Let Me Come Home, Teen Sentenced in Dubai Pleads

BBC: An 18-year-old British man sentenced to a year in prison for a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old British girl in Dubai has appealed to the emirate's ruler "to let me go home".

Marcus Fakana, from north London, began a secretive holiday romance in September with another Londoner, who is now aged 18.

After returning home and seeing pictures and chats, the girl's mother reported the relationship to Dubai police, who arrested Fakana at his hotel. Sex with another person aged under 18 is illegal in Dubai.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The prime minister recognises it's an extremely distressing situation for Marcus and his family." » | Harry Low, BBC News | Thursday, December 12, 2024

Tucker Carlson on US-Russia after Putin Interview | Ukraine War | World Government Summit

Feb 12, 2024 | Tucker Carlson on US-Russia After Putin Interview | Ukraine War | World Government Summit At the World Government Summit, Tucker Carlson of The Tucker Carlson Network delved into the US-Russia relations, following his recent headline-making interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The interview, which has sparked a wave of criticism from Western commentators, was in the news over Putin's claims about Ukraine.


„Führung erfordert das Töten von Menschen“: Auf dem World Governments Summit in Dubai schwärmt Tucker Carlson von seinem Treffen mit Wladimir Putin. Unterschiede zwischen Russland und den USA sieht er kaum. Und Todesopfer hält er für normal. »

Andrew Neil: Labour's Lead 'Baked In' and Public Has 'Run Out of Patience' with Tories

Feb 11, 2024 | Broadcaster Andrew Neil has warned that the Conservative party is heading for electoral disaster. Mr Neil, who is chairman of the right-wing magazine The Spectator, said Prime Minister RIshi Sunak is a "decent man" but "doesn't seem to be that great a politician".

Let us please call a spade a spade! The UAE is not only a dictatorship, it is an ISLAMIC dictatorship. Under no circumstances should ANY Islamic government own one of our own prestigious newspapers or media outlets.

If this sale goes ahead, it will accelerate the Islamisation of the UK in particular, and of the West in general. This sale will mark a turning point. The Rubicon will have been crossed. It will be the beginning of the end for freedom and democracy. It will be: Goodnight, Occident! Good morning, Orient!

Frankly, I never thought that my country would be or could be so weak, stupid or unwise. In fact, I am appalled by our ridiculousness, our weakness, our lack of foresight and our ignorance of geopolitical affairs. Have we forgotten the Crusades? Have we forgotten what Islam’s intentions are? Are we really willing to give all away? Will the modern West sell its soul for a few dollars? If so, the West deserves to perish. RIP Occident! – © Mark Alexander

How Lord Cameron Rolled Out the Red Carpet for the UAE

THE TELEGRAPH: Plus, we look at how the Gulf state’s network of influence is spreading throughout the UK

Three years after becoming prime minister, Lord Cameron set up a secretive Whitehall unit codenamed Project Falcon.

Its job was to court the oil-rich sheikhs of the United Arab Emirates with the aim of persuading them to invest billions in the UK.

The unit’s work was so politically sensitive that the Government did not even admit to its existence for two years, and only then after a Freedom of Information battle.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was to the UAE that the former premier went for part of his portfolio of jobs after he quit No 10 in 2016, earning an estimated £470,000 for making four speeches in the autocratic state, as well as taking a part-time teaching role at a university in Abu Dhabi.

Nor is he alone in establishing connections with the Gulf state: almost 100 current and former MPs and peers – including eight ministers – have declared financial links to the UAE in the past decade. » | Investigations Team and Gordon Raynor, Associate Editor | Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Cameron is a weak man. A weasel, perhaps? Despite being already fabulously wealthy, it appears that he can’t get enough to line his own pockets. The country’s future be damned.

This country is being Islamized under our very noses, and by our own government to boot!

Is this what the Conservatives understand by "taking back control"? Is this what they understand by regaining our sovereignty? Theey bitched, moaned and whined when we pooled our sovereignty with Brussels, but are absolutely willing and ready to give our sovereignty away to the Islamic world, to the fabulously wealthy Muslim Arabs? – © Mark Alexander

American Mercenaries Hired by UAE to Kill in Yemen | BBC News

Jan 23, 2024 | American mercenaries, hired by the UAE to kill in Yemen, have spoken candidly on camera for the first time in an investigation by BBC Arabic.

At a time when Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping have highlighted the international dimensions of the Yemeni conflict, the investigation also reveals how US mercenaries trained Emirati officers to kill the UAE’s political enemies in Yemen.

These extra-judicial killings, conducted in the name of counter-terrorism, started in 2015 and continue to this day.

Saudi’s MBS Welcomes Putin with Smiles & Handshake | Russia’s Bid to Checkmate US In Middle East?

