Middle East

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You really have to laugh. Authorities in Dubai are cracking down on lewd behaviour by Westerners, after a British woman was allegedly caught having sex with a colleague on a beach. One of her fellow expats writes in the Guardian:

The Friday brunch that Michelle enjoyed, for example, has been an institution among Middle East expats for years. On the holiest day of the Muslim week, five-star hotels entice customers with all-day feasts and unlimited alcohol from as little as £10.

“With all the ruckus surrounding Michelle Palmer, I thought about not coming to the brunch today,” says Kelly Fields, a 28-year-old editor from Manchester, and Dubai resident of 18 months, who is dining at international restaurant Yalumba a week after Michelle’s brunch there. “But it was just too tempting with the 40-degree heat outside. And the deal is so ridiculously cheap.” At Yalumba, one of the city’s higher-end eateries, it is £57 a head to eat as much as possible, with unlimited champagne.

Friday Brunch is a national institution. I went out on many many Fridays in Dubai to be greeted by pubs in midafternoon that were akin to nightclubs at home at 2am. Such was the level of boozing that people were plastered by at least 6pm. And bars stay open until 3am. You can imagine how messy it gets. And the local papers are up in arms over falling ethical standards:

“You are all as guilty as Michelle,” said one Dubai resident in the UAE’s leading local newspaper 7days. Like many of the UK’s red tops, it blames unruly British conduct for Michelle’s downfall. “You all get drunk in public and you have all dabbled in sex before marriage at some point. The only difference between you and Michelle Palmer is that you haven’t been caught yet!” The following day another reader took a shot at Dubai authorities. “It is a shame that these laws are not enforced more often in such obvious cases … Why should the residents here (and I mean expat as well as Emiratis), whether Muslim or not, have to endure the worst of ‘western’ society?”

It is laughable. Dubai is a city of contradictions. One contradiction is the apparent moral superiority of the local Muslim population as evidenced by the comments above. It is nonsensical. The muslims in Dubai are no more or less moral than the rest of us. Except they claim to be so.

The last time I was in Dubai myself and my sister went to do some shopping in the late afternoon. Spinneys is the Middle Eastern answer to Tesco. We got a taxi from Sheikh Zayed Road to the city centre and as we approached Spinneys we noticed all the pairs of girls, walking up and down outside the shop. All from south-east Asia and all plying their trade in the evening sunshine. Whatever about the rights or wrongs of prostitution itself, this is, we are told, a Muslim country with all the supposed intolerance for this type of behaviour. Yet it goes on in broad daylight. That’s Dubai.

Dubai is being propositioned in bars by Eritrean, Ethiopian, Romanian and Russian prostitutes. All of it known to the police force, and every single local that has a pair of eyes.

Dubai is wealthy sheikhs flying groups of young prostitutes from Russia to Dubai in first class on Emirates Airlines.

Dubai is a city where a Western woman can be kidnapped by several locals, brought to the desert, brutally gang raped and then beaten and left for dead by local Emiratis. And where she gets the blame for “dressing provocatively”. ]

Dubai is a city where workers are routinely tested for HIV, and if found positive are summarily sacked, escorted to the airport by police, and deported.

Dubai is a city where workers from the sub-continent routinely fall from building skyscrapers, and have their deaths go unreported. Those same workers earn about $200 a month for a 12 hour day, six day week. And if temperatures reach 50 degree celsius or above, they may be allowed to take the day off.

Dubai is a city where everything that happens like this is common knowledge among people who live there. But where it is never reported by the media.

And they complain about Western moral standards?

I am not saying that Westerners are moral or immoral. Nor am I saying Muslims, Arabs or Emiratis are moral or immoral. What I am saying is that you cannot accuse Westerners of double standards. But you can accuse Emiratis.

This leaked internal document details the kind of websites that are censored in the UAE. Interesting reading.

Thank god for that.

BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has been freed from kidnappers in Gaza after almost four months in captivity.

Television pictures showed Mr Johnston, 45, leaving a building and entering a white car, accompanied by armed men. He said he was tired but in good health.

During his time as a hostage, three videos were released featuring images of Mr Johnston or of his belongings.

Calls were made for his release in rallies worldwide and in an online petition signed by some 200,000 people.

Mr Johnston was handed over to officials of the Hamas administration, reports say.

I was following the alleged staging of photos at Qana story, but this new scandal is much more straight forward. The picture was obviously photoshopped, Reuters has apparently apologised for the photo.

That’s some pretty bad photoshopping.

LGF has the expose.

