· February, 2009

Stories about United Arab Emirates from February, 2009

GCC: Currency Dilemma for Arab Gulf Consumers

  27 February 2009

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) hopes to achieve a monetary union, with a common currency, by 2010. Bloggers from the region, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, debate the merits of the union and more importantly what name they want for their new currency.

UAE: A great shame

  26 February 2009

“Before the boom, people would travel to South East Asia to get their sin fix and bring back AIDS. The only difference being the prostitutes are here, and all the nefarious enablers that goes with it. A great shame,” according to a UAE national, writes Secret Dubai Diary, which is...

UAE: Selective Surveys

  23 February 2009

Measured PR, at the UAE Community Blog, questions the results of HSBC Bank International's Expat Exploreer Survey, published at Forbes on the World's Friendliest Countries, in which the UAE ranked least friendly.

Israel: Dubai Denies Shahar Visa

  23 February 2009

Dubai has denied Israeli female tennis star Shahar Peer a visa to play in the Dubai Tennis Championships, while her male colleague Andy Ram, was able to receive one. “There might have been some logic as to why Ms. Peer was not allowed to play, at least in some circles,...

Arab World: Mourning Tayeb Salih

  21 February 2009

The Arab literary world is mourning the death of Sudanese novelist Al Tayeb Salih. The 80-year-old writer, who died in London, was best known for his novel Season of Migration to the North, which was selected by the Damascus-based Arab Literary Academy as the most important Arab novel of the 20th century. Al Tayeb was buried in Om Durman, Sudan, in a state ceremony, attended by the Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir.

Arab World: Gasping for Air!

  16 February 2009

A massive dust storm engulfed the entire Arabian peninsula, leaving the people of Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, gasping for air. Here are some videos, photographs and blog entries on the crazy weather, which was unusual for this time of the year.

UAE: Is Anonymous Blogging Legal?

  11 February 2009

Writing at the UAE Community Blog, John B. Chilton shares with us an extract on a new media law in the UAE which proposes to make blogger anonymity illegal. “Is this a misreading of the proposed law?” he wonders.

Arab World: Job Losses on the Way?

  11 February 2009

With news headlines spelling out economic doom as governments, companies and individuals continue to tighten their belts, bloggers across the Arab world jump on the bandwagon and ask: "Are job layoffs coming our way?"

UAE: From Vibrant to Honest

  6 February 2009

Inmotion, from Dubai, the UAE, shares with her readers the following: “Since this blog has started I've found that I've changed. I've gone from being vibrant and alive although confused and sad at times to flat-out honest and preferring my own company more than anyone else's.”

Kuwait: UAE Snow is “Real”

  5 February 2009

From Kuwait, Loft965 posts a video featuring the recent snowfall near Ras Al Khaymah, UAE and remarks: “And it's not fake!”

Kuwait: UAE Snow a Wonder

  2 February 2009

q8life, from Kuwait, describes the recent snowfall in Ras Al Khaymah, UAE, as a “wonder of the 8th kind.”