The British soul singer Amy Winehouse performs the grand finale to the musical festivities at Gulf Bike Week in Dubai. A reader registers many complaints about her singing. Amy Leang / The National
The British soul singer Amy Winehouse performs the grand finale to the musical festivities at Gulf Bike Week in Dubai. A reader registers many complaints about her singing. Amy Leang / The National

Iranian leaders should clean their own house first



In reference to the news article Harsh words for US and Israel at Iranian revolution rallies (February 11), the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad should know that preaching hatred will do no good. I agree that US is poking it nose into each and every country. But the US has shown maturity in its actions on Egypt.

Mr Ahmedinejad or Ayatollah Khamenei don't have any right to comment or congratulate the people of Egypt since they are doing the same that the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak had done for 30 years. They have forgotten what they did to the innocent people of Iran two years ago by ruthlessly suppressing them and their fundamental rights.

Instead of giving big lectures, the leaders of Iran must first clean up their government and heed the people's voice.

Karthik Kamath, Dubai

Complaint about floating library

In reference to the news article Charity ship Logos Hope docks in Dubai (February 10) my husband and I went to the Logos Hope ship hoping to find some great bargain books for our children. What we found was something quite different from what we expected. Not only were the books decidedly not bargains, I found more than one whose price was actually marked up from its price in US dollars.

There was also not so thinly veiled proselytisation to Christianity taking place. In addition to the entire section of Bibles and Christian spirituality, the marriage and family sections were dominated by Christian titles and the management section had a book called What if Jesus was Mayor? in addition to other similarly themed titles. There were Christian children's books mixed in with Elmo and Bob the Builder. I was raised Christian. But I have been Muslim for almost 9 years.

Umm Hamza, Dubai

The machinery of final justice

The article The execution of justice (February 11) described the last hours of Rashid Al Rashidi, the murderer of four-year-old Moosa Mukhtiar Ahmed. The execution should serve as a relief to the bereaved parents for the heinous act done to their child.

While no amount of punishment served will undo the ugly turn of events that eventually led to the child being brutally murdered, still we all need to appreciate the government's machinery for upholding capital punishment in this regard.

Yousuf Yaqub, Abu Dhabi

Developers have the upper hand

The news article Pay up before you can vote, developers tell owners associations (February 13) reported that property developers are demanding that homeowners pay outstanding maintenance fees before they are allowed to vote for owners' associations.

Developers only take the part of the law that suits them. The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) does have reasonable positions but no teeth to implement them. Developers are still in control and that has a negative impact on the market. What is the point to have laws and a regulatory body if developers don't comply?

Salvatore Primo, Dubai

Bad night with Amy Winehouse

In the news article about the recent Amy Winehouse concert, Did Winehouse impress? No, no, no (February 13), Thomas Ovesen, the chief operating officer of the concert organiser Done Event, is quoted as saying: "Fans vote with their feet. Last night 10,000 fans saw her full length show complete with all her hits."

Amy Winehouse was a disgrace. She forgot the words of her second song, stumbled through the rest; she left the stage loads of times (the backing singers were more talented). No way did the crowd stay to watch her.

I left after song eight and the taxi queue was pretty much all the way back to the Dubai Festival City entrance. People were piling out after her third song. We deserve a refund - you couldn't even hear her. She was a mess, playing with her nails, drinking water mid-song, asking the crowd if they wanted to get up there and join the band after she was booed. It's all on YouTube - the camera doesn't lie.

It was pretty much one of the worst nights out I've ever had in this country.

Peter Richards, Dubai

I should have gone to see Clapton.

Adam Garcia, Dubai

Foie gras is a nasty procedure

I refer to Foie Gras master class with Bruno Menard (February 13). I am amazed that a respectable newspaper is promoting such a disgusting practice. We human beings can live without animals being put through this nasty procedure.

Del D, Abu Dhabi

OPTA'S PREDICTED TABLE

1. Liverpool 101 points

2. Manchester City 80 

3. Leicester 67

4. Chelsea 63

5. Manchester United 61

6. Tottenham 58

7. Wolves 56

8. Arsenal 56

9. Sheffield United 55

10. Everton 50

11. Burnley 49

12. Crystal Palace 49

13. Newcastle 46

14. Southampton 44

15. West Ham 39

16. Brighton 37

17. Watford 36

18. Bournemouth 36

19. Aston Villa 32

20. Norwich City 29

 

 

 

 

 

 

MATCH INFO

Manchester City 0

Wolves 2 (Traore 80', 90 4')

Racecard:
2.30pm: Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoun Emirates Breeders Society Challenge; Conditions (PA); Dh40,000; 1,600m
3pm: Handicap; Dh80,000; 1,800m
3.30pm: Jebel Ali Mile Prep Rated Conditions; Dh110,000; 1,600m
4pm: Handicap; Dh95,000; 1,950m
4.30pm: Maiden; Dh65,000; 1,400m
5pm: Handicap; Dh85,000; 1,200m

Apple%20Mac%20through%20the%20years
%3Cp%3E1984%20-%20Apple%20unveiled%20the%20Macintosh%20on%20January%2024%3Cbr%3E1985%20-%20Steve%20Jobs%20departed%20from%20Apple%20and%20established%20NeXT%3Cbr%3E1986%20-%20Apple%20introduced%20the%20Macintosh%20Plus%2C%20featuring%20enhanced%20memory%3Cbr%3E1987%20-%20Apple%20launched%20the%20Macintosh%20II%2C%20equipped%20with%20colour%20capabilities%3Cbr%3E1989%20-%20The%20widely%20acclaimed%20Macintosh%20SE%2F30%20made%20its%20debut%3Cbr%3E1994%20-%20Apple%20presented%20the%20Power%20Macintosh%3Cbr%3E1996%20-%20The%20Macintosh%20System%20Software%20OS%20underwent%20a%20rebranding%20as%20Mac%20OS%3Cbr%3E2001%20-%20Apple%20introduced%20Mac%20OS%20X%2C%20marrying%20Unix%20stability%20with%20a%20user-friendly%20interface%3Cbr%3E2006%20-%20Apple%20adopted%20Intel%20processors%20in%20MacBook%20Pro%20laptops%3Cbr%3E2008%20-%20Apple%20introduced%20the%20MacBook%20Air%2C%20a%20lightweight%20laptop%3Cbr%3E2012%20-%20Apple%20launched%20the%20MacBook%20Pro%20with%20a%20retina%20display%3Cbr%3E2016%20-%20The%20Mac%20operating%20system%20underwent%20rebranding%20as%20macOS%3Cbr%3E2020%20-%20Apple%20introduced%20the%20M1%20chip%20for%20Macs%2C%20combining%20high%20performance%20and%20energy%20efficiency%3Cbr%3E2022%20-%20The%20M2%20chip%20was%20announced%3Cbr%3E2023%20-The%20M3%20line-up%20of%20chip%20was%20announced%20to%20improve%20performance%20and%20add%20new%20capabilities%20for%20Mac.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Du Football Champions

The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.

Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

MATCH INFO

Alaves 1 (Perez 65' pen)

Real Madrid 2 (Ramos 52', Carvajal 69')

The biog

Name: Maitha Qambar

Age: 24

Emirate: Abu Dhabi

Education: Master’s Degree

Favourite hobby: Reading

She says: “Everyone has a purpose in life and everyone learns from their experiences”