Free Republic

She’s raining bombs on terrorist thugs. The first female pilot in the United Arab Emirates' air force is reportedly taking part in the coalition air strikes against ISIS militants hiding in Syria.

Egyptian armed forces are preparing for the execution of an extensive operation inside Libya in order to fight the revolutionaries and support the militias that are loyal to the UAE in Tripoli and Benghazi including troops commandeered by Brigadier General Khalifa Haftar, high ranking officials revealed. The operation may include a possible ground invasion in East Libya with French aerial cover and funding from the UAE in order to enable Haftar to decisively win the battle, the sources told the Asrar Arabiya website. The site said Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thani's visit to the UAE on Tuesday last week came...

A legal expert from the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department has clarified Sharia rules on divorce after a case last week where a couple sought to divorce for the third time. Muna Al Raeesi, head of legal aid at ADJD, said that when a husband and wife divorced for the first time, there was a waiting period known as “idda”, which is designed to give the couple time to reconcile without finalising the divorce procedure. The waiting period lasts for three of the wife’s menstrual cycles to ensure she is not pregnant. If she is pregnant, it lasts until the child...

Senior U.S. officials said Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have launched airstrikes against Islamic militants in the Libyan capital twice in the past week. U.S. officials told reporters that the move caught the United States by surprise, potentially dealing a blow to relations between Washington, Cairo and the Emirates. U.S. officials said Egypt provided the base for the launch of the airstrikes, and the U.A.E. provided the aircraft and pilots. Egypt has not publicly acknowledged any role in the air strikes. The UAE had no immediate comment. The first strike took place in Tripoli a week ago and targeted...

Sri Lankan maid in custodyA housemaid who is accused of harassing her old Emirati employer has been arrested. The 70-year-old woman, named Aisha, lives alone in Sharjah. Her son, Omar, had arranged for the maid, who hails from Sri Lanka, through an agency last month, since his mother refused to live with him. In the beginning she was extremely helpful, kind and looked after the old lady as if she was her own mother. “She was almost like a sweet angel,” said Aisha. “ I was so happy with her that I gave her one of my mobile phones. Later,...

A Nigerian woman with cancer who died in the Emirati capital had shown signs “that may be consistent with Ebola,” the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi said on Sunday. The 35-year-old woman was travelling to India from Nigeria via Abu Dhabi to seek treatment for advanced cancer when her health deteriorated during her time in transit at Abu Dhabi’s airport, the authority said in a statement according to the state WAM news agency. “It was noted at the time of resuscitation that she had shown signs that may be consistent with Ebola virus infection, although her existing medical condition provided...

Emirates Airline will stop flying over Iraq to protect against the threat of Islamic militants on the ground. The airline told the BBC it was taking "precautionary measures" and "working on alternative routing plans for flights using Iraqi airspace". The move follows the Malaysian Airlines' Flight MH17 disaster. MH17 was shot down while flying over Ukraine. Emirates said it is already re-routing some flights. It will take a few days for the re-routing to be completed, the airline added. "We are closely monitoring the situation along with international agencies, and will never compromise the safety of our customers and crew,"...

A fellow countrywoman encouraged herAn Asian woman was arrested by Abu Dhabi Police officers while she was asking for handouts in front of a mosque. The woman, who entered the UAE on tourist visa, was sitting on the ground preying on people’s emotions and humanitarian spirit, seeking alms through mendicancy to provide for her daughter’s wedding expenses in her home country. “There is no place for beggars in our society,” said Colonel Dr. Rashid Mohammad Borshid, Acting Director of the Capital Police Directorate. He said that special teams had been set up to carry out extensive inspection campaigns to arrest...

Married to Muslim in Abu DhabiA woman who had stuck to her religion despite her marriage to a Muslim finally decided to convert to Islam while she was in hospital in Abu Dhabi having treatment for cancer. A day after she converted, the woman died. The woman had been bed-ridden in hospital for months before doctors told her husband that her case became incurable after cancer spread through several parts of her body. A day before her death, her husband called the Abu Dhabi judicial department and asked them to send a woman for his wife to perform her conversion...

Man hangs underwear on the door, rings the bell, then fleesAn Asian man living in Ras Al Khaimah had a weird habit that did not impress his neighours – hanging women’s underwear at their doors, ringing the bell and fleeing. As if he enjoyed doing it, the man kept annoying his neighbours until they decided to install a security camera to hunt the intruder. Policemen watching the film were surprised to see the man tiptoeing towards his neighbour’s house under the cover of night, hanging women’s underwear at their door and ringing the bell before running away. Police managed to...

