UAE prison time dropped for transgender Singaporean, friend

A transgender Singaporean and her friend facing a year in prison in the United Arab Emirates for dressing in a feminine way have seen their sentences reduced to a fine and deportation.
That's according to an official involved in negotiations over the fate of the two who spoke to The Associated Press today.
A separate report today in The National, a state-linked newspaper in Abu Dhabi, quoted an unnamed Emirati official also saying the two would merely face a fine of 10,000 dirhams about $2,270 and deportation.
Nur Qistina Fitriah Ibrahim, a transgender woman who has not undergone a sex-change operation, and her friend, freelance fashion photographer Muhammad Fadli Bin Abdul Rahman, were arrested at Abu Dhabi's Yas Mall on August 9.