Category Archives: United Arab Emirates

‘It just feels so wrong’: UAE works on Friday for first time

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People juggle work and Friday prayer as country switches to Saturday-Sunday weekend

Employees and schoolchildren juggled work and studies with weekly Muslim prayers on the first ever working Friday in the United Arab Emirates, as the Gulf country formally switched to a Saturday-Sunday weekend.

Some grumbled at the change and businesses were split, with many moving to the western-style weekend but other private firms sticking with Fridays and Saturdays, as in other Gulf states.

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Trump’s Peace review: dysfunction and accord in US Israel policy

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Barak Ravid has written a fascinating account of four chaotic years in which some progress was nonetheless made

Trump’s Peace is a blockbuster of a book. Barak Ravid captures the 45th president saying “Fuck him” to Benjamin Netanyahu and reducing American Jews to antisemitic caricatures. Imagine the Republican reaction if Barack Obama had done that. Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham would plotz. But Trump? Crickets.

Ravid also delivers a mesmerizing tick-tock of the making of the Abraham Accords, the normalization of Israel’s relations with four non-neighboring Arab states.

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Israel’s PM, Naftali Bennett, to visit UAE to discuss deepening ties

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Talks between PM and crown prince of Abu Dhabi come after full diplomatic links brokered last year

Naftali Bennett is to make the first official visit by an Israeli prime minister to the United Arab Emirates since the two countries established diplomatic ties last year.

On Monday, Bennett will meet Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, to discuss “deepening the ties between Israel and the UAE, especially economic and regional issues,” his office said.

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Saudi women’s rights activist sues three ex-US intel operatives over hacking for UAE

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Loujain al-Hathloul says actions of men on behalf of the UAE led to her iPhone being hacked and to her imprisonment and torture

Loujain al-Hathloul, the prominent Saudi women’s rights activist, has filed a lawsuit against three former US intelligence and military officers who have admitted in a US court to helping carry out hacking operations on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

In her lawsuit, which was filed in a US district court in Oregon in conjunction with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Hathloul alleged that the actions of three men – Marc Baier, Ryan Adams, and Daniel Gericke – led to her iPhone being hacked and communication being exfiltrated by UAE security officials.

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US seeks Russian and Chinese support to salvage Iran nuclear deal

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Iran’s natural allies are said to have been surprised by how much it had gone back on its own compromises

The US is hoping pressure from Russia, China and some Arab Gulf states may yet persuade Iran to moderate its negotiating stance in regards to the steps the Biden administration must take before both sides return to the 2015 nuclear deal.

Talks in Vienna faltered badly last week, when the new hardline Iranian administration increased its levels of uranium enrichment and tabled proposals that US officials said at the weekend were “not serious”since they had gone back on all the progress made in the previous round of talks.

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Interpol’s president: alleged torturer rises as symbol of UAE soft power

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Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi’s election has raised concerns about human rights and the surveillance state

Maj Gen Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi’s ascent through the ranks of the interior ministry in Abu Dhabi is associated with the United Arab Emirates’ transformation into a hi-tech surveillance state.

His personal achievements include a diploma in police management from the University of Cambridge, a doctorate in policing, security and community safety from London Metropolitan University and a medal of honour from Italy.

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Interpol appoints Emirati general accused of torture as president

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Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi of United Arab Emirates elected despite concerns of human rights groups and MEPs

An Emirati general accused of torture has been elected president of Interpol, despite the concerns of human rights organisations and members of the European parliament who fear the global police agency will be at risk of exploitation by repressive regimes.

The appointment follows generous funding by the United Arab Emirates for Interpol, which is based in Lyon, France, and accusations Abu Dhabi has abused its system of “red notices” for wanted suspects to persecute political dissidents.

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‘He is responsible for torture’: nominee for Interpol chief accused by detained Britons

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An academic and a football fan who were held in the United Arab Emirates claim Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi oversaw physical abuse

Two British men formerly detained in United Arab Emirates are campaigning to prevent a senior Emirati official from becoming the next president of Interpol, accusing him of personal involvement in their arrests and torture.

Academic Matthew Hedges, who was imprisoned in the UAE for seven months, and football fan Ali Issa Ahmad, detained while on holiday in Dubai for wearing a Qatar football shirt, accuse Major General Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi of overseeing their detention and physical abuse.

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Work on ‘Chinese military base’ in UAE abandoned after US intervenes – report

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Satellite images reportedly detected construction of secret facility at Khalifa port amid growing US-China rivalry

US intelligence agencies found evidence this year of construction work on what they believed was a secret Chinese military facility in the United Arab Emirates, which was stopped after Washington’s intervention, according to a report on Friday.

The Wall Street Journal reported that satellite imagery of the port of Khalifa had revealed suspicious construction work inside a container terminal built and operated by a Chinese shipping corporation, Cosco.

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Slow burn: inside the 5 November Guardian Weekly

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Can the Middle East wean itself off oil? Plus: the return of Abba
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Few regions on Earth are more central to hopes of reining in global temperature increases than the Middle East. Financed by the west’s insatiable demand for fossil fuels, cities filled with air-conditioned skyscrapers and shopping malls have risen from the desert, and it’s not surprising that Gulf monarchies made rich and powerful by oil have paid little heed to thoughts of an economic transition to renewables, even though the region is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world. But, asks our diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour, could the long-term view be about to change?

The Cop26 climate conference got under way in Glasgow this week, amid a flurry of announcements and expectation. Follow the Guardian’s extensive coverage here.

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‘Apocalypse soon’: reluctant Middle East forced to open eyes to climate crisis

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With the region warming twice as fast as the rest of the world but oil spoils keeping regimes in power, leaders are in a bind

Northern Oman has just been battered by Cyclone Shaheen, the first tropical cyclone to make it that far west into the Gulf. Around Basra in southern Iraq this summer, pressure on the grid owing to 50C heat led to constant blackouts, with residents driving around in their cars to stay cool.

