Gulf News, UAE

1. McCanns yet to be formally charged by Portugal police.

Gerry McCann denied that he and his wife were responsible for their daughter’s death. "We did not kill Maddie," he said. "We're entirely innocent and we will clear our name."

Entirely innocent? I beg to differ. Who leaves such young children unattended while on holidays in a foreign country? Had they stayed in the hotel with the kids none of this would have happened.

2. Dubai sets stage to find solution to genetic disorder.

Arabs have one of the highest rates of genetic disorders... according to the Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS).

Yeah I wonder why.

...policies spawned to control the frequency and incidence rate of genetic disorders have created social and religious concerns.

Keep marrying your first cousins and ignore these unislamic policies. After all, marrying your cousin is your right.

3. Buying used mobile phones could ring in big trouble

A long and frightening article describing in vivid detail and with numerous examples how buying a second hand mobile phone can get you jailed, fined and ultimately deported. I love the deportation threat most of all. Although hilarious and badly written, the article is nevertheless informative and will probably save hundreds of naive UAE residents from a lot of headache (followed by deportation, of course). And although it isn't on the webpage, the actual printed article states the following: "Do not buy [mobile phones] from street vendors who may be selling at a lower price. What you are buying ... could belong to a drug dealer". That cracked me up. So in case you bought a mobile phone that belongs to a drug dealer, beware: you might develop a drug addiction. Or the drug dealer might decide he wants his phone back and will track and gun you down. Or perhaps there will be drugs stashed inside the phone. But why only a drug dealer? The phone could belong to a murderer. Or a pedophile. Or hey, what about a mobile that used to belong to a prostitute or a gay man? It's still a crime to be gay in UAE, you know. Who knows, maybe buying a mobile phone previously owned by a gay man is a crime too. It is, apparently, a crime to buy a mobile phone that belonged to a drug dealer, so you just never know :P

4. Worshippers rejoice as church creation begins.

A stone will be laid today in Sharjah to start the building of what officials say is the first Russian Orthodox church in the Arabian peninsula.

Awesome news and well done UAE. On the same note (albeit on a different page) there is a photograph from the unveiling of the new mosque in Germany. I wish to convey my gratitude and appreciation to everyone involved in these two events. Tolerance, acceptance of the peaceful practices and education are the way to go. I hope both these institutions will serve the respective communities in the best way possible.

5. Budget rip off. (From the Letters to the Editor).

Air India Express charged excess baggage for my laptop. It looks like these budget airlines might make their extras from other means. Coming back from India, a rude Air India staff and manager at Kozhikode airport charged excess baggage for 5kgs for my laptop. I had exactly 27kgs allowed plus the laptop. The staff were rude and even the manager refused to show proof that the laptop was not allowed. I would like to report this incident to the authorities and get some clarification.

From Mr Sal Puthiya
Dubai

How thick can you get? If you are allowed 27 kg on board, that means just that: 27 kg. Why should laptop be an exception to the rule?