Absurdities...

Dubai: A teenage girl will receive 60 lashes for having illicit sex with a man, the federal supreme court has confirmed. The girl, identified as R.A., who was 14 -years-old when the incident occurred, had sex with a man, identified as H.S. R.A. had been meeting with H.S. in secret, she told the public prosecution. The prosecution accused the two of adultery and 'khulwa' [illegally staying together in a private place without being related]. The Al Ain court of First Instance sentenced R.A. to 60 lashes. It also sentenced H.S. to six months in jail but acquitted him of adultery for lack of evidence...

Meanwhile, Hooters, a US restaurant chain famous for its scantily clad waitresses, may open this year in Dubai as it expands to the Arabic peninsula for the first time. The new location for Dubai's first Hooters ought to be sealed by summer's end and the restaurant should open about six months later...



And still in Dubai. Two brothers have been found guilty of beating and locking up their sister in their family home, said a court yesterday. Their lawyer claimed "they were defending their honour". A Dubai Court sentenced the UAE national brothers, F.S., an engineer, and S.S., a police officer, to a six-month suspended sentence...


HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIR SALMAN RUSHDIE...
London foreign secretary Margaret Beckett said yesterday that Britain was "sorry" if people were upset over writer Salman Rushdie's knighthood, but insisted it was awarded for his entire literary career. But in Pakistan a parliamentarian and head of a religious political party demanded a "sir" title for Osama bin Laden in retaliation for Britain knighting Salman Rushdie...