More Reuters oddities here.[via Samizdata]

These satellite photos provide an interesting view of the intensity of IDF bombing:

Note the lack of traffic, and the missing blocks of buildings.

It looks like a fuck up, but it seems the IDF bombed a UN observation post, and then shelled a rescue team sent to retrieve 4 reported casualties. This kind of thing is to be expected in warfare, however unfortunate it is.

A Fox reporter in the wrong place at the wrong time. He alleges later that the IDF tanks were firing warning shots to get him out of the area. The reaction of the Fox panel is quite funny.

It looks like some of Steve’s speculation this week has proven to be largely true. Olmert is now saying that the cross-border raid to capture the two Israeli soldiers was coordinated by Iran.

It makes the rest of Steve’s thesis all the more interesting.

Old friend of Gavin’s Blog, Steve Clemons, has some interesting speculation on the reasons for Olmert’s apparent over-reaction in Lebanon.

Why is Israel pounding most of Lebanon rather than just the South and rather than pinpointing its attack against Hezbollah assets? Why the dramatic bombing of explosive fuel centers? The attacks both in Gaza and in Beirut seem made for Fox News, CNN and the next Schwarzenegger movie.

I think that there is little doubt that a significant part of the explanation can be attributed to the fact that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his more liberal partner in this effort, Amir Peretz — now Defense Minister — are not former field command generals and want to demonstrate that they can be responsible stewards of Israel’s national security — and that they won’t be timid in using Israel’s military capabilities.

Steve continues, importantly:

The flamboyant, over the top reactions to attacks on Israel’s military check points and the abduction of soldiers — which I agree Israel must respond to — seems to be part establishing “bona fides” by Olmert, but far more important, REMOVING from the table important policy options that the U.S. might have pursued.

Israel is constraining American foreign policy in amazing and troubling ways by its actions. And a former senior CIA official and another senior Marine who are well-versed in both Israeli and broad Middle East affairs, agreed that serious strategists in Israel are more concerned about America tilting towards new bargains in the region than they are either about the challenge from Hamas or Hezbollah or showing that Olmert knows how to pull the trigger.

Another well respected and very serious national security public intellectual in the nation wrote this when I shared this thesis that Israeli actions were ultimately aimed at clipping American wings in the region. His response:

the thesis of your paper is right-on.

whether intentional or coincidental, that is what is being done right now.

I share these other views only to establish the fact that there is not a consensus either in support of or opposed to Israeli action — but some are beginning to scrutinize what Israel is seeking to achieve with such flamboyant displays of power that are antagonizing whole societies on their borders.

Keeping America from cutting new deals in the region — which many in the national security establishment thinks are vital — may actually be what is going on, and the smarter-than-average analysts are beginning to see that.

To take one moment though and argue a counter-point to this, one serious analyst I spoke to this morning who stopped by to talk after attending synagogue raised a good point. He said that he thought that Olmert’s insecurity about military management was driving the over-reaction.

But he also said that the QUALITY of the attacks against Israel were freaking out the Israeli military and intelligence leaders. Complex incursions that included abductions along with a successful attack on an Israeli gunship show that the enemy is no longer an unimpressive, rag-tag lot. Training and armaments have been improved, and Israel is scrambling to figure out how this happened.

Interesting thesis — and it should be on the table too.

Is it possible that part of the reasoning for an overly belligerent response is to make the US less likely to reach agreement with Iran or Syria? Curious indeed.

One thing you definately don’t do is try to bring cocaine into Dubai. I guess given its increasing perception as a ‘Western’ city, many may be fooled into thinking its laws may be equally liberal for simple possession of a class-A drug. But no, up to 15 years for this guy.

It’s taken a while, but we are finally seeing more of the world in high resolution via Google Earth. The changes were made last night and include areas of Russia, China, Africa, Taiwan, USA, Canada, Bermuda, the Caribbean Islands, many islands in the Pacific, Puerto Rico, South America, New Zeland, Australia.

Of most interest to me was Dubai, who’s spectacular growth in both buildings and islands sees a major change. Google Maps has yet to be updated so I took a snapshot of Dubai, the photo is circa 1999/2000 I suspect, and is in low resolution.

So here are some rather spectacular before and after shots of Dubai.

Dubai, plus the coast line as far as Jebel Ali port (BEFORE) :

Dubai around now, with the photo showing just beyond Jebel Ali port: (AFTER)

There are other assorted buildings and structures in Dubai, many of which I photographed from the ground. Here are some of the famous ones:

The recently completed Mall of the Emirates, one of the largest shopping centers in the world, with it’s own indoor ski slopes to the left of the picture:

Palm Island Jumeirah, that did not exist just 5 years ago.