Kuwait broke the record for the hottest day ever in 2016 at 53.6, and its 10-day rolling average this summer was equally sweltering. Flash floods occurred in Jeddah, and more recently Mecca, while across Saudi Arabia average temperatures have increased by 2%, and the maximum temperatures by 2.5%, all just since the 1980s. In Qatar, the country with the highest per capita carbon emissions in the world and the biggest producer of liquid gas, the outdoors is already being air conditioned.

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Lawyers to submit Yemen war crimes dossier to UK police

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Key figures in Saudi Arabia and UAE accused of crimes against humanity include investors in Britain

A group of human rights lawyers will on Wednesday file a legal complaint in the UK accusing key figures in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of being involved in war crimes relating to the war in Yemen.

They plan to submit a dossier to British police and prosecutors alleging that about 20 members of the political and military elite of the two Gulf nations are guilty of crimes against humanity, and call for their immediate arrest should they enter the UK.

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Has Interpol become the long arm of oppressive regimes?

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Once used in the hunt for fugitive criminals, the global police agency’s most-wanted ‘red notice’ list now includes political refugees and dissidents

Flicking through the news one day in early 2015, Alexey Kharis, a California-based businessman and father of two, came across a startling announcement: Russia would request a global call for his arrest through the International Criminal Police Organization, known as Interpol.

“Oh, wow,” Kharis thought, shocked. All the 46-year-old knew about Interpol and its pursuit of the world’s most-wanted criminals was from novels and films. He tried to reassure himself that things would be OK and it was just an intimidatory tactic of the Russian authorities. Surely, he reasoned, the world’s largest police organisation had no reason to launch a hunt for him.

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Cambridge University halts £400m deal with UAE over Pegasus spyware claims

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Exclusive: UK institution was in line for huge donation but has paused talks due to concerns Gulf state used hacking software

The University of Cambridge has broken off talks with the United Arab Emirates over a record £400m collaboration after claims about the Gulf state’s use of controversial Pegasus hacking software, the university’s vice-chancellor has said.

The proposed deal, hailed by the university in July as a “potential strategic partnership … helping to solve some of the greatest challenges facing our planet” – would have included the largest donation of its kind in the university’s history, spanning a decade and involving direct investment from the UAE of more than £310m.

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British football coach sentenced to 25 years’ jail in Dubai over CBD vape liquid

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Billy Hood’s family and campaign group Detained in Dubai working to appeal against convictions

A British football coach has been sentenced to 25 years in jail in Dubai after police discovered four bottles of vape liquid containing CBD in the boot of his car.

Billy Hood, 24, from Kensington, was sentenced for trafficking, selling and possessing drugs after he claims he was forced by police to confess in Arabic, a language he does not speak.

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Ruling in Princess Haya case raises fresh questions for Cherie Blair

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Analysis: Blair is an adviser to NSO Group, whose Pegasus spyware was found to have been used in phone hack

The finding by a senior judge that NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware was used by the ruler of Dubai to hack the phone of his ex-wife and five of her associates, all resident in England, raises fresh questions about Cherie Blair’s involvement with the company.

NSO has previously said that its malware, which infects iPhones and Android devices to enable operators of the tool to extract messages, photos and emails, record calls and secretly activate microphones, is only intended for use by its government clients against criminals and terrorists.

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Dubai ruler hacked ex-wife using NSO Pegasus spyware, high court judge finds

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Sheikh Mohammed used spyware on Princess Haya and five associates in unlawful abuse of power, judge rules

The ruler of Dubai hacked the phone of his ex-wife Princess Haya using NSO Group’s controversial Pegasus spyware in an unlawful abuse of power and trust, a senior high court judge has ruled.

The president of the family division found that agents acting on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, a close Gulf ally of Britain, hacked Haya and five of her associates while the couple were locked in court proceedings in London concerning the welfare of their two children.

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It’s a wrap: Christo’s final art project follows Paris triumph

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As the covers come off the Arc de Triomphe, work begins to realise an ambitious project in the desert and secure the artist’s legacy

Before he died last year the artist Christo had not one but two dreams: to wrap the Arc de Triomphe and to build a massive structure out of oil drums in the desert sands of Abu Dhabi. L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped was completed last month and today visitors to Paris will have one last chance to see the arch swathed in silver blue fabric before it is dismantled tomorrow.

Once he has overseen the monument’s restoration to its original glory in time for Armistice commemorations next month, Christo’s nephew Vladimir Yavachev will turn his attention east to create the last monumental project that – if completed – will be the artist’s only permanent large-scale sculpture and the largest artwork in the world.

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Tory donor’s oil firm admits employees paid bribes to get contracts

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Petrofac made admission as part of deal to end four-year corruption investigation by Serious Fraud Office

A multinational oil firm, which was led by a major Conservative donor, has admitted that its employees paid bribes to land contracts, as it struck a deal to end a corruption investigation into the company.

The admission was announced by the firm, Petrofac, on Friday to settle a four-year corruption and money laundering investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

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US charges American mercenary hackers over their work in UAE

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Three former US intelligence operatives accused of helping UAE spy on enemies

Three former US intelligence operatives, who went to work as mercenary hackers for the United Arab Emirates, are facing federal charges of conspiring to violate hacking laws, according to justice department court documents filed on Tuesday.

The three men, Marc Baier, Ryan Adams, and Daniel Gericke, are accused of having been part of a clandestine unit named Project Raven, first reported by Reuters, that helped the United Arab Emirates spy on its enemies.

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