From someone I know in kuwait:

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Most of you by now have heard that several major submarine cables have been damaged and cut: Two in the Mediterranean Sea, and now one here in the Gulf (off the coast of Dubai). Here is what I've gathered so far from this outage...

These cables are critical, as they link several continents together, and route not just internet traffic, but phone communications. This outage affects almost the entire Middle East. Some internet providers are completely down, while others are limping along. And if you're on satellite, well good for you. The rest of us are screwed.

What isn't really clear is why the cables went down. The current story is that a ship dropped anchor in an unusual spot, and that's what triggered all this. That doesn't sound right to me. But we'll see. Regardless of what happened, it will be weeks before the region is returned to normal capacity.

If I see anything else worth mentioning, I'll send it out. Until then, it looks like we'll have to do some work around here, instead of browsing the internet all day. haha.
- "Joe"

So far, these are the three damaged or cut cables:

1) FLAG (Fiber Optic Link Around the Globe)
28,000 km (17,400 mile) long submarine communications link

2) SEA-ME-WE 4 (South East Asia-Middle East-West Europe 4)
Submarine cable system linking Southeast Asia to Europe via the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East

3) FALCON
Middle East-based cable, connecting Dubai (United Arab Emirates) to Muscat (Oman).

MAP of GLOBAL underseas cable
http://www1.alcatel-lucent.com/submarine/refs/World_Map_LR.pdf

DIAGRAM of cable

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Submarine_cable_cross...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_communications_cable

Cross-section of a submarine communications cable:

(1) Polyethylene, (2) "Mylar" tape, (3) Stranded metal (steel) wires, (4) Aluminum water barrier, (5) Polycarbonate, (6) Copper or aluminum tube, (7) Petroleum jelly, (8) Optical fibers

Internet outages in India

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080201/ap_on_hi_te/internet_outages_cables

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=6209531&ch=4...

http://www.internettrafficreport.com/asia.htm

NEWS ARTICLES:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7218008.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7222411.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7222536.stm
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/third-undersea-cable-reportedly-cu...
http://www.internettrafficreport.com/asia.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Submarine_cables.png