on holding public office for anyone convicted of graft. He also called for direct negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine. His lack of political experience helped his popularity with voters amid broad disillusionment with the current generation of politicians. “There is no trust in old politicians. They were at the helm, and the situation in the country has only got worse — corruption runs amok and the war is continuing,” businessman Valery Ostrozhsky, 66, another Zelenskiy voter, said. Poroshenko, 53, who was a confectionary tycoon when he was elected five years ago, saw his approval with citizens sink amid Ukraine’s economic woes and a sharp plunge in living standards. He campaigned on promises to defeat the rebels in the east and to wrest back control of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 in a move that Ukraine and almost all of the world views as illegal. During his presidency, he also vowed to take Ukraine into the European Union and NATO and pushed successfully for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be recognized as self-standing rather than a branch of the Russian church. “Poroshenko has done a lot. He created our own church, bravely fought with Moscow and is trying to open the way to the EU and NATO,” schoolteacher Andriy Hristenko, 46, who voted to re-elect the president, said. ( The former prime minister, Tymoshenko, shaped her message around the economic distress of millions of Ukrainians, denouncing price hikes introduced by Poroshenko as “economic genocide” and promising to reduce prices for household gas by 50 percent within a month of taking office. “I don’t need a bright future in 50 years,” Olha Suhiy, a 58-year old cook. “I want hot water and heating to cost less tomorrow.” A military embezzlement scheme that allegedly involved top Poroshenko’s associates and a factory controlled by the president dogged Poroshenko ahead of the election. Ultra-right activists shadowed him throughout the campaign, demanding the jailing of the president’s associates accused of involvement in the scheme. Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko both used the alleged embezzlement to take hits at Poroshenko, who shot back at his rivals. He described them as puppets of a self-exiled billionaire businessman Igor Kolomoyskyi, which Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko denied. However, many political observers described the presidential election as a battle between Poroshenko and Kolomoyskyi, who was on Forbes Magazine’s list of billionaires with a net worth of $1.3 billion in 2014 before dropping off the following year. Both the president and Kolomoyskyi relied on an arsenal of media outlets under their control to exchange blows. Just days before the election, the TV channel Kolomoyskyi owns aired a new season of the “Servant of the People” TV series in which Zelenskiy stars as Ukraine’s leader. “Kolomoyskyi has succeeded in creating a wide front against Poroshenko,” said Vadim Karasyov, head of the Institute of Global Strategies, an independent Kiev-based think tank. “Ukraine has gone through two revolutions, but ended up with the same thing — the fight between the oligarchs for the power and resources.”

Gaza groups warn Israel against attacking protesters

Posted by مؤسسة الوطن العربى الإعلامية - لندن ، المملكة المتحدة . WA MEDIA FOUNDATION - LONDON, UK | | Posted in arab news

ARAB GAZETTE - Gaza City, PALESTINE..

Two Palestinian resistance groups have warned Israel against attacking protesters during planned mass rallies in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. Thousands of Palestinians are set to stage mass protests in Gaza to mark the first anniversary of anti-occupation protests and the 43rd anniversary of the Land Day when six people were killed in 1976 during demonstrations against seizure of Arab land in Galilee. “Any Israeli assault on the marches will be met with an equal response,” the Islamic Jihad group said following a meeting between group chief Jihad al-Nakhla and Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aarouri in Lebanese capital Beirut. During the meeting, the two groups agreed to “coordinate steps that should be taken in the face of any aggression against the marches”, the group’s website said. In the run-up to Saturday’s rallies, the Israeli army has deployed numerous tanks and armored vehicles along the buffer zone with the Gaza Strip. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly instructed the army to prepare for the possibility of a “broad” campaign in Gaza. Nearly 270 Palestinian demonstrators have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire since Palestinians began holding regular demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone in March of last year. Demonstrators demand the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel. They also demand an end to Israel’s 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.

Tom Hanks has written his first book, a collection of short stories

Posted by مؤسسة الوطن العربى الإعلامية - لندن ، المملكة المتحدة . WA MEDIA FOUNDATION - LONDON, UK | | Posted in literature

Tom Hanks has written his first book, a collection of short stories

ARAB GAZETTE - New York

Actor and typewriter enthusiast Tom Hanks has been quietly working on a book of fiction outside of his film work, and it’s now set to be published by Knopf in October.

Uncommon Type: Some Stories will consist of 17 tales, the publisher announced on Tuesday, each involving a different typewriter (Hanks owns over a hundred of them).

The Academy Award-winner said in a statement:

“In the two years of working on the stories, I made movies in New York, Berlin, Budapest, and Atlanta, and wrote in all of them. I wrote in hotels during press tours. I wrote on vacation. I wrote on planes, at home, and in the office. When I could actually make a schedule, and keep to it, I wrote in the mornings from 9 to 1.”

Stories in Uncommon Type include: “An immigrant arriving in New York City after his family and life have been torn apart by his country’s civil war; a man who bowls a perfect game (and then another, and another), becoming ESPN’s newest celebrity; an eccentric billionaire and his faithful executive assistant on the hunt for something larger in America; and the junket life of an actor.”

Knopf editor-in-chief Sonny Mehta said he first came across Hanks’ fiction in a New Yorker short story several years ago and “was struck by both his remarkable voice and command as a writer. I had hoped there might be more stories in the works. Happily for readers, it turns out there were.”