Mark was away in Dubai with work last week, and while he couldn't afford anything from the designer stores he did bring me the next best thing - OK! Middle East magazine.
It's much glossier than the UK version, slightly less salacious, and the On the Town section at the back plays more to the arty ex-pat community than the faux-scruffy rock offspring set, but it's main focus is still minor celebrities and their doings.
The cover story was Britney and her ongoing dilemma of juggling motherhood with her relaunch as a global pop star. The angle seemed to be that Britney would be much better off staying at home looking after the kids than reclaiming her pop crown by going on tour.
While this smacks of sexism towards working women (why shouldn't a mother be the main earner and a father the main carer?), it also strikes me as hypocritical considering the case of Marnie Pearce, whose conviction for adultery was upheld in a Dubai court last week.
Ms Pearce's guilt or otherwise is not the main issue (although if the UK brought adultery cases against everyone who found a new partner before their marriage was officially dissolved our jails would be a lot fuller). The court's decision to deport her once she is released means she is unlikely to see her children again unless their father (who brought the charges in the first place) deems it acceptable.
While I don't support the call for the children to be forcibly brought to the UK (the father still has rights, and if the case was reversed I don't believe many would support children being taken from this country), it is shocking that the courts in Dubai have assisted Ms Pearce's ex-husband in his quest to remove her from her children's lives.
A joint custody agreement would surely be best for the children involved, but I'm not holding my breath. Both Ms Pearce and Mr El-Labban are playing out their dispute over Facebook.
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