UAE

Ex-Saudi official claims damaging intel against crown prince

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A former senior Saudi security official who helped oversee joint counter-terrorism efforts with the United States, claimed in an interview with “60 Minutes” that the kingdom’s crown prince once spoke of killing a sitting Saudi monarch before his own father was crowned king.

Saad al-Jabri did not provide evidence to the CBS News program, which aired Sunday.

UAE: Apple once threatened Facebook ban over Mideast maid abuse

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two years ago, Apple threatened to pull Facebook and Instagram from its app store over concerns about the platform being used as a tool to trade and sell maids in the Mideast.

After publicly promising to crack down, Facebook acknowledged in internal documents obtained by The Associated Press that it was “under-enforcing on confirmed abusive activity” that saw Filipina maids complaining on the social media site of being abused. Apple relented and Facebook and Instagram remained in the app store.

Pakistan wins toss and bowls against archrival India

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Pakistan won the toss and chose to field against archrival India in its opening Super 12 match on Sunday at the T20 World Cup.

India has so far won all five of its previous T20 World Cup matches against Pakistan.

Both teams went with three fast bowlers and two spinners with India leaving out Rahul Chahar and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Pakistan left out young batter Haider Ali and preferred the experience of Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez in the middle order.

Afghanistan hurtling towards collapse, Sweden and Pakistan say

DUBAI, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Afghanistan will shortly collapse into chaos unless the international community acts rapidly, Swedish and Pakistani ministers warned on Saturday.

Afghanistan plunged into crisis after the hardline Islamist Taliban movement drove out the Western-backed government in August triggering the abrupt end of billions of dollars in assistance to its aid-dependent economy.

"The country is on the brink of collapse and that collapse is coming faster than we thought," Swedish development minister Per Olsson Fridh told Reuters in Dubai.

Saudi Arabia pledges 2060 target of net-zero emissions

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — One of the world’s largest oil producers, Saudi Arabia, announced Saturday it aims to reach “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2060, joining more than 100 countries in a global effort to try and curb man-made climate change.

The announcement, made by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in brief scripted remarks at the start of the kingdom’s first-ever Saudi Green Initiative Forum, was timed to make a splash a little more than a week before the start of the global COP26 climate conference being held in Glasgow, Scotland.

Dubai signs deal with India for projects in occupied Kashmir

20 Oct 2021; MEMO: Dubai has signed a memorandum of understanding with the far-right Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi to build infrastructure in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Details of the MoU were announced by India on Monday, but the value of the accord was not provided.

UAE's daily COVID-19 cases fall below 100

17 Oct 2021; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates on Sunday recorded a drop in daily COVID-19 cases to below 100 for the first time since the start of the outbreak last year as it hosts a huge world fair to which it hopes to attract millions of visits, Reuters reports.

The Health Ministry reported 99 new cases, down from a peak of nearly 4,000 a day in January. The UAE's cumulative death toll stands at 2,120.

Iran court upholds jail term for UK-Iranian aid worker, lawyer says

DUBAI, Oct 16 (Reuters) - An Iranian appeals court has upheld a one-year prison term for British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on security offences, her lawyer was quoted by an Iranian news website as saying on Saturday.

"The appeals court has approved the lower court's verdict without holding a hearing," attorney Hojjat Kermani told the Emtedad website.

Journalist awarded $109,000 damages for being asked to smear Egypt, UAE critics

12 Oct 2021; MEMO: Journalist Jane Cahane has been awarded £80,000 ($108,854) in damages from the Investigative Journal after being hired on false pretences, to smear critics of the UAE and Egypt, rather than to cover a diversity of viewpoints from an independent, objective standpoint.

UAE: Dubai police seize cocaine worth $136 mln

Oct 10 (Reuters) - Dubai police seized 500 kilograms of pure cocaine worth more than 500 million dirhams ($136 million) in a drugs raid, Dubai's media office said on Sunday.

The police arrested one person of Middle-Eastern origins, who was operating as an intermediary for an international drug syndicate, the media office added.

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