Fahd

RAS AL KHAIMAH // Fertility rates are declining at a drastic rate. Emiratis have never had so few children – 2.3 per family at the last count.Two men, however, are doing their best to reverse the trend. And while father-of-52 Salem Juma’a, in his late 70s, will probably stop there, 60-year-old Daad Abdulrahman has 86 and says he is aiming for 100.

“It’s from God,” says Mr Juma’a. “God gave me this. I can’t object to God’s gift. God gave me because I deserved it. If I did not deserve, God would not give.”

In the family sitting room, Mr Juma’a is surrounded by a small part of his family: two wives, two daughters, five sons and a grandchild. Over the next two hours, dozens of his children enter the room, kiss him on the head and then greet their mothers.

Qatar to launch crackdown on price hikes
by Andy SambidgeThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Monday, 13 April 2009

PRICE CHECK: Qatar is to launch a new crackdown to stop price hikes on essential goods such as cement and steel. (Getty Images)Qatar is set to crackdown on the price of essential commodities by introducing tougher rules on distributors.

Under the new regulations planned by the government, distributors will have to seek prior approval from the Ministry of Business and Trade before they revise prices on products including steel and cement.

CNN -- A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a 75-year-old Syrian woman to 40 lashes, four months imprisonment and deportation from the kingdom for having two unrelated men in her house, according to local media reports.

According to the Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan, troubles for the woman, Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, began last year when a member of the religious police entered her house in the city of Al-Chamli and found her with two unrelated men, "Fahd" and "Hadian."