United Arab Emirates News in English

May 7, 2021

Detained Yemen model risks ‘virginity test’: Amnesty

A Yemeni model arrested two months ago for “challenging social norms” is at risk of undergoing a forced “virginity test”, Amnesty International said on Friday. Entisar al-Hammadi was arrested in February in Sanaa, where the Iran-backed Huthi rebels who control…

May 5, 2021

UN envoy says push for Yemen ceasefire is faltering

Efforts to reach a ceasefire in Yemen’s bloody conflict are not making headway, UN envoy Martin Griffiths said Wednesday after an intense week of diplomacy aimed at ending the fighting. Yemen’s civil war, which started in 2014, pits Iran-backed Huthi…

May 4, 2021

Thousands of families hit by Yemen floods: UN

The United Nations said Tuesday that thousands of families across war-torn Yemen have been hit by torrential rains and deadly floods since mid-April that destroyed homes and shelters. “Initial reports indicate some 3,730 families (22,380 people) have been affected by…

May 3, 2021

UAE award voices ‘regret’ after German philosopher rejects prize

The UAE’s Sheikh Zayed Book Award said Monday it regretted prominent German philosopher Juergen Habermas’ decision not to accept its “Cultural Personality of the Year” prize. The 91-year-old had reversed an earlier decision to accept the one-million-dirham ($272,000) prize, saying…

May 2, 2021

Budget carrier flydubai posts big 2020 loss

Budget carrier flydubai reported Sunday heavy losses for 2020, calling it ”one of the toughest years in aviation history” due to the pandemic and the grounding of its Boeing 737 MAX fleet. The government-owned carrier, a sister of aviation giant…

March 31, 2021

US climate envoy Kerry will travel to UAE, India, Bangladesh

The United States’s climate envoy John Kerry will travel to the United Arab Emirates, India and Bangladesh ahead of a climate summit that Washington will host next month, according to a statement from the department Wednesday. The leaders of the…

March 29, 2021

WHO warns against widening gap in vaccine distribution

The World Health Organization warned Monday against a widening gap between numbers of coronavirus vaccines in wealthy countries and those distributed to poorer nations through the global Covax initiative. “The gap between the number of vaccines administered in rich countries,…

March 28, 2021

UAE, China launch project to produce Sinopharm vaccine

The United Arab Emirates and China on Sunday announced a venture to produce the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine in the Gulf nation, state media reported. The UAE’s Group 42 and China’s CNBG “have launched a joint project… to initiate the first…

March 26, 2021

Shadowy drone programme gives Yemen rebels regional reach

Six years after Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen, booby-trapped drones have made the Huthi rebels a potent threat, enabling them to target distant Saudi cities and heavily guarded oil facilities. While Riyadh has been locked in a hunt for an…