Dec 7, 2023 | Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held bilateral talks in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on December 6. Putin said "nothing can prevent the development of our friendly relations" as he makes a rare trip abroad seeking to bolster Russia's influence in the Middle East. MBS also said that cooperation between the two countries had a "positive impact on many issues" in the Middle East. Before Saudi Arabia's visit, Putin made a trip to the UAE, where he met President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Putin in the Middle East: What Is the Focus of His Visit to the UAE and Saudi Arabia? | DW News

Dec 6, 2023 | Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in the United Arab Emirates for a rare trip abroad. It's his first time visiting the Middle East since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The UAE's foreign minister greeted the Russian President on his arrival. Putin then traveled on for talks with the UAE president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. He hailed the two countries current relations, saying they were at an "unprecedented high." Putin will also visit Saudi Arabia during the trip, where he will hold talks with the country's de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman.

For more on this, we talk to Juri Rescheto. He is DW's former Moscow Bureau chief and joins us now from Riga, as DW is banned from reporting in Russia.


Related video here.

Putin Received in UAE with Flypast and Russian Flags Lining the Streets

Dec 6, 2023 | Vladimir Putin said relations with the UAE had reached unprecedented levels as he was greeted in the country with a flypast and Russian flags, despite an international warrant for his arrest.

Putin’s meeting with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the UAE’s president, came as the Kremlin hailed Russia’s “main economic partner in the Arab world”.

The Russian president, who has been largely isolated since the war in Ukraine, was greeted with fanfare. He is wanted for the abduction of children in Ukraine by the International Criminal Court, to which the UEA is not a signatory.

Lord Hague Comes Out against ‘Disturbing’ UAE Attempt to Buy The Telegraph

THE TELEGRAPH: Former Tory leader stresses that allowing effective foreign state ownership of a major newspaper is ‘going too far‘

The former foreign secretary called on Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, to intervene by triggering a regulatory investigation | CREDIT: Joe Newman
Lord Hague has described The Telegraph’s proposed takeover by Abu Dhabi as “disturbing” and one that “should be prevented”.

The former foreign secretary called on Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, to intervene by triggering a regulatory investigation in the public interest.

Writing in The Times, Lord Hague stressed that while there was “more to admire” about the United Arab Emirates (UAE) “than to fear”, allowing effective foreign state ownership of a major newspaper was “going too far”.

Lloyds Banking Group, which took control of The Telegraph and The Spectator in June from the Barclay family, is pursuing a £1.2 billion deal to hand over control of the titles to RedBirdIMI, a fund backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE vice-president.

The proposed transaction has fuelled concerns over press freedom, given the UAE’s authoritarian leadership and track record of media censorship. Most senior Tory to come out against UAE deal » | Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter | Monday, November 27, 2023

Related articles and comments written by me here and here.

Tory Concern Grows over Potential Sale of Telegraph Titles to Abu Dhabi

THE OBSERVER: Former Telegraph editor Charles Moore among those to condemn bid for the Conservative party’s paper of choice

The Daily Telegraph, along with the Sunday Telegraph and the Spectator, has been targeted by Abu Dhabi’s royal family. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian
Tory MPs are used to poring over the pages of the Telegraph titles for evidence of whose political fortunes are up or down in the party’s papers of choice. Now, however, senior Conservatives are more worried about the increasingly fraught battle for the publications’ ownership than with what appears on their pages.

There is growing backbench unease over an Abu Dhabi-backed bid that appears to be the leading contender to seize the newspapers and the weekly Spectator.

And this weekend the grand figure of Lord (Charles) Moore entered the fray. In an urgent plea issued on the radio and in an opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph itself, Moore, who has edited all three of the British titles now on sale, argued that a media purchase of such significance by a Gulf state would be dangerous.

“The Telegraph and the Spectator are great British institutions. They should not be controlled by a foreign power,” he wrote. Moore added that the deal would in effect give control to Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, which is very different from the simple sale of a commercial asset to an individual owner.

…

But in the run-up to Thursday’s Cop28 climate change summit in Dubai – like Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – Rishi Sunak’s government clearly sees greater financial links with the UAE as an aim, rather than a risk. So tomorrow the prime minister is to host financiers from Abu Dhabi for a global investment summit at Hampton Court Palace. » | Vanessa Thorpe and Michael Savage | Sunday, November 26, 2023

If this sale goes ahead, it will be a case of TWATS AT THE TOP! Only a fool would sell off our media to the anyone in the Islamic world! If this sale goes ahead, the Islamisation of the United Kingdom will be turbo-charged! Are these people who are contemplating this ridiulous and dangerous sale right in the head? One of the first ways of gaining control of the narrative of a nation is by gaining control of its media. This is elementary. Doesn't Rishi Sunak understand this basic fact? Is the acceleration of the Islamisation of the UK going to be Sunak's legacy? The man is a fool! He worries about and wants to put a stop to young people being able to buy a fag, but he doesn't care about the country he is supposed to love so much being Islamised!

