Authorities and communities across the United Arab Emirates were clearing debris on Wednesday after at least one person died and homes and businesses were damaged in a rare torrential storm. The extent of the damage was not immediately clear as emergency workers sought to drain flooded roads across the country hours after heavy rain subsided late on Tuesday. The UAE saw record rainfall with 254 mm (10 inches) falling in less than 24 hours in Al Ain, a city on the UAE-Oman border, according to the national meteorology centre. That was the most since records began in 1949, before the UAE was formed in 1971. The UAE lacks much of the needed drainage infrastructure to handle heavy rain. It is not uncommon for roads to become partially submerged underwater during extended periods of rainfall. It typically only ever rains a few times a year. The UAE also frequently conducts cloud seeding operations to increase rainfall. A forecaster from the national meteorology centre denied any cloud seeding operations had taken place recently. Bloomberg earlier quoted the agency as saying seven cloud seeding operations had occurred in the days before the storm. (Reuters) #dubai #flood #floods #rain #worldnews #cloudseeding #UAE #dubaifood #weather #climatechange #climatecrisis

A man has been jailed for stealing a woman’s car while her blind 89-year-old mother was still inside. David Stephenson was found guilty of kidnap, theft of motor vehicle, dangerous driving and driving without a license. On Saturday 6 January 2024, Greater Manchester Police received a panicked call from the daughter of an 89-year-old woman whose car had been stolen… with her mother in it. As it was January, she had left the engine running to keep the heating on in the car to keep her elderly mother warm for 10 minutes while she went into the shops. Stephenson, not phased by the fact a vulnerable elderly woman was in the passenger seat, got in the car and drove off. Specialist officers from the Roads Policing Unit were immediately notified, and due to the risk posed to the passenger, a pursuit was authorised. Thankfully, police were able to bring the car to a safe stop, detain Stephenson, and reunite the victim with her daughter. Chief Inspector Matt Jackson from the Specialist Operations said: “This must have been really terrifying for the woman who was in the passenger seat when the car got stolen. She is blind and has dementia, she wouldn’t have known what was going on – I can’t even begin to imagine what was going through her mind. “I am proud of my officers, whose fast thinking and ability to remain calm in any given situation, meant we were able to bring the vehicle to a safe stop, and swiftly arrest Stephenson. “Their response meant that the woman was safety reunited with her daughter, it could have ended very differently if we didn’t work the way we did to get her back safe.” #uk #uknews #ukpolice #carchase #policechase #manchester #dashcam #999 #policecar

Five members of an organised gang have been convicted of what the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has described as Britain’s largest case of benefit fraud. Three women and two men – all Bulgarian – falsely claimed more than £50m in universal credit and spent the money on luxury items and holidays. Galina Nikolova, 38, Stoyan Stoyanov, 27, Tsvetka Todorova, 52, Gyunesh Ali, 33, and Patritsia Paneva, 26, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering for their involvement in the multi-million-pound scam on the benefit system. Between October 2016 and May 2021, the organised crime gang made thousands of false claims for universal credit using either real people or hijacked identities, Wood Green Crown Court heard. The claims were supported by an array of forged documents, including fictitious tenancy agreements, counterfeit payslips and forged letters from landlords, employers and GPs. If the claims were rejected, the fraudsters would try again and again until they were granted. Three ‘benefit factories’ in London were identified during the investigation where repeated false claims for benefits originated from. The businesses claimed to assist people with obtaining a national insurance number and benefits to which they are entitled. However, it was found that after applicants made their claims for benefits through these three sources, they then left them in the hands of the organised crime group, who laundered the claims and then withdrawn in cash. #News #UKNews #CrimeNews #fraud #money #cash #police #CPS #crimestory #London #WoodGreen

An escaped horse was spotted at a train station in Sydney on Friday (April 5), surprising passengers waiting on the platform. CCTV video showed a horse, running onto the Sydney train platform just before midnight, and later being loaded onto a trailer. Transport for NSW said that train drivers were warned of the danger and told to slow down around the station. Authorities confirmed on Wednesday (April 10) that the horse returned safely home. Stable hand Keith Morrison told 7News it was “highly unusual” that the horse ended up on the platform: “I still want to know how it got up the stairs and onto the platform — it didn’t use the lift!” #horse #sydney #worldnews #cctv #escapedhorse #horsetiktok #news

Alan Bates has called the Post Office an “atrocious organisation” that is “beyond saving” and should be sold to Amazon. When asked for his thoughts on the culture of the Post Office, the former subpostmaster told the inquiry: “It’s an atrocious organisation. “They need disbanding. It needs removing. It needs building up again from the ground floor. “The whole of the postal service nowadays – it’s a dead duck. It’s beyond saving. “It needs to be sold to someone like Amazon. It needs a real big injection of money and I only think that can happen coming in from the outside. “Otherwise it’s going to be a bugbear for the government for the years to come.” #alanbates #postoffice #postofficeinquiry #alanbatesvsthepostoffice #news #uknews