The Burj Dubai under construction, center of picture:

The Burj al Arab, Madinat Hotel and Jumeirah Beach hotel:

The skyscrapers of Sheikh Zayed Road, with Emirates Towers just off the center.

And finally, the UAE from 310 miles up, you can make out the two islands.

You can look at my photos of Dubai from the ground.

Michelle Malkin linked to images of Mohammed, the notion that any images of Mohammed are forbidden in Islam seems odd to me, but then I’m not religious myself.

What I had not realised is that this story has been brewing since October. That this is the case lends more weight to an argument that the controversy is less reactionary than people might think.

South Park also showed Mohammed, one would imagine in a more satirical light:

This really has stirred up a hornet’s nest. Michelle Malkin has, perhaps rightly, been going to town on it.

Last night RTE’s Prime Time decided not to show any of the cartoons.

I have decided to link to the cartoons, I actually think they are not that good, and to be honest I can’t see what all the fuss is about. Decide for yourselves whether you think these are offensive, feel free to comment below.

Here are all of them.

Click here to see images of Mohammed from history.

Richard Delevan, a much missed regular feature in the Irish blogosphere has a post today with an exerpt of an interview he did with the Palestinian ambassador to Ireland. You can read the first part of the interview here.

Welcome to readers of Informed Comment, I did a guest piece for Juan on my various trips to Dubai, and the development currently taking place there.

It seems that whenever I leave Dubai these days a ruler dies - I promise I have no connection. September 2004, Sheikh Zayed died not long after my return, and now 2 days after my return, Sheikh Maktoum has died.

It looks like Syria are giving the proverbial two fingers to the UN:

A prominent anti-Syrian MP in Lebanon has been killed in a car bomb attack in the capital Beirut, say reports.

Gibran Tueni’s convoy was targeted as it travelled in the Christian-dominated eastern suburb of Mekallis.

At least two other people were killed and several injured in the powerful blast during rush hour.

The attack comes hours before a UN team investigating the murder of ex-prime minister Rafik Hariri presents its findings to the UN Security Council.

One of the stranger stories you might hear from the UAE:

A camel has been condemned to death after a worker was caught having sex with it in the remote emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. The man, a Bangladeshi driver, was sentenced to three months in jail for his dangerous liaisons. His employer reported him to the authorities after spotting him making regular visits to the camel barn, Gulf News reported.

Ras Al Khaimah is one of the poorer and more traditional sheikhdoms that make up the seven United Arab Emirates, and its judiciary tends to be more conservative than its neighbours’ (Dubai is about an hour’s drive away). Reports said authorities ordered the camel to be killed in accordance with Islamic or sharia law, because its meat was considered tainted by the man’s performances.

Surely the camel was just minding its own business? Why does it get condemned to death?

The BBC have a progress report on the Burj Dubai, to become the tallest building in the world on completion. 50 metres of the foundations have been completed, it is certainly an impressive looking building. I will try and get a closer look next time I am in Dubai.

The Burj Dubai is a supertall skyscraper currently under construction in the “New Downtown” of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Although not yet complete, it is currently the tallest high-rise building in the world. When it is completed, it will be the tallest man-made structure in the world. Scheduled for occupancy in 2009, the building is part of a huge development located at the “First Interchange”.

Today, Taipei 101 leads in the first category with 1,671 ft. The first category was formerly held by the Petronas Twin Towers with 1,483 ft, and before that by Sears Tower with 1,451 ft.

On 21st July 2007, the tower’s developers reported the Burj Dubai’s height as 512.1 metres (1,680.1 feet), with 141 completed floors, surpassing the Taipei 101 (509.2 m (1,671 ft) as the tallest high-rise building in the world.

In February 2007, the Burj Dubai surpassed the Sears Tower as the building with the most floors in the world.

Burj Dubai will make the biggest surprise when it complete in 2009. Even now - it is not completed yet, it already surpassed all the well known tall towers.

Not happy with just the Palm Island, Palm Island Jebel Ali, and the World - Dubai are going to build two more, the half-moon shaped one to the left, and the Palm Island Deira to the far right. The first Palm has 100% of the groundwork done while The World is at 50%. Certainly makes the coastline more interesting anyway.

Many people might not realise it, but when visiting Dubai, never bring any painkillers that contain codeine.

