"ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- United Arab Emirates officials blocked a YouTube cartoon from Israel, featuring two Muslim boys who deflect their father's efforts to make them suicide bombers.
Officials said the cartoon is anti-Islam and racist toward Arabs, al-Arabiya reported.
In one episode, the two boys, Salim and Ahmed make a detour to get ice cream on their way to place an explosive on an Israeli bus. Then they put the bomb on a UAE bus.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said it had gotten complaints about the cartoons, which are subtitled in Hebrew and English.
A spokesman for the TRA said the agency has resisted calls to block YouTube completely. Adult content on the site is automatically blocked, he said."
Around 5 million dollars has been found in a Dubai laundry shop late last night. The police asked the customers at the laundry if it belonged to them but none of them claimed ownership, some even claimed that they didn’t even notice the money on the floor shop. Police are still looking for the owner.
In an unrelated incident, an irate Russian man was escorted out of the shop for shouting obscenities for no apparent reason.
"Dubai: A former minister and two of his managers charged with deceiving a businesswoman have been sentenced to two years in jail on Monday.
The Emirati ex-minister, his 26-year-old businessman son, 44-year-old American general manager, and 48-year-old Indian financial manager were charged by Public Prosecution with deceiving the 36-year-old Lebanese businesswoman and alluring her (as a successor) to waive her brother's stake and partnership in the company.
According to the Public Prosecution's charges, the incident happened between May 2, 2005, and May 27, 2008.
A Dubai court acquitted the former minister's son due to lack of evidence and ordered the expatriate managers to be deported after serving the prison term.
The court referred the businesswoman's compensation claim to a civil court."
The United Arab Emirates was found to be the most difficult for expats; only 54% of those surveyed said they'd made friends with locals.Maybe because locals are a really small minority? That's kind of an unfair survey, but this is what happens when you become the world's favorite place to hate.
Andy Roddick won’t defend his title in Dubai next week because he doesn’t agree with the decision to deny Israeli Shahar Peer a visa to play in a women’s tournament.
“There were a lot of factors why I should probably go, and obviously having played well there doesn’t make it any easier,” Roddick said ....
The mixing of politics and sports was a big part of Roddick’s decision to pull out of Dubai where he won his second of three titles in 2008. Roddick said he has enjoyed himself when visiting the United Arab Emirates but was disappointed to see the government make a decision that reflects poorly on a great tournament.
“I don’t think you make political statements through sports,” Roddick said.
"The WTA has fined Dubai Tennis Championships organizers a record $300,000 after Israeli player Shahar Peer was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates.
The Women’s Tennis Association also took steps Friday to compensate Peer and ensure she and other Israeli players won’t be shut out of future tournaments in the federation.
Organizers said at the time that they feared fan anger over Israel’s recent military offensive in the Gaza Strip would spill into riots in the Persian Gulf country if Peer were to play.
Part of the fine will go to Peer and doubles partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany to make up for the prize money they could have won at the lucrative tournament."
"The United Arab Emirates will issue an entry visa to Andy Ram of Israel for next week’s Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Representative Anthony D. Weiner said Wednesday.
“I’ve gotten the assurance from the ambassador,” Weiner, Democrat from New York, said by telephone, referring to Yousef Al Otaiba, the U.A.E.’s ambassador to the United States.
The decision to grant Ram a visa to enter Dubai, one of the Emirates, comes after the government’s denial of a visa to another Israeli, Shahar Peer, the 48th-ranked women’s player in the world. She was to play in this week’s tournament in Dubai. The WTA Tour did not cancel the women’s tournament, but the Tennis Channel dropped its weekend coverage."
"Novelist Margaret Atwood has announced she will not attend the Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature in Dubai after organisers decided to ban the launch of a book with a gay character.
The author of The Handmaid's Tale will not be among the more than 60 top authors who are attending the cultural event.
In a letter to organisers she wrote:
"I know you have put an enormous amount of work into it, I can imagine how many difficulties have had to be overcome, and I am very sad about the regrettable turn of events surrounding The Gulf Between Us.
