Search results

It was the (literally) hands-on experience of the French-Algerian goalkeeper turned literary icon Albert Camus that caused him to observe: “After many years in which the world has afforded me many experiences, what I know most surely in the long run about morality and obligations, I owe to football.” In the harsh environment of arguably the world’s most high-profile sporting contest, the morality and obligations of a growing number of Gulf royals and businessmen are being tested in the English Premier League. Despite huge adverse publicity, Abu Dhabi’s representative in Manchester seems to be the most successful, and a number of clubs are looking to other Saudis for salvation.

The mainstream Shia parliamentary opposition appears to have become sidetracked by marginal and sectarian issues, and is now caught between a tactically astute government and vigorous rivals

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan has been in Cuba

Among this season’s crop of strange, apparently Gulf-related football stories is the case of England’s oldest football league club, Notts County, which was purchased in July by Munto Finance, described as a special purpose vehicle of the unknown Qadbak Investments Ltd. There was immediate speculation that Gulf businessmen or ruling family members were involved – particularly the Qataris – although the club’s board remained coy, saying they did not know the identities.

HBJ was in Saudi Arabia again on 15 September

Alarm bells have sounded over reports that Saudi Arabia is preparing to sign an unprecedented $2bn arms deal with Russia. Saudi defence procurement is usually the domain of the United States, Britain and France – leading observers to speculate that a geopolitical shift is under way. This might also involve shifting attitudes towards Iran, with Riyadh offering Moscow juicy contracts if it cools relations with Tehran.

Ras Al-Khaimah ruler’s court in mid-September announced the death of Sheikha Ghaya Bint Sultan Bin Salem Al-Qasimi

In an era when Gulf money has poured into English Premier League football clubs, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s business empire has decided to invest in London Welsh, a British rugby union club.

Interior Minister and Second Deputy Premier Prince Nayef Bin Abdelaziz has held meetings with his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa and Qatar’s State Minister for Internal Affairs Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani and other Qatari internal security officials.

Partnership to encourage US students to visit Saudi Arabia

Attempts to reassure world markets that the emirate’s debt is no more than $80bn have been overshadowed by the revelation that Dubai World alone owes $59.3bn. Last November, Emaar Properties chairman Mohammed Ali Alabbar – for long a key ally of UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) – attempted to reassure financial markets that Dubai’s debt was no more than $80bn. It now appears the figure is higher.

King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz has held talks with visiting Bahraini Crown Prince Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa and US assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism John Brennan.

As well as apparently playing a part in arranging the release of Libyan Lockerbie bomber Abdelbasset Ali Mohammed Al-Megrahi, Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani held talks with visiting Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who also visited the UAE.

The former ambassador to London and Washington has written an article in Foreign Policy magazine in which he said that for US politicians, invoking energy independence is now as “essential as baby-kissing” and accuses them of “demagoguery”.

The Majlis has approved 18 of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s 21 nominations to government posts, many of whom are hardliners loyal to the president and with backgrounds in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The composition of the new government further fuels suspicion that the IRGC is seizing power in the Islamic Republic. It has become more prominent since it backed Ahmadinejad in June’s disputed presidential election, subsequently clamping down on dissenters and opposition.