The mother-of-two, a sports osteopath, was found with traces of the sedative temazepam in her system as well as codeine when she was arrested at Dubai Airport two months ago. She had faced a four-year jail sentence if found guilty and was held in prison before being released on bail on 30 April.

In fact the best rule of thumb is only buy medication while you’re there, that way you won’t get anything illegal. And you are likely to get it cheaper there anyway.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks back, Arianna Huffington planned to start a new website and blog, that was launched earlier today. Their first big scoop is a leak from Ger Posner’s new book:

According to a new book exclusively obtained by the Huffington Post, Saudi Arabia has crafted a plan to protect itself from a possible invasion or internal attack. It includes the use of a series of explosives, including radioactive “dirty bombs,�? that would cripple Saudi Arabian oil production and distribution systems for decades.

Overall the story seems credible, Dick also picked up the story - but I was more interested in the new blog. There are some interesting faces and posts - including some posts that many people will recognise from people like Harry Shearer, radio show host and voice for half the characters on the Simpsons, including Monty Burns. David Frum is there too, as well as Hollywood actor John Cusask.

I like the layout and the writing, I will be a regular visitor.

Worrying news indeed from Qatar. This would appear to be work of al-Qaeda, and if it is, is the first attack (outside of Iraq) for quite a while. As the Observer piece notes:

Al-Qaeda militants have staged attacks in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Kuwait but Qatar, a key US ally, has seen no Islamist violence and prides itself on its security. Qatar hosts the US military’s Central Command, and two years ago was a launch pad for the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Most of the theatre’s members are from the UK, although other nationalities are represented, according to the Doha Players’ website.

What makes this more worrying is that Qatar is indeed the base for US military operation in the region. That the attack happened to a civilan target, on Western interests in the region, and in the country of US bases, and was a car bomb, seems to show that it was a planned al-Qaeda operation, and not the work of a lone bomber. This means that there is at least one active al-Qaeda cell in the country. I guess one of the results of the invasion of Iraq is that terrorists there are perfecting their bomb-making skills, and may be exporting this intellectual capital to other cells.

How long before an attack on my oft-visited city, Dubai? I can only guess, but Dubai has long served as a hub for al-Qaeda, so I would wonder if an attack there would be counter-productive. That said the Emirates are a target just like any other, with plenty of Western interests there extremely vulnerable to an attack such as this. The BBC has more.

The Italians are now contradicting the US version of events in relation to the killing of Nicola Calipari. The other agent in the car has said that the car did come to a halt, but the car was fired on anyway. The investigation into the incident could take up to 4 weeks.

Steve Clemons, Senior Fellow at the New American Foundation has responded to my blogging about his post on tennis on top of the Burj Al Arab.

He rightly accuses me of over-reacting to a tennis match and over-reaching by using this as a metaphor of some of the problems in the Middle East.

Blogging never ceases to amaze. Cheers Steve.

Steve Clemons got a bit peeved at seeing tennis being played on top of the Burj Al Arab, the hotel I blogged about after visiting back in October. He notes:

But this match in Dubai makes my head spin. It’s certainly dramatic to play a game of tennis on a building’s top floor heliport in a small middle east country. But how can this kind of exhibition game do anything but inflame the passions of Middle East “have-nots” against the arrogance and indifference of the “haves” throughout the region?

Isn’t this kind of theatre just a bit over the top given the convulsions going on in that part of the world?

Just struck me as intensely out of touch with the “hearts and minds” challenges we have in that region. But maybe I’m missing something.

Yes I think you are missing something Steve. Pretty crazy indeed. The commenters rightly complain to Clemons, it is a pretty weird comment to make about Dubai, a center of outright debauchery in the Persian Gulf. But what “we” does he refer to when saying the “challenges we have in that region”. It’s a big ass region. Is ‘we’ US foreign interests? And Dubai is probably the most Western city in the region - hence the debauchery. As well as that the Middle East bases for everyone from CNN to Microsoft to Oracle to Reuters are based in Media and Internet Cities in Dubai.

Perhaps a better example would be the two artificial islands currently under construction, almost all sold to Western investors, or maybe the World, a network of islands, again almost all sold to Western investors. Or maybe the Burj Dubai, set to be the tallest building in the world - Dubai Marina, thousands of apartments, massive yachts, and yes you guessed it, almost all owned by the “haves”.

Yes the imported Pakistani and Indian construction workers earn about $120 per month for 288 hours work, in temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius, but a tennis match on top of the Burj is nothing compared to the Burj itself, where a room can cost up to $10,000 per night, and where Agassi had the pleasure to stay.

