Trouble accessing some sites in the UAE

As many of you have probably noticed, a number of sites (including ameinfo.com) are not reachable from the UAE (outside the freezones) including at the moment due to the earthquake near Japan.

For some reason the problem seems to sort of solved by entering the proxy information into your browser as follows:

Internet Explorer 7
Tools > Internet Options > Connections > LAN settings
- and enter "proxy1.emirates.net.ae" and port "8080"

Safari
Safari > Preferences > Advanced > click Proxies: "Change Settings..."
- Tick "Web Proxy (HTTP)" and enter "proxy1.emirates.net.ae" and port "8080"