UAE Beaches: No Bikinis, Please

Tourists hoping to strut their stuff on certain sands in the United Arab Emirates will sadly have to keep those bikinis and Speedos packed tightly in their suitcases: Beaches in the UAE's northernmost emirate, Ras al-Khaimah, now sport signs warning of possible fines for revealing swimwear such as two-piece bikinis for women and brief trunks for men. The move follows complaints from local families who didn't like sharing the sands with tourists showing too much skin.

The UAE hosts a patchwork of different social mores among its seven semi-autonomous emirates, ranging from conservative to relatively liberal. Dubai, for example, urges "respectful" attire, but rarely objects to outfits such as miniskirts or bikinis. (More bikini stories.)