Abu Dhabi and Dubai Blog

Rihanna could be returning to the stage soon. The singer, who has kept a relatively low profile since the alleged February 8 altercation with her then-boyfriend Chris Brown, is in talks to put on a show next month in the popular Middle Eastern resort locale of Dubai.

With modesty, and a subtle boost to Dubai’s languishing image she stated that “this is another example of how Dubai tourism is attracting the best of the best and is one of the world’s hottest destinations.”

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1609391/20090416/rihanna.jhtml

Federal prosecutors are disinclined to allow the actor to travel overseas again for work after learning that, the last time he was allowed to do so, Snipes took a sojourn to the United Arab Emirates for the gala opening of the $1.5 billion Atlantis the Palm hotel in Dubai.

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b106127_wesley_snipes_feeling_heat_from_party.html

Earlier this week [Canadian author], Atwood, 69, elected to bow out of the event after receiving reports that organizers had banned the launch of a novel there by British author-journalist Geraldine Bedell. Called The Gulf Between Us, the novel reportedly has a character who is both a sheik and gay, with an English boyfriend.

However, in an e-mail yesterday, Atwood said “none of the stories we have heard so far about the [alleged banning of the Bedell novel] have been 100 per cent accurate.”

http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090219.WBBooksblog20090219172912/WBStory/WBBooksblog

Opinion piece from the Guardian on social issues raised by the BBC’s decision film episode of hit British TV show in emirate’s leading city.

Though Dubai might be doing an effective job of presenting itself as a glitzy tourist destination, a place associated with mind-boggling decadence and the embodiment in glass and steel of the determination of the human spirit, the fact is, you may run out of fingers counting the ways in which filming even some of Doctor Who there is wrong.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/garethmcleanblog/2009/jan/16/1

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

Paris Hilton could be the latest in a constellation of stars to light up Dubai’s property sector, in a possible $2 million (Dh7.3 million) deal with Abu Dhabi-based developer, Hydra Properties.

http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Real_Estate_Property/10256848.html