"I was greatly looking forward to the Festival, and to the chance to meet readers there; but, as an International Vice President of PEN — an organisation concerned with the censorship of writers — I cannot be part of the Festival this year.""
"The Wall Street Journal Europe announced Tuesday that it had revoked its sponsorship of a Dubai women's tennis tournament, due to the United Arab Emirates' refusal to issue an entry visa for Israel's Shahar Pe'er.
"The Wall Street Journal's editorial philosophy is free markets and free people, and this action runs counter to the Journal's editorial direction," the Journal Europe said in a statement.
It added that it was also withdrawing its sponsorship of the men's tournament beginning next week.
In the US, the Tennis Channel has said it won't broadcast the event."
Can anyone verify this?“I’m really scared of what could happen, because I bought property here,” said Sofia, who asked that her last name be withheld because she is still hunting for a new job. “If I can’t pay it off, I was told I could end up in debtors’ prison.”Is it that bad? Wasn't that story about abandoned cars refuted -- no larger than at any other time in the recent past?
With Dubai’s economy in free fall, newspapers have reported that more than 3,000 cars sit abandoned in the parking lot at the Dubai Airport, left by fleeing, debt-ridden foreigners (who could in fact be imprisoned if they failed to pay their bills). Some are said to have maxed-out credit cards inside and notes of apology taped to the windshield.
The government says the real number is much lower. But the stories contain at least a grain of truth: jobless people here lose their work visas and then must leave the country within a month. That in turn reduces spending, creates housing vacancies and lowers real estate prices, in a downward spiral that has left parts of Dubai — once hailed as the economic superpower of the Middle East — looking like a ghost town.
No one knows how bad things have become, though it is clear that tens of thousands have left, real estate prices have crashed and scores of Dubai’s major construction projects have been suspended or canceled. But with the government unwilling to provide data, rumors are bound to flourish, damaging confidence and further undermining the economy.
At the airport, hundreds of cars have apparently been abandoned in recent weeks. Keys are left in the ignition and maxed out credit cards and apology letters in the glove box.The Guardian story discusses the plight not just of the Westerners, but of the expats from the subcontinent:
Officials put the number of vehicles at 11. "No one believes that. There are 11 cars abandoned just on my street," said Anne, 26, a fashion editor from London.
unlike their British counterparts, construction workers from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan cannot abandon lives in the glove compartment of a 4x4. Most took loans to pay agent fees to come to Dubai, and their debts will follow them home. "I sold our land and took loans in the village to come here," said Imran Hassan, a 20-year-old Bangladeshi farmer. "I paid the agent £2,000 to bring me. He said I would earn 1,500 dirham [£287] a month, but we are paid 572 dirham. When I return people in the village will want their money but I have none."
A Welsh construction site manager said he had protested to his boss about the treatment of labourers. "We tell them to bring their clothes to work one day and then we send them home. It makes me feel sick. I asked why it had to be done so quickly and I was told a lot of them commit suicide and we don't want that on our hands."
"Local authorities have extinguished the fire that damaged an oil tanker after it collided with a container vessel off the coast of Jebel Ali Port, according to Sarah Lockie, the spokesperson for DP World.
The oil tanker, called Kashmir, was carrying around 30,000 tonnes of petroleum products worth $9 million (Dh33.12 million) from Iran to the Jebel Ali Port when it collided with a mid-sized container feeder vessel around 12:20pm on Tuesday. The incident occurred five miles out in the sea.
Authorities did not mention the cause of the incident."
Three prominent Dubai businessmen confessed.. err.. confirmed that the market situation in Dubai is extremely positive and all rumors about a weak economy and a weaker outlook are just propaganda. The Chinese, British and Indian businessmen affirmed their enthusiasm for the opportunities in Dubai while a friendly government official hovered around to ensure their safety.
This is a genuine request. Is there a fellow blogger residing in the city of Abu Dhabi who can recommend a good doctor (GP)? I really would like to see someone who not only understands English the first time it's spoken, but has a professional manner & is prepared to explain exactly what is going on. Am I asking the impossible?
I can be contacted via the email address on my profile.
Many thanks
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