If this sale goes ahead, this country will have reached the point of no return. As a nation, we will have crossed the Rubicon! UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD THIS SALE GO AHEAD. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan will be the buyer and that will be the beginning of the end of press freedom in this country. The beginning of the end of press freedom and the beginnning of the Islamisation of this country in earnest. Gay rights will become a thing of the past. Muhammad will become this nation's prophet and Jesus will be relegated to prophethood. Allah will become our god. Sunak is already determined to take people's right to smoke away. If this sale goes ahead, people's right to drink alcohol and eat pork will be next on the list to be taken away!

This country, post-Brexit, has taken leave of its senses! It is losing its mind! Jesus Christ Almighty! Help! – © Mark Alexander

It Would Be Unforgivable to Allow Abu Dhabi to Nationalise the Telegraph and Spectator

THE TELEGRAPH: Rishi Sunak might fear upsetting Arab friends, but these are great British institutions whose future is now in doubt

joined this newspaper in 1979 and have subsequently edited all the three titles in its stable – The Spectator, The Sunday Telegraph and The Daily Telegraph. I remain on the staff. I have therefore reached that stage in life when kind younger people, trying to make conversation, say, “You must have seen a few changes, then!”

I have. They include the defeat of the print unions in the 1980s, the consequent new technology and business success, the rise of the internet and the conquest of print by digital. This has involved frequent meetings with triumph and disaster of the sort Kipling recognised in his famous poem.

As the editor at most of these junctures, I have also seen changes of ownership. I am familiar with the process by which one commanding and successful owner gets into difficulties and finds that he (it has always been men) must cede control to another.

This has happened with the ownership of the Telegraph Group by the Barclay family. From the editorial point of view, they were good proprietors, in that they did not tell their editors what to write.

They also did not tell their editors, however, that they had put up their titles as collateral against big debts. This summer, in a controversial move, Lloyds Bank, angry that the Barclays’ debt to them was not being repaid, put the papers (which are profitable) into receivership. That was a change I had not seen before. » | Charles Moore | Friday, November 24, 2023

This is an excellent article. I agree with Charles Moore’s sentiments absolutely.

It is an outrage that these newspapers and publications could be sold to the UAE. First of all, is every damn thing in the UK now for sale to the highest bidder? Is nothing sacred? Can’t we Brits keep anything British anymore?

Secondly, and every bit as important: selling our press to the Islamic world is a sure fire way of getting rid of press freedom. It is also a fast track to the Islamisation of the UK.

To use Margaret Thatcher’s famous words: No! No! No! – © Mark Alexander

A related article here with a further comment from me.

The Telegraph, the Autocracy and Free Speech: Can RedBird IMI Calm Media Fears?

THE GUARDIAN: One of the investors bidding for the paper is the vice-president of the UAE, which is ranked far down the press freedom index

The Daily Telegraph is more than 100 years older than the United Arab Emirates. Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters
The United Arab Emirates has a mixed record on free speech. Detention of journalists is not uncommon and the nation ranked 145th out of 180 countries included in a press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

Now a member of the ruling elite has set his sights on a UK newspaper whose roots can be traced back more than 100 years before the official creation of the Gulf state.

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s vice-president, best known in the UK for his ownership of Manchester City football club, has thrown his considerable financial heft behind RedBird IMI, an investment consortium looking to take control of the Telegraph and its stablemate, the Spectator magazine. » | Rob Davies | Friday, November 24, 2023

The prostitution and submission of the effete West to Islam and its ever-tightening grip on European nations will become increasingly felt if and when our press is sold off to über-rich potentates, to men who are in thrall to the power and influence of their version of the Almighty, to men who believe the final Messenger of God is Muhammad – a man whose apostleship has always been denied by the Christian West.

When a nation is no longer in control of its media and is sold off to Islamic powers, it won’t be long before press freedom will become a distant memory.

If this sale goes ahead, the acid test of press freedom will be criticism of Islam itself or of its prophet. – © Mark Alexander

Listen to the Emirates Foreign Minister Speaking Eminent Good Sense about Radical Islam, Terrorists and Political Correctness

Europe, listen very carfully to this !

To Escape the Heat in Dubai, Head to the Beach at Midnight

Floodlights illuminating Umm Suqeim beach in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, this month.
THE NEW YORK TIMES: In a city where weather that would constitute a deadly heat wave in Europe is just a typical summer day, official “night beaches” have become a popular way to cool down.

Toddlers squealed, the sea roared and a portable speaker abandoned on the shore played a love song. Perched on a giant inflatable hot dog, a child paddled through the shallows.

This could have been any beach anywhere on a summer weekend, if you closed your eyes tight enough to shut out the light of the moon. But it was midnight on a recent Monday. The lifeguards were working a night shift, and blazing spotlights were trained on the water, staining it an eerie, luminescent turquoise.

