Ajman Police have urged the public to use the 999 telephone number only in emergencies after operators took calls about prayer times and one caller phoned in with regular poetry readings.
Lt Col Hisham Abdullah Bu Shihab, director of Ajman operations room, has asked that the 901 number be used for non-emergency situations.
During Ramadan, the police control room fielded inquiries about whether the Maghrib prayer had been called so people could break their fast.
An elderly man called the operations room regularly for more than three months to talk about his life and to recite poetry for the officers.
Lt Col Bu Shihab said: "He obviously was a lonely man and needed to talk to someone – the officers did not dismiss him, but instead dealt with him in a polite and professional way," he said.
“Children call by mistake, while others call to ask about childish, innocent things,” he said.
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Lt Col Bu Shihab said that many calls came from people asking about non-emergencies, such as how to open a traffic file or how to apply for a government job.
He said that the 901 number was for non-urgent calls, where nine staff answer callers.
The public plea was made as Ajman Police unveiled a new operations room, equipped with the latest technological tools to help increase safety and cut response times.
A new system connecting the operations room with Etisalat will help officers identify the caller and their location – a potentially life-saving addition.
"In some incidents such as fires, lives were lost because locating the place took time, but now with this system, once a call is made reporting an emergency of any kind, one of three screens will show the caller's identity information and another screen will show his location," Lt Col Bu Shihab said.
The room will be electronically linked to traffic, civil defence, national ambulance and all other vital departments, which will be alerted of the report once made.
In the first three months of this year, 177,000 emergency calls were received by Ajman officers.
Maj Saeed Ali Al Madhani, deputy director of the operations room, said that several factors, including the smart map and the visual alert, contribute to improved safety.
"The smart map shows us what we call hot zones, while the visual alert, which is linked to 2,879 cameras installed in 154 institutions in Ajman including banks, exchange centres and gold shops, alert us in case of break-ins or other illegal activities," he said.
He explained that visual-alert cameras are so sensitive to motion that police even received alerts from banks when distributors left newspaper copies under the door and from ATM booths where a client slammed the door.
"The alarm goes off, we turn on the cameras linked to the place where the alarm came from to see what is happening. In one incident, we watched as thieves made an opening in a wall separating an exchange centre from another shop, then gained access – we easily arrested them before they could leave," Maj Al Madhani said.
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.
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Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
