Songs From the Past

This is a song I remember from my first trip to Dubai, back in the day.

Kohail Update

A letter written by Mohammud Kohail, the Canadian currently in a Saudi prison awaiting execution, to the Prime Minister of Canada has surfaced. In it he alleges that he was tortured in order to elicit a confession. The story and excerpts from the letter are here.

What's in a Name?

The Dubai RTA is selling naming rights to its Metro stations. Gulf News has the story here.

Its difficult enough to find your way around Dubai what with all the confusing signage and Arabic names. One would think that a Metro station would be named for its geographical location. Hence, the Marina Station would be close to the Dubai Marina, Jebel Ali Station would be close to the Jebel Ali Port, and so on. How much sense does it make to say, take the red line to Intel Station, transfer to the green and get off at CNN Station?

Yes, That Will Teach Her!

In a precedent setting court judgement, a woman has been ordered to pay diyyah or the death of her unborn child. The amount was set at 20,000 dirhams, or 1/10 of the amount for a woman under Shariah Law. The court found her guilty of failure to "exercise due care and diligence while driving and to keep a safe distance between her vehicle and others on the road". But the article in The National says that she was hit from behind and pushed into another vehicle. In every other country in the world, the driver of the vehicle that hit her from behind would be held responsible for the accident. Could the fact that she is Lebanese and not Emirati have anything to do with the judgement?

Oh, yeah, it's not clear to whom she should pay the diyyah.

Head Count

The KSA executed 8 people during the month of April. They were either murderers, rapists, or both. This brings the year to date total, according to my tabulation, to 27.

There has been no news concerning the Kohail brothers since early April.