Dignity and Robbery

Today, buried behind the headlines announcing the capture of the Dhs 50 million Wafi City Heist Gang, Gulf News reports that the court in Abu Dhabi that's trying the two journalists for accusing two 'dignitaries' of having an award withdrawn from them for horse doping has now ruled against them. The two journalists, as they were originally dubbed, now turn out to be the editor in chief and the CEO of the newspaper. The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of First Instance, Gulf News tells us, ruled that the CEO is not responsible for editorial content so he's off the hook. What a very lucky CEO, you'd be forgiven for thinking.

While the CEO and staff are undoubtedly getting stuck into some celebratory chocolate cake, the editor is getting hit with a Dhs 20,000 fine (about $5,500) and he's, not suprisingly, reported to be appealing today. You can't help feeling that there's a lot more to this case than meets the eye and you'd probably be right. Dhs 20,000, incidentally, is a small amount in the circumstances - a sum reminiscent of Whistler's Farthing. It'll be interesting to see what happens at appeal.

Meanwhile, Dubai's sensational capture of the Wafi Gang (well, three of them) has resulted in the recovery of the jewellery (well, Dhs 14 million of it). This is widely pictured and shows just how little Dhs 14 million (About $3.8 million) seems to buy you these days. See? Life in Dubai IS getting expensive.

The tray's nice, though...