Abu Dhabi and Dubai Blog

Washington Post laments the unfair treatment of Israel in the Dubai Hamas assasination:

Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the police chief of Dubai, certainly knows how to milk a good story for all it’s worth. It’s now been six weeks since Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found dead in his room in an airport hotel, and most of the world long ago concluded that Israel’s Mossad spy agency was responsible. Yet day after day Tamim continues to make headlines, dribbling out more details of the clumsy and not-so-clandestine operation and issuing grandiose pronouncements.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/03/the_dubai_police_chiefs_outlan.html

The observation deck on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world, has been closed for repairs only a month after it opened. Emaar Properties, the builder of the tower, said there had been an unexpectedly high number of visitors and problems with the power supply.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8504852.stm

The murder was straight out of a cheap spy thriller. At least 11 professional assassins, some wearing wigs and fake beards, tracked a senior Hamas official to his Dubai hotel in January and killed him with cold precision, fleeing the country afterward on European passports, the Dubai police say.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/world/middleeast/17dubai.html

Details continued to emerge yesterday on the assassination of senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last week. Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan told local reporters yesterday at least seven people with European passports were involved. He did not name the specific countries of the passports, but said the Dubai police approached the nations for information on these individuals.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1146622.html

The city of Dubai is now in the final stages of opening the first line of its metro system, scheduled for September 9, 2009. It is to be the world’s largest full automated subway, and the first subway of any kind in the region.

“The Metro is expected to change life in Dubai as it will not only provide easy public transport but will also help reduce traffic, improve environment and attract tourists,” said Abdul Majeed Al Khaja, chief executive officer of the Rail Agency of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), which is carrying out the project.

Some 3,200 people are being trained to ensure the smooth operation of the Metro. UK-based company Serco has been tasked with operating the Metro for the first 10 years. Serco is currently providing training to employees – including UAE nationals – as it gears up for the launch of the Red Line.

http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Traffic_and_Transport/10318639.html

Here is the amazing opening of Dubai’s Palm Jumeriah hotel, not to be confused with the 1945 Allied bombing of Dresden.

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

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

“We want to create a brand which has international importance. I believe this product has the power to become the sweet ambassador of Arabia born in Dubai,” Johann George Hochleitner, the man behind the idea, was quoted as saying by Abu Dhabi’s The National.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080069839&ch=10/23/2008%205:30:00%20PM