Archive: uae

17th September 2020
By: Nima Khorrami
Guest post from Nima Khorrami:  Iran’s angry reaction to the normalisation of relations between Israel and Bahrain and the UAE was to be expected. However, its fury, especially with regard to the UAE, has less to do with the possibility of a future military strike staged from Emirati soil or closer… Read more
6th April 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
Residents of the UAE must cover their mouth and nose and wear gloves at all times when outside their home, the government announced at the weekend. But that's the easiest part. Before you can go out, you also have to get permission from the police. The first step before a trip outdoors is to… Read more
1st May 2019
By: Brian Whitaker
The annual Arab Youth Survey is potentially a valuable source of information about the attitudes of Arabs in the 18-24 age range.  Unfortunately, though, its usefulness is marred by a flaw in the methodology which means views from the smaller Arab countries – mainly in the Gulf – are over-… Read more
15th November 2018
By: Brian Whitaker
November 16 is the UN's International Day for Tolerance and to mark this occasion one of the world's less tolerant countries – the United Arab Emirates – is holding a "World Tolerance Summit". About 1,000 people are expected to attend the two-day conference organised by the International Institute… Read more
17th May 2018
By: Brian Whitaker
Loai Deeb, former head of the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD), has been formally charged with a series of financial crimes which include embezzling more than a million dollars from the organisation that he founded. He is said to have disguised his embezzlement through a fake… Read more
13th May 2018
By: Brian Whitaker
A lack of cooperation from the United Arab Emirates has been hampering investigations into a multi-million dollar money-laundering case, according to Norwegian authorities. It is almost three years since police raided the headquarters of the Norway-based Global Network for Rights and Development (… Read more
11th February 2018
By: Brian Whitaker
The former head of an Emirates-linked human rights organisation which went bankrupt in 2016 claims he is owed more than $200,000. Palestinian-born Loai Deeb founded the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) in 2008 while also running a fake university from his home. Based in Norway,… Read more
29th August 2017
By: Brian Whitaker
On August 8 Muhammad Fadli, a fashion photographer from Singapore, arrived in Abu Dhabi for a photo shoot, accompanied by his friend, Nur Ibrahim. The next day they were arrested in the food court of a shopping mall for the allegedly indecent act of "wearing women's clothes in public". Both were… Read more
4th May 2017
By: Brian Whitaker
Findings of the annual Arab Youth Survey were released in Dubai yesterday amid the customary fanfare. Once again, the survey asked young Arabs which country they would like to live in if they had a choice and, once again, the United Arab Emirates topped the list. Indeed, according to the survey,… Read more
21st February 2017
By: Brian Whitaker
A former director of GNRD, the strange "human rights" organisation that went bankrupt last year amid accusations of money-laundering, has been taken into custody on fraud charges in Austria. Hassan Moussa is suspected of diverting funds from an Islamic education centre in Vienna and is now in pre-… Read more