Abu Dhabi and Dubai Blog

Vince Acors and Michelle Palmer, the two Brits convicted for copulating on the sands of Dubai’s golden beaches, will evade jail time as a local appeals court ruled Tuesday. The only question is, in going without penalty for their lasciviousness on UAE public territories, and flaunting the laws of a foreign legal system, are they not also evading justice?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7747460.stm

Police have arrested a Chinese gang who kidnapped and tortured a businessman as they demanded Dh20 million for his release. In an early morning operation on November 18, Dubai Police led a special unit in simultaneous raids on flats in Ajman and Fujairah and arrested eight members of the gang, including a woman who tried stopping police with knives.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2008/November/theuae_November520.xml&section=theuae&col=

But now Dubai’s debt-driven splurge on flashy hotels and residential properties is not looking as stable as Abu Dhabi’s more stealthy oil-driven expansion, especially as a bursting of the property bubble and a crunch on credit are hurting financial activity in Dubai.

http://www.forbes.com/economy/2008/11/24/dubai-abu-dhabi-markets-econ-cx_ll_1224markets12.html

Celebrating the Dubai Atlantis hotel, and the launch of the Palm Jumeirah island, Hollywood stars gathered to rub shoulders with musicians, and business tycoons. Present at the occasion were actors Robert De Niro, and Charlize Theron, and corporate magnates Richard Branson, and Sol Kerzner among many others. Entertainment was provided by pop icon Kylie Minogue.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/63d923be-b759-11dd-8e01-0000779fd18c.html

“When tourists and expatriates arrive in Dubai, the first thing they want to do is explore the city’s wonders. This can be challenging as there is limited public transport at present and taxis can be hard to come by during peak periods.”

http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/UAE/237957

Each floor of the Dynamic Tower rotates independently to create a building that constantly changes its shape and appearance, resulting in a unique and ever evolving architectural landmark.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=/data/business/2008/November/business_November705.xml&section=business

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A young motorist who reversed his Hummer over a 52 year old Scottish woman meant only to scare her, not kill her, his lawyer said yesterday at his trial for premeditated murder.

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081113/NATIONAL/169302042/1010

This short peice from Sharjah tells the story of an illegal Bangladeshi migrant who died trying to evade authorities, after he jumped from the seventh story of an apartment. It also notes that an Indian construction worker recently died after being hit on the head by falling concrete, at a site where the managment did not provide hardhats to the employees. In passing it mentions that in the past 2 weeks alone there have been 10 deaths of construction workers in the city due to lax safety standards. For a city neighbouring Dubai these events seem to have a disturbingly low level of publicity.

A selection of shots from what is possibly the craniest city on earth.

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A construction crane collapsed onto Dubai’s main multilane highway on Sunday, snarling traffic for hours during the morning rush hour, but injuring no one, a transportation official said.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/09/news/ML-Dubai-Crane-Collapse.php