ABU DHABI // Residents in tower blocks say they are sick of second-hand smoke seeping into their flats because of poor ventilation and cigarette butts thrown from balconies.
They said the stale tobacco smell and the litter were both a health risk and significant environmental nuisance.
Toddlers found the butts and put them in their mouths, while cigarette ends tossed from balconies or discarded without being extinguished posed a fire hazard.
Charlotte Cochrane-Dyet, 31, a new mother from the UK, was among those frustrated by her neighbour’s tobacco habit.
“I notice the smell of my neighbour’s cigarettes seeping under my front door,” she said. “Sometimes makes my whole sitting room stink.
“It is horrible, especially as I have a new-born baby. Luckily, my neighbour is a pilot and isn’t around all the time as I would probably make a bit of a fuss.
“I am an ex-smoker and now cannot stand the smell of stale cigarettes.”
Al Muneera resident Laura Barlow agreed. While smoke smell in her apartment block was “annoying”, her chief issue was finding butts on her balcony.
“I have toddlers who find them and stick them in their mouths,” said the 34-year-old American. “We have a canvas cover on our barbecue that could catch fire. These are major safety issues. It is not just a question of preference, of whether I don’t like the smell.”
Another Al Muneera resident, C B, called smokers who tossed butts crazy and dangerous.
“Shops sell buckets that people can put their cigarette butts in,” she said. “They self-extinguish and since they are enclosed, the smoke can’t blow around. Fire safety is so important, especially in high-rise, multifamily dwellings. It’s so hot here, plus with the salt in the air, things are extra flammable.”
The dangers were illustrated less than a month ago, when a discarded butt was thought to be behind a blaze at the 75-storey Sulafa Tower in Dubai Marina.
The antisocial element of second-hand smoke and cigarette littering also angered residents.
“It annoys me when I get in the lift and someone has again thought the rules don’t apply to them, because it stinks of smoke,” said Carol Goodey, 52, a British Al Muneera resident.
Elrina Sinton objected to vapours travelling through the vents and into her bedroom.
“At that time my premature twins were a couple of months old. It posed a huge concern for me with their breathing,” she said. “Nothing could be done as it’s the way our buildings are designed.”
Abu Dhabi resident Kate Goodall, another non-smoker, said: “I quite often smell smoke from people on the balcony below. In our maid’s room, which we use as an office, I have no idea where the smell comes from as I am not near doors, windows or a balcony.”
Since personal dwellings in the UAE are not considered to be public spaces, they are generally not covered under anti-tobacco legislation regulating smoking. Management of some residential buildings, however, may attempt to enforce tobacco-free blocks and mandate in leases that smoking is banned in flats.
Dubai Municipality and Abu Dhabi Municipality did not respond to requests for comment.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
MOTHER%20OF%20STRANGERS
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The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: Dh898,000
On sale: now
Duminy's Test career in numbers
Tests 46; Runs 2,103; Best 166; Average 32.85; 100s 6; 50s 8; Wickets 42; Best 4-47
MATCH INFO
France 3
Umtiti (8'), Griezmann (29' pen), Dembele (63')
Italy 1
Bonucci (36')
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Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
RESULT
Wolves 1 (Traore 67')
Tottenham 2 (Moura 8', Vertonghen 90 1')
Man of the Match: Adama Traore (Wolves)
FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
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There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
The specs: 2018 Audi R8 V10 RWS
Price: base / as tested: From Dh632,225
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 540hp @ 8,250rpm
Torque: 540Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.4L / 100km
T20 SQUADS
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shinwari, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Faheem Ashraf.
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Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
Brief scores:
Juventus 3
Dybala 6', Bonucci 17', Ronaldo 63'
Frosinone 0
MATCH INFO
Everton 2 (Tosun 9', Doucoure 93')
Rotherham United 1 (Olosunde 56')
Man of the Match Olosunde (Rotherham)
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Results
Catchweight 60kg: Mohammed Al Katheeri (UAE) beat Mostafa El Hamy (EGY) TKO round 3
Light Heavyweight: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) no contest Kevin Oumar (COM) Unintentional knee by Oumer
Catchweight 73kg: Yazid Chouchane (ALG) beat Ahmad Al Boussairy (KUW) Unanimous decision
Featherweight: Faris Khaleel Asha (JOR) beat Yousef Al Housani (UAE) TKO in round 2 through foot injury
Welterweight: Omar Hussein (JOR) beat Yassin Najid (MAR); Split decision
Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Sallah Eddine Dekhissi (MAR); Round-1 TKO
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali Musalim (UAE) beat Medhat Hussein (EGY); Triangle choke submission
Welterweight: Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) beat Sofiane Oudina (ALG); Triangle choke Round-1
Lightweight: Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Saleem Al Bakri (JOR); Unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Ali Taleb (IRQ) beat Nawras Abzakh (JOR); TKO round-2
Catchweight 63kg: Rany Saadeh (PAL) beat Abdel Ali Hariri (MAR); Unanimous decision
McIlroy's struggles in 2016/17
European Tour: 6 events, 16 rounds, 5 cuts, 0 wins, 3 top-10s, 4 top-25s, 72,5567 points, ranked 16th
PGA Tour: 8 events, 26 rounds, 6 cuts, 0 wins, 4 top-10s, 5 top-25s, 526 points, ranked 71st