ABU DHABI // A dramatic fall in traffic accidents this week has been directly linked to the three-day disruption in BlackBerry services.
posted by hippybear on Oct 18, 2011 - 50 comments

Pro-government newspaper Gulf News reports that five Emirati bloggers go on trial today behind closed doors. While blogging has been on the rise in the UAE, internet access is tightly controlled by state-run Etisalat, many sites, including Flickr Groups and lists of blogs, blocked by the Etisalat firewall.
posted by bardophile on Jun 14, 2011 - 12 comments

Who is Reflex Responses Management Consultancy LLC? Only "the Premier Security Consultant and Training supplier for the United Arab Emirates," of course. Frequently referred to as R2, the company specializes in nuclear facility security, special-forces operations, revolt quelling, cybersecurity, and (somehow) protecting the U.A.E from Iran with one battalion of foreign mercenaries. Oh, and it's led by Erik Prince, formerly of Blackwater (now Xe). [more inside]
posted by postel's law on May 14, 2011 - 19 comments

Is the world ready for a global university? Apply now! (via) [more inside]
posted by oldleada on Jul 20, 2009 - 21 comments

UAE phone company pushes BlackBerry update with embedded spyware. The United Arab Emirates phone company Etisalat recently sent out a firmware update to its BlackBerry-using customers, billed as a “performance enhancement patch”. After customers reported the patch degrading their handsets' performance and draining their batteries more rapidly, a programmer examined it and found that it contained spyware from a US company, which could be remotely activated to forward all emails and text messages to a third-party server. [more inside]
posted by acb on Jul 15, 2009 - 31 comments

"50,000 Years of Resilience May Not Save Tribe." A deal to provide a member of the UAE royal family with a personal Tanzanian playground may be the final nail in the coffin for the remaining 1,500 members of the ancient Hadzabe people and their unique language. Read a Westerner's account of living among the Hadzabe here.
posted by lalex on Jun 11, 2007 - 18 comments

Halliburton Moves Corporate Headquarters to Dubai, UAE. Oil services giant Halliburton, parent company of soon to be spun off KBR, and recipient of many no-bid government contracts, is moving its corporate headquarters to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, the US and the UAE are working on a free trade agreement. The UAE and China are the two largest exporters to Iran, and some speculate that the purpose of the move is to open up Iran as a legitimate market for Halliburton, because as a US firm its acknowledged trade with Iran is of questionable legality. Among the implications of this corporate move is that the US military will now be heavily dependent on a contractor that is a foreign company.
posted by Pastabagel on Mar 12, 2007 - 76 comments

Did you attend this? If you did, then it's New Years Day and you're sitting in your chair watching a little TV while listening to a little music.
posted by Xurando on Jan 1, 2007 - 17 comments

Hey! Didn't anybody notice that today is the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, sponsored by those bleeding hearts at the UN? The UNODC is declaring "even occasional use of marijuana is a link in a long and dangerous cycle of crime, degradation and terrorism." In Afghanistan, 30 -or is it 60?- tons of drugs have been burned in large bonfires (If they're not sure how much, blame the contact high). Meanwhile China celebrated the day with a massive demonstraton and a few executions. The United Arab Emarites is issuing a stamp. And the U.S.ofA.? Well, it's on the State Department Calendar, but the Office of National Drug Control Policy has never heard of it. Still, you can send an Anti-Drugs Day Greeting to someone you know (is a user).

BREAKING NEWS: In Kenya, 49 Killed, Hundreds Harmed by Poisoned... er... Alcohol. (nevermind)
posted by wendell on Jun 26, 2005 - 35 comments

They hate Flickr for it's Freedom. An ISP (and government controlled monopoly) in the United Arab Emirates has decided to ban access to Flickr for it's citizens, apparently due to the complaints of a couple of UAE expats in the UK and Canada. Of course, said blockage won't apply to them. Most interestingly, they blame the rest of the world's non-flesh-fearing photographers as opposed to their ISP (and by proxy their own oppressive government.) Now Flickr joins Skype, AtomFilms, Friendster, AOL, and anything from Israels top-level domain, as outlawed content and services in the UAE (related study here). Well, if they don't care, why should we? Via linkfilter.
posted by rzklkng on Jun 22, 2005 - 28 comments

DUBAI (AFP) - The United Arab Emirates is to mount robot jockeys on racing camels later this year after a ban on using children in the region's popular sport.
posted by Tlogmer on Apr 11, 2005 - 7 comments

The World Islands
A man-made island project from the folks that brought you the Palm Islands (mentioned in the blue here).
Think 250 to 300 small private artificial islands ranging in size from 250,000 to 900,000 square feet with the key cool factor of the islands being arranged into the shape of the world's continents. It is located four kilometres off the shore of Jumeirah, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (Also the subject of an FPP).
Starting at a mere $6.85 million, you can find your place in The World (QT video sales pitch and the WMV version), construction should be completed by the end of 2005. Thinking about relocating to Dubai? It is a cutting edge city with a strong economy, imagine Maine generating $57 billion a year from oil production primarily.
posted by fenriq on Apr 3, 2005 - 39 comments

Haifaa al-Mansour might be the only active female Saudi filmmaker in existence. Her film recently debuted at a festival in the United Arab Emirates, and although it didn't win, it did create quite a stir among the attendees. Her father, also a director, and her family helped her get the project off the ground in a country where some believe even owning a television set is a sin, and where women have very little opportunity outside the home. Using the web as a means of distribution, al-Mansour hopes to someday see her creations on the big screen all over the world.
posted by greengrl on May 29, 2003 - 7 comments

The president of a counterterrorism consulting firm has been charged with possessing 2,352 unregistered small military missiles. Investigators also found 4,000 pounds of explosives at High Energy Access Tools (HEAT), an anti-terrorism and police training company that was conducting classes for students from the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. More....
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood on Aug 18, 2002 - 13 comments

The Economist recently completed a survey of Gulf countries. Much of the content is 'premium access only' or available in the print version. This article, subtitled "The Gulf states have come a long way, fast. Now they need to think about where they are going" is online and examines the swift changes in economy, institutions, and population trends in this in-the-spotlight region. Some fascinating stuff.
posted by cell divide on Mar 25, 2002 - 1 comment

UAE Information Ministry calls for greater freedom in the Arab World 'In my view, religious extremism that begets terrorism will not recede without a review of Arab and Islamic conditions," he said. "We cannot speak of stamping out extremism without revising the educational system and without rethinking our political state of affairs and economic problems." Encouraging?
posted by RobertLoch on Jan 4, 2002 - 2 comments

CNN: Taleban claims unmanned US spy plane shot down The UAE also withdrew diplomatic recognition for the Taleban.
posted by owillis on Sep 21, 2001 - 19 comments