And kudos to the Irish manager of the Burj, or whoever came up with the idea, it was a great marketing coup.

Europeans did do as requested in relation to Hamas, but now the US is demanding the same treatment for Hezbollah. The European argument for not listing Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation:

…some European countries are questioning whether Hamas should remain listed now that some of its members have won elections in Gaza.

This argument, pressed by Britain and others, is that the best way to lure Hamas leaders into the political process and have them abandon their militancy and their policy of trying to eradicate Israel is to offer the carrot of removal from lists as terrorist organizations.

The Bush administration strenuously opposes any such action. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was said by U.S. and European officials to have pressed for listing Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in practically every stop in Europe last week.

The Europeans are fearful about the affect it might have on negotiations with Iran on nuclear energy/weapons. The report continues:

The United States has rebuffed European appeals to become more directly involved in discussions with Iran over its suspected nuclear program.

The Hezbollah dispute now gets added to a long list of matters that divide Europe and the United States despite the new campaign that they share broad values of freedom and liberty.

The other issues that should come to the fore on Bush’s visit are the negotiations with Iran over its suspected nuclear program and American opposition to Europe’s determination to lift an arms embargo imposed in 1989 on China.

Also dividing Europe and the United States is the the issue of European support for the Kyoto treaty on global warming and the International Criminal Court, both opposed by the United States, and American opposition to another term for Mohamed ElBaradei as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The ElBaradei case, like Hezbollah, is related to the situation in Iran, because European diplomats are arguing that ElBaradei, a Muslim, is best suited to press the Iranians to cooperate with steps to dismantle its disputed uranium enrichment and plutonium reactor programs.

What an interesting story. Rumours were circulating in Dubai when I was leaving there earlier this month that the Ruler of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, had died. The news of his death was apparently being kept secret for some reason. Today his death was officially announced, but the authorities are saying he, in fact, died today.

For those of you interested in celebrities, Matt Damon and George Clooney were apparently out last night in the pub across the road from where I am staying. I think they are out here filming something or other. Sure holy jaysus!

Iran says it has missiles with a range of some 2000km, bringing Israel into striking distance. The Israelis are clearly worried:

The Israelis say they are concerned, not simply about signs of Iran’s growing military potential, but about Iran’s belligerent manner.

The chief of Israeli military intelligence says Iran could be six months from being able to produce a nuclear weapon.

Six months, that means something serious is likely to happen before those 6 months are up.

I went to the Madinat hotel the other night, after my few hours inside the Burj al Arab. The Madinat is actually 3 hotels, interlinked by a network of canals. Boats take guests to restaurants, bars and shops in the hotel. It is unique as far as I can tell.

Here is the Burj at night, taken from inside the Madinat hotel.

Here is a view of the massive Madinat complex, taken from the SkyView Bar inside the Burj.
Here is the Jumeirah complex view from the SkyView Bar.

Well it is not often one gets the oppurtunity to go inside such an opulent hotel as this. But the interior of the Burj al Arab is quite simply unlike any building interior I have ever seen. I went for afternoon tea in the Sky View Bar, located on the very top of the hotel. As you can imagine I took quite alot of photos, some with spectacular views over the currently under construction Palm Island, some over the recently completed Madinat Jumeirah, and more over the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. It is also much taller than I expected, at over 321 metres tall. Here are some more facts about the Burj:

Construction of this architectural and engineering marvel commenced in 1994. Piling goes 40 meters deep into the seabed.

At 321 meters high, Burj Al Arab is taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 60 meters shorter than the Empire State Building.

Burj Al Arab is the world’s tallest hotel building. With its helipad on the 28th floor and a restaurant seemingly suspended in mid air, this hotel has already become a landmark and icon on the Dubai skyline.

The sail façade represented an astonishing technical challenge, featuring a double-skinned Teflon-coated woven glass fiber screen. It is the first time such technology has been used vertically in such form and extent in any building worldwide.

It is dazzling white by day and used as a canvas for a rainbow of spectacular light displays at night, providing a brilliant entrance to the marvels that await the guest inside.
Combining the latest technology with a long-standing reputation of Arabian hospitality, Burj Al Arab symbolizes the very essence of Dubai, embracing the best of the new alongside traditions of the past.

SUITES

An all-suite hotel standing 28 double-height storeys high, Burj Al Arab comprises 202 duplex suites. Convenience, luxury and a highly personalized service are available for every traveler, enhanced by private reception desks on every floor. In-suite check-in, a brigade of exclusive butlers that provides around the clock assistance to each and every guest, and unrivalled attention will charm the visitor.

