Archive: uae
17th September 2016
An article has appeared on three French-language websites defending GNRD, the strange (and now bankrupt) human rights organisation that Norwegian authorities have accused of money-laundering.
The article portrays GNRD as a brave non-western alternative to groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty… Read more
30th August 2016
Early on Sunday morning – the start of the working week in Dubai – Sheikh Mohammed, the Gulf emirate's ruler, made an unexpected tour of government offices and found some of them deserted. On Monday, the sheikh issued a decree announcing the immediate "retirement" of nine senior officials employed… Read more
21st August 2016
Details have begun to emerge about the Emirati funding of GNRD, the strange – and now bankrupt – human rights organisation accused of money-laundering.
In May last year Norwegian police raided GNRD's international headquarters in Stavanger, along with the home of its founder/president, Loai Deeb,… Read more
25th July 2016
GNRD, the strange "human rights" organisation that was declared bankrupt earlier this month, had an unusually favourable view of human rights in the UAE. It was also on friendly terms with Egypt's Sisi regime and the Kurdish PYD. Another of its friendships, though – and one which it sought to keep… Read more
23rd July 2016
For several years GNRD, the now-bankrupt human rights organisation, boasted that the European Parliament was one of its international "collaborators" and proudly displayed the parliament's logo on its website. The effect of this was to give the UAE-funded organisation an aura of credibility that… Read more
5th July 2016
One of the world's strangest human rights organisations, the Emirati-funded Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD), was declared bankrupt by a court in Norway yesterday.
The case was brought by an employee, Thomas Bechmann, who claimed he was owed NOK 250,000 ($30,120) in unpaid wages… Read more
20th April 2016
"I was annoyed to see, once again, the UAE being included in the lists of global 'tax havens' trotted out after the Panama data was leaked," Frank Kane writes in a column for the Emirati newspaper, The National. He continues: "To group the Emirates together with the British Virgin Islands, or… Read more
6th April 2016
There's another twist in the tale of the UAE and a visiting delegation of British MPs.
For the benefit of new readers, the story so far is that the Emirati government's news agency, WAM, issued two reports last weekend claiming the MPs had praised the UAE's awful human rights record. Both reports… Read more
6th April 2016
A British MP has accused the UAE's government-run news agency of making up quotes in support of the Gulf state's oppressive human rights policies.
Last weekend the Emirati website, Gulf News, published a story headed "British House of Commons praises human rights in UAE". In fact, the House of… Read more
14th March 2016
Some unusually dramatic weather hit the United Arab Emirates last week. In the words of Gulf News:
Rain and thunderstorms caused major disruptions across the UAE on Wednesday as flights were cancelled, motorists were stuck for hours, traffic on major roads diverted and schools were closed.
Wind… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
