Britain said on Tuesday it would refer the UAE-led takeover of the Telegraph for a lengthy review, a move that will effectively kill the deal because a law banning foreign governments owning newspapers is due to come into force in coming months. Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI took control of the Telegraph titles and the Spectator...
Mansions, university facilities, think tanks, sports teams — the U.K. is no stranger to Gulf money and multibillion-dollar investments streaming from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia into British institutions. But newspapers? That’s a hard stop, apparently. The latest investment pursuit flowing westward from one of the U.K.’s close Gulf allies, the UAE,...
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is commissioning the construction of a new elite mercenary force resembling the French Foreign Legion, a leaked job advertisement has revealed. According to the site Intelligence Online, an unnamed former French special forces officer is leading the initiative to construct an elite unit that would operate as part of the UAE’s...
Former prime minister is latest senior politician to speak out against deal as Ofcom inquirycontinues. Sir John Major has said it is not a “good idea” for the United Arab Emirates-backed takeover of The Telegraph to go ahead. The former prime minister said he did not want newspapers to fall into “autocratic or semi-autocratic hands”....
Civil society organisations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in the United Arab Emirates this week have criticized restrictions on their participation, including alleging that some of their members had been briefly detained at the talks. Our World Is Not For Sale (OWINFS), a network of civil society groups, said on Wednesday it had...
Whether to allow the UAE to invest in British nuclear – and newspapers – is a national security question. There aren’t many countries in the world willing to roll out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin, but the Emiratis did so with gusto when he visited Abu Dhabi last month. They laid on a 21-gun salute as...
BP has struck a deal with the UAE’s state-owned oil company as the British energy giant deepens ties to the Middle East. BP is to form a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) focused on production from two massive Egyptian gas fields. Under the deal, BP will transfer interests in three...
While December 2023 saw the global spotlight on Dubai for the COP28, Abu Dhabi discreetly conducted the second-largest political mass trial in the UAE’s history, known as the “UAE87” in a complete absence of media coverage. On December 7, 2023, the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal held its first hearing of a new mass trial involving...
Lucy Frazer said she is concerned about the potential influence of Abu Dhabi over The Telegraph. Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has said she is “minded to” open a second investigation into the proposed sale of Telegraph Media Group to Abu Dhabi-backed Redbird IMI. The move was prompted by Redbird IMI making changes to the corporate structure of the potential acquiring entities...
Abu Dhabi-backed Redbird IMI has submitted a new proposal relating to its planned takeover of the Telegraph newspaper, likely prompting a fresh government probe on public interest grounds, British media minister Lucy Frazer said on Wednesday. The regulators had been due to report back to Frazer by the end of Friday on the first probe....