Qatar admitted to the UN's highest court on Wednesday that it had blocked a travel website set up by the UAE to assist those affected by the boycott of the country.
Lawyers for Doha told the International Court of Justice that the website was banned in January this year. It was set up to provide travel authorisation to Qataris with UAE links.
A test invalidating Qatar’s security concerns over the website was conducted by Doha's experts in April, but a document submitted to the court said officials took no action to lift the ban.
Cyber-security considerations, such as those applied by Qatar’s Communications Regulatory Authority, were called "a term of art" in the submission made by one of the lawyers.
Despite claims to the contrary, no laws or regulations have been introduced in the UAE to expel Qatari citizens since diplomatic and transport ties were cut on June 5, 2017.
After the endorsing provisional measures pending a full hearing at the court last year, the UAE set out to ease any problems that some Qataris were experiencing with logistics.
The website-based form for travel clearance was established after the boycott of Qatar began.
It was imposed after Doha failed to comply with undertakings in the 2014 Riyadh Agreement to sever ties with terror groups including ISIS and Al Nusra Front.
Detailed submissions on the pattern of deceit in Qatar’s representations were laid before the court.
Lawyers for Doha asked asked the judges to set aside the "charge of fabrication" until a full hearing was under way.
At that point, the court was told that the merits of Qatar’s argument could be heard.
The lawyers said there was no need to act on complaints against simultaneous procedures under way at the court and the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, or Cerd, in Geneva.
The Qatari complaints to international bodies claimed that the UAE was discriminating against its citizens on racial grounds and that people who had residential or other travel requirements between the two states were at a disadvantage.
The UAE denies all of Qatar's claims and said these fuelled tension, harming efforts to resolve the dispute.
“Qatar has fabricated a case that seeks to invoke the interpretation of the Cerd Convention to disguise its attempts to force the UAE to return to the pre-existing diplomatic status quo,” the court heard.
After the case, Dr Anwar Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, tweeted his take on Qatar’s defence.
“The Qatari defence explained the government's deliberate blocking of the site concerned with accepting requests for visits by Qatari nationals to the UAE," Dr Gargash tweeted.
"How do you claim violations of your citizens' rights while you are blocking sites that guarantee their freedom of travel?”
Other arguments were heard by the judges, including those against the National Human Rights Committee in Doha, which has a long record of inflammatory interventions against the UAE.
Among the accusations not answered was that Qatar had relied in evidence carrying the official insignia of the British Parliament and even the monarch's coat of arms.
In one instance, the College of Arms, the body of heraldry in the UK, was asked to authenticate a set of documents purportedly from the 19th century.
It turned out that they carried the seal of Queen Elizabeth II, the current ruler.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 630bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh810,000
UAE%20ILT20
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Hussein Ibish: Trump's order on solid constitutional ground
Rashmee Roshan Lall: Sound of silence in South Asia
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China |
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UAE |
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Japan |
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Norway |
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FIXTURES
All games 6pm UAE on Sunday:
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Burnley v Brighton
Chelsea v Wolves
Crystal Palace v Tottenham
Everton v Bournemouth
Leicester v Man United
Man City v Norwich
Newcastle v Liverpool
Southampton v Sheffield United
West Ham v Aston Villa
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch automatic
Power: 169bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh54,500
On sale: now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
Company%20Profile
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
MADAME%20WEB
Results
5.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,600m, Winner: Panadol, Mickael Barzalona (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)
6.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m, Winner: Mayehaab, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
6.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh85,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Monoski, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
7.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Eastern World, Royston Ffrench, Charlie Appleby
7.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Madkal, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
8.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Taneen, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28
The nine articles of the 50-Year Charter
1. Dubai silk road
2. A geo-economic map for Dubai
3. First virtual commercial city
4. A central education file for every citizen
5. A doctor to every citizen
6. Free economic and creative zones in universities
7. Self-sufficiency in Dubai homes
8. Co-operative companies in various sectors
9: Annual growth in philanthropy
The Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
The%C2%A0specs%20
COMPANY%20PROFILE
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
KEY%20DATES%20IN%20AMAZON'S%20HISTORY
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FIXTURES (all times UAE)
Sunday
Brescia v Lazio (3.30pm)
SPAL v Verona (6pm)
Genoa v Sassuolo (9pm)
AS Roma v Torino (11.45pm)
Monday
Bologna v Fiorentina (3.30pm)
AC Milan v Sampdoria (6pm)
Juventus v Cagliari (6pm)
Atalanta v Parma (6pm)
Lecce v Udinese (9pm)
Napoli v Inter Milan (11.45pm)
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
