Nadia Hussain on her Harley-Davidson during celebrations for her wedding to Salem Al Muraikhi last month. Courtesy Amman Alyoum
Nadia Hussain on her Harley-Davidson during celebrations for her wedding to Salem Al Muraikhi last month. Courtesy Amman Alyoum

Biker bride sues social media ‘defamers’



ABU DHABI // Nadia Hussain, the Emirati biker bride who caused an internet sensation last month, has filed complaints against 35 people for threatening and insulting her and husband Salem Al Muraikhi online.

And two of the people Ms Hussain, 29, filed cases against at the Court of Misdemeanours have been referred to Public Prosecution. A first court hearing is scheduled for April 17.

She said was subjected to death threats and insults from social media commentators since her wedding, in which the couple rode Harley-Davidsons with a convoy of bikers, went viral.

The couple had to cancel their honeymoon to the Seychelles because they could not leave their Dubai hotel room after their wedding night, Ms Hussain said.

“There were threats saying they will slit our throats, and phrases like, ‘Let me only see them in the street and I will run them over’.

“And our phones never stopped ringing.”

Ms Hussain was accused of acting in a manner that contradicted UAE traditions and values, and for breaking the rules of hijab with her outfit. Others claimed she was not Emirati.

One of the two referred to Public Prosecution is a media personality with 10,000 followers, who made a video that Ms Hussain claimed had defamed her.

“From that video alone we took out 12 offences that are punishable by the law,” she said.

The second defendant is a member of a motorcycle group to which she and her husband belong.

“All the cases have been filed under defamation and verbal insults,” Ms Hussain said. “They have hurt me enough with extreme insults and are still looking for me, and they offended my husband’s manhood.”

She said she did not care about financial compensation as much as holding her antagonists responsible for the damage they caused. “They ruined my wedding days and did not let me even get out of the hotel.”

Ms Hussain said she decided to take legal action after she consulted a lawyer.

“He encouraged me to go for it. He said, ‘It is your right’.”

Ms Hussain works in real estate but said she had been too preoccupied with the legal proceedings to return to work.

Ali Al Mansouri, a lawyer representing the accused media personality, said the complaints were filed under defamation in the penal code and other offences under cyber crime law.

Most of the accused were “social media celebrities”, Mr Al Mansouri said.

He argued that the comments were trivial and described the incident as “an intrusive trend to the UAE society”.

“I am representing one defendant so far and I have received calls from five others, and I am coordinating with them. They are all Emirati men,” he said.

Mr Al Mansouri said the defence would centre on whether Ms Hussain’s actions were an affront to public decency and order.

“Every person has the right be creative in their wedding – we do not have a problem with that – but when it affects the norm and modesty features there is an issue,” he said.

He said if a bride was walking the streets in her wedding gown, she would be stopped by the police “because this is a violation of public order”.

The same applied to Ms Hussain’s wedding, he said.

“She even invited a Jordanian TV channel to film it.”

Mr Al Mansouri said he would also be asking in court how Ms Hussain had obtained the video she claimed showed his client defaming her.

“How did she acquire that video? Was it through legal means and procedures?” he asked.

“We will also deny the defamation claims and argue that her accusations have been driven by a grudge.”

Mariam Al Breiiki, an Emirati social media commentator, said the story caused such a stir because it was publicised by the couple.

“There are many things that people do that are out of the norm but they don’t get publicised and therefore do not attract criticism,” Ms Al Breiiki said.

She said she was not in favour of such exposure for weddings but believed the couple’s freedom of choice should be respected.

“If their families blessed it and the groom himself invited figures from different countries to share their celebration, who are we to object?”

hdajani@thenational.ae

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Age: 46

Number of Children: Four

Hobby: Reading history books

Loves: Sports

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Battery: Rimac 120kWh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry

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The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now

How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers

Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.

It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.

The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.

Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.

Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.

He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.

AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”

A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.

Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.

Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.

Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.

By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.

Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.

In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”

Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.

She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.

Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.

WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
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Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

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The%20specs
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SPECS

Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4

Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
​​​​​​​Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books

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The specs

  Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)

Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

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Tickets

Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher:  Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

The Two Popes

Director: Fernando Meirelles

Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce 

Four out of five stars

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Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ

Price, base: Dh1,731,672

Engine: 6.5-litre V12

Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm

Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm

Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
EA Sports FC 25
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history

4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon

- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.

50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater

1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.  

1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.

1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.

-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.


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