No dog meat sold at Fujairah restaurant: officials Municipality vows to prosecute those behind the social network rumoursFujairah authorities have denied rumours floated on social networks that a local restaurant sold dog meat meals to consumers and other restaurants and vowed to prosecute those who are behind the report. Fujairah municipality Director Mohammed Al Afkham said the restaurant shown in the report is located in another country and that it is intended to hurt the UAE’s image. Quoted by local newspapers, he said the UAE carries out strict health standards when it comes to food imports and that all restaurants...

More stores to follow in the next few monthsHome-grown UAE-based fast food chain Just Falafel has opened its first US franchises in San Francisco, California, the company announced in a media statement on Thursday. As the first of 168 franchises to come in North America and Canada, the company said it has reached a major milestone in its international expansion with the new restaurant located in Fremont, close to Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company has signed new area franchise agreements with different partners in key locations including New York, New Jersey, Kentucky, Texas and Los...

4 killed this year due to suddenly stopping on Dubai roadsFailure to refuel vehicles on time, as soon as the low fuel light in your vehicle goes on, can have fatal consequences, warned Dubai Police. According to Dubai Police statistics, four accidents due to vehicles suddenly stopping in the middle of the road or on the hard shoulder were reported in the first three months of this year, resulting in four deaths and injuring eight people. Statistics also show that 2013 witnessed three such accidents, which resulted in four deaths and two injuries. Major Ahmad Ateeq Al Ketbi, Director of...

Earthquake impact: UAE residents take to social networking sitesThe UAE’s National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology has issued a Seismic Risk Report in wake of the 5.1 earthquake near Qeshm, Iran, that was felt in parts of the UAE. The report states the alert level for the UAE has been turned on for now, with a warning that the level may be revised if necessary. The report states the earthquake occurred at 9.44am in the Southern Iran region, approximately 279km North East from Abu Dhabi, 156km North East from Dubai and 52km North West from Ash Sham. The epicentre of...

Germany spends the second most amount of money on lobbying in Washington by foreign governments. Only the United Arab Emirates splashed out more in 2013, according to research by a US foundation. The Sunlight Foundation has launched a tool called Foreign Influence Explorer, which analyzes spending by foreign bodies or their paid representatives reported to the US Department of Justice. The German government came second in the list, spending $12 million on lobbying in 2013. […] A German company was also the most active private foreign firm lobbying last year. Deutsche Telekom spent almost $12 million on lobbying US officials...

Ministry of Health warns public about fake doctorsThe Ministry of Health (MOH) has warned the public against practices of fake doctors who provide medical treatment without the approval of the authorities. “The society has foreseen some malpractices by a group of fake doctors, who are not licensed by the UAE health authorities, and claim that they have the ability to provide treatment for difficult cases. “Such claims are closer to magic and witchcraft,” said Amin Al Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health and Licensing at the MOH. Recently, inspectors of the ministry busted a fake chiropractor in the Northern Emirates...

An Abu Dhabi criminal court sentenced an Asian housemaid to stoning to death after she was found guilty of committing adultery while married. The maid had been rushed to hospital following abdominal pains and tests showed she was pregnant after sleeping with another man. Newspapers said the maid confessed in court that she committed adultery and the judge handed down the sentence on the basis of her confession in line with Islamic law. It was the first time in many years that a person was sentenced to stoning to death in such a case in the UAE. Judicial sources said...

Two Emirati wives suffering from serious illnesses set an example of love and sacrifice when they asked their husbands to marry again. Their husbands were equally loving and sacrificial and rejected their wives’ requests. The two separate cases have been handled by Dubai’s government family guidance centre which said it was struck by such mutual feelings. The first case involved a woman who is suffering from cancer and wanted her husband to have another wife after she felt she no longer can please her husband. “She came to us after she failed to persuade her husband to marry. She said...

(Reuters) - What began late last year as a routine new assignment for Pakistani sea captain Mirza Noman Baig ended in a dramatic night-time rescue as U.S. special forces seized the ship his family said he was forced to operate by Libyan rebels. ... Baig's family say the captain received direct orders from Saud Al Anazi, the head of ZAD Group, to stop near a rebel-held eastern Libyan port. Here, according to Baig's family and Libyan officials, armed men boarded and loaded the ship with oil. ... ZAD's Anazi denied involvement in any plan to help the rebels sell oil....

An Emirati driver who damaged his car by hitting a pavement in Sharjah told police it was not his fault and that the pavement lunged and hit his car. Astonished police men rushed to the accident site on Mlaiha road in the emirate after receiving a phone call from the 22-year-old driver claiming he was a victim of a pavement attack. “When the police men arrived, he told them that he was driving normally when the pavement changed direction, lunged at his car and hit it,” Banat Zayed website said. “Police recorded the accident and decided to send the man...