DUBAI // An unemployed man who made a living stealing car batteries was today sentenced to a year in prison.
PD, a 29-year-old Indian, was arrested on January 29 after stealing a battery from a Victoria Shipping Company lorry parked in Ras Al Khour.
He became scared when he saw a traffic policeman and threw down his bike and the battery and ran away. The officer then chased and arrested him.
AS, a driver from India, told the Dubai Criminal Court he parked his lorry in Al Rashidiya on January 28 at about 7pm. At about 12.30am the next day he received a call from police informing him the vehicle's battery had been stolen.
The unemployed man admitted theft, saying he stole the batteries to make a living. He will be deported following the completion of his prison term.
salamir@thenational.ae
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
