DUBAI: As the UAE celebrates Flag Day today, authorities have issued a reminder that any act of disrespect toward the national flag, such as using its design on cakes, decorations, or promotional items, is a serious crime punishable by up to 25 years in prison and a fine of Dh500,000 (almost Rs37.8 million).

The warning comes ahead of UAE National Day celebrations on December 2, when citizens and expatriate communities across Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi typically mark the occasion with flag hoisting, parades, and cake-cutting ceremonies. Officials have urged everyone to ensure the national flag is treated with the utmost respect.

Residents are advised to follow a set of dos and don’ts issued by the government. Flags must be made of high-quality polyester, kept clean and undamaged, and should never touch the ground. Nothing else should be attached to the flagpole, and flags must be properly folded after use.

Authorities have also clarified that no emblem, logo, or decorative edge should be added to the flag, and it should not appear on food items or altered for promotional designs such as balloons, logos, or typography.

The UAE flag, featuring red, green, white, and black colours symbolising Arab unity, was first raised by the nation’s founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, during the Eid Al Etihad celebrations in 1971.

As the country prepares for its 53rd National Day, the message is clear: the flag represents the UAE’s pride and unity, and must be honoured accordingly. 

• ED freezes INR30.84bn in Ambani Group assets.
• Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai holdings seized, says source.
• Alleged $350 million siphoned via shell companies.

NEW DELHI: India’s financial crime agency has provisionally frozen 30.84 billion Indian rupees ($350.87 million) in assets linked to Reliance Anil Ambani Group as part of a money-laundering investigation, a government source said on Monday.

The case involves loans taken by the group, owned by the younger brother of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, from India’s YES Bank between 2017 and 2019 in excess of $568.86 million. Investments made with the funds delivered no returns.

The Enforcement Directorate has now blocked any transactions from taking place on residential units and land parcels across Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai, including industrialist Anil Ambani’s family residence in Mumbai, the source added.

Reliance Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Investigators allege the funds raised by Reliance Home Finance Ltd and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd were part of a “well-planned” scheme to siphon off 30 billion Indian rupees ($350 million) in loans from YES Bank to many shell companies.

The loans were originally invested through mutual funds and routed to group-linked entities in violation of regulations. The Reliance Group entities are also accused of paying bribes to YES Bank officials before loans were disbursed, a government source had said earlier.

The Enforcement Directorate has cited weak borrower profiles, missing documentation and misuse of funds, the source said, in a case that involves the diversion and laundering of public funds.

The agency is also probing Reliance Communications Ltd and affiliates, where over 136 billion Indian rupees ($1.55 billion) were allegedly diverted through loan evergreening and fund rerouting.

Turkey will on Monday engage leaders from the Islamic world to leverage their influence over Gaza’s future, amid growing concerns about the stability of a ceasefire that has lasted just a few weeks.

The truce, brokered on October 10 by US President Donald Trump to end the two-year-long Israel-Hamas conflict, has been increasingly fragile, challenged by ongoing Israeli strikes and reports of Palestinian attacks on Israeli forces.

Turkey, one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s Gaza offensive, will host the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan, and Indonesia in Istanbul on Monday.

These senior diplomats had previously been consulted by Trump in late September during the UN General Assembly in New York, shortly before he unveiled his plan to halt the fighting in Gaza.

According to Turkish foreign ministry sources, Ankara plans to urge the visiting ministers to support measures that would allow Palestinians greater control over Gaza’s security and governance.

On the eve of the meeting, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also received a Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya, the movement’s chief negotiator.

“We must end the massacre in Gaza. A ceasefire in itself is not enough,” Fidan said, arguing for the two-state solution to the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“We should recognise that Gaza should be governed by the Palestinians, and act with caution,” he added.

Turkey-Israel tensions

Besides its denunciations of Israel, Turkey has been instrumental in backing Hamas. Fidan, who has accused Israel of seeking excuses to break Trump’s truce, is also expected to repeat calls for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is wracked by hunger and tens of thousands of deaths from the Israeli army’s offensive.

Yet Israel has long viewed Turkey’s diplomatic overtures, including towards Trump, with suspicion as a result of the country’s closeness to Hamas.

Israeli leaders have repeatedly voiced their opposition to Turkey, a NATO member with one of the region’s most credible militaries, having any role in the international peacekeeping force mooted for Gaza.

Under Trump’s plan, that stabilisation mission is meant to take over in the wake of the Israeli army’s withdrawal from the Palestinian territory.

A Turkish disaster relief team, sent to help efforts to recover the many bodies buried under Gaza’s rubble — including those of Israeli hostages seized by Hamas — has likewise been stuck at the border because of the Israeli government’s refusal to let them in, according to Ankara.