Even at this hour, it was 90 degrees, with 79 percent humidity. That is pleasant, relatively speaking, for summer in Dubai — a city of glistening skyscrapers and bustling ports in the United Arab Emirates, an immigrant hub where citizens are the minority.

“It’s so hot we can’t come to the beach during the day,” said Ramshah Ahmed, 36, a Pakistani teacher who had traveled to Dubai to attend a wedding and spent most of her days inside air-conditioned malls. She was delighted to find a beach open at night so her children could burn off some of their energy; newcomers were still arriving on the sand as she and her son whacked a pink badminton shuttle back and forth. » | Vivian Nereim | Photographs by Andrea DiCenzo, Reporting from the beach in Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Monday, August 28, 2023

An Oil-Rich Ally Tests Its Relationship With the U.S.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The United Arab Emirates, which has translated its wealth into outsize global influence, is diverging from U.S. foreign policy — particularly when it comes to isolating Russia and limiting ties with China.

The marina district in Dubai. The Emirates has thrived on an influx of Russian money, oil and gold, fueling a feeding frenzy in real estate. | Andrea DiCenzo for The New York Times
The ruler of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, is a key American ally who counts on the United States to defend his country.

But he has traveled twice to Russia over the past year to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin, and in June, his country was celebrated as the guest of honor at the Russian leader’s flagship investment forum. Later this month, the Emirati and Chinese air forces plan to train together for the first time, a notable shift for an oil-rich Gulf nation that has long relied on American fighter jets, weapons and protection.

These deepening relationships show how a Middle Eastern leader viewed by the U.S. government as an important partner is increasingly striking out on his own path. American officials have had limited success in persuading Sheikh Mohammed to align with U.S. foreign policy — particularly when it comes to limiting Chinese military ties and isolating Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.

Instead, the Emirates has thrived on inflows of Russian money, oil and gold, fueling a feeding frenzy in real estate in the glittering metropolis of Dubai. The growing ties with both American rivals and expanding economies like India are all in preparation for a world that may someday be no longer dominated by the United States.

“What we’re seeing in the international order is not necessarily a multipolar world, but we’re seeing a more fluid world where things are changing,” Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to Sheikh Mohammed, told The New York Times recently. In a lecture in Arabic last year, he was much blunter, declaring that Western hegemony was “in its final days.” » | Vivian Nereim, Reporting from Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates | Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Khaleej Times: 'Boys Don't Cry and Men Need to Man Up' - Busting Men's Mental Health Myths

May 25, 2023 | Being vulnerable — and admitting to it — is something most males would shy away from. It’s a sign of weakness. But given that depression, anxiety and toying with thoughts of self-harm are all realities of modern life, there need to be more conversations about men’s psychological wellbeing so they are not ‘ashamed’ to seek help, says men’s mental health specialist Rahaf Kobeissi.

Dubai Scraps 30% Alcohol Tax and Licence Fee in Apparent Bid to Boost Tourism

GETTY IMAGES
BBC: Dubai has scrapped its 30% alcohol tax in an apparent bid to boost tourism.

It will also stop charging for personal alcohol licences - something residents who want to drink at home must have.

Dubai has been relaxing laws for some time, allowing the sale of alcohol in daylight during Ramadan and approving home delivery during the pandemic.

This latest move is thought to be an attempt to make the city more attractive to foreigners, in the face of competition from neighbours.

The two companies which distribute alcohol in Dubai, Maritime and Mercantile International (MMI), and African & Eastern, said they would reflect the cut in tax for consumers. » | Elsa Maishman, BBC News | Monday, January 2, 2023

Khaleej Times: An Ancient Monastery Possibly Pre-dating Islam Found in Umm Al Quwain

Nov 4, 2022

Mali - Dubai: Die Wege des schmutzigen Goldes | ARTE Reportage

Der Goldbergbau in der Sahelzone entzieht sich zunehmend der staatlichen Kontrolle, immer mehr Goldgräber schürfen in kleinen Minen auf eigene Rechnung. Bewaffnete Gruppen finanzieren sich durch den illegalen Bergbau und den Schmuggel, darunter auch islamistische Terrorgruppen.

Mali etablierte sich so allmählich als Zentrum des Goldhandels der Sahelländer, und das Emirat Dubai wurde in den letzten fünf Jahren zum wichtigsten Aufkäufer der Goldproduktion auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent. Experten werfen den Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate vor, sie förderten indirekt den illegalen Handel mit dem Gold, weil sie nicht darauf achteten, woher die Goldbarren kämen. Institutionen wie die OECD fordern deshalb weitaus strengere Regulierungen. Unsere Reportage berichtet über die neuen globalen Wege des schmutzigen Goldes.

Playa Restaurant Review: Miami Beach Vibes in Dubai #shorts