Reaching new heights of luxury and service levels, the hotel offers a choice of:

142 Deluxe Suites (One Bedroom)
18 Panoramic Suites (One Bedroom)
4 Club Suites (One Bedroom)
28 2-Bedroom Suites
6 3-Bedroom Suites
2 Presidential Suites
2 Royal Suites

They all feature floor to ceiling windows, offering a breathtaking view of the sea, and range from 170 sq. m to 780 sq. m in floor area. All are equipped with the latest technology, laptop computers and Internet access.

The TV and its remote control manage numerous services and functions. The ability to view any visitor to the suite and give access without leaving the comfort of your armchair is only one of them!

Topping all other suites are the two Royal Suites spread over the 25th floor. Palatial surroundings reach unsurpassed peaks of luxury, including a private elevator, private cinema, rotating beds, majlis (Arabic meeting room) and even dressing rooms larger than the average hotel bedroom.

The finest materials have been sourced from around the globe, coming together in exquisitely designed and crafted interiors.

AL MUNTAHA – SKYVIEW RESTAURANT

In Arabic, the “ultimate�?, or “highest�?, Al Muntaha instantly matches expectations with its location suspended 200 meters above the Arabian Gulf, offering unrivalled views of Dubai and the coastline shimmering in the distance.

Reached by an express panoramic lift traveling six meters per second, the restaurant features seating for about 140 guests who can enjoy delicious Mediterranean cuisine in a sophisticated setting with scenic windows to the world. The incorporated cocktail area is a stylish and exclusive venue for pre- and post-dinner drinks.

Of course being an Arab country, there are mosques everywhere, this is the rather nice one on Jumeirah Road. And in case you are curious about the wealth of this country, just outside the picture was parked two Porsche Cayenne Turbo SUV’s, one black and one white, and an Escalade had just driven by two minutes before. Oh and a nice red Ferrari, what looked like a 360 Modena, sped by just before as well.

Jumeirah Mosque

This is one of the many beaches in Dubai, but one of the public ones. Many of the hotels own private beaches where you pay for entry etc.

You can get a lovely view of the skyscrapers on Sheikh Zayed Road from the beach.

Sheikh Zayed Road view from beach

Here are the lovely clear, and very warm waters of the Persian Gulf:

Persian Gulf

John Kushiner left a comment wondering how far 100 dirhams will go in Dubai. Things like restaurants and food are much cheaper here than in Ireland. ‘Sin’ goods like alcohol and pork seem to have taxes added on, while most other things are tax free. There are also no income taxes here.

Money goes much further here than at home - taxis are extremely cheap, clean and usually have friendly drivers. Though if they know you are new to the city they will drive the longest way possible to your destination, though I guess the same goes for most cities. A bottle of water will set you back about 20 cents, which is a great deal cheaper than Ireland. One would think water in Ireland would be cheaper than in a desert kingdom, perhaps the economist readers can enlighten me on that one?

I took a picture of a price list at the Lebanese bakery I was at last night (quite drunk I was too). This was a fast food place so it is pretty cheap, but some of the higher class restaurants are still reasonable, in many of the 4/5 star hotels a nice meal would set you back about 50 - 70 dirhams, which is alot cheaper than Ireland.

Lebanese bakery price list

I went to the Madinat Jumeirah/Mina A’ Salam in Dubai tonight. The inaugural concert, in the brand new Madinat Theater was on, with a group of Rat Pack cover singers. It was a great night out, and I am extremely impressed with the Madinat Hotel. I will post photos soon, but needless to say it is the last word in luxury.

I also had a very interesting chat with a Californian just back from Baghdad, who was working for a radio station out there. What crazy stories you here in this place.

The website of the hotel is here.

I tried some longer exposure night photos (without tripod), its hit and miss really. This one turned out reasonably well.

Emirates Towers at night

I spent the day at the Wild Wadi waterpark beside the Burj Al Arab yesterday. I managed to take a rather nice sunset picture from the top of the “Jumeriah Sceriah” waterslide. It’s a 4 storey high waterslide. And its pretty scary too.

Burj al Arab

Oh and I will be going for afternoon tea at the Burj later in the week. Hehe.

News today of a collapse at the construction site at the new Terminal 3, with a confirmed 5 people killed. Buildings here are usually built at break neck speed, indeed since my first visit in late 2001, I would guess some 30 skyscrapers are built or are under construction, where before there was desert.

The Dubai authorities have closed down many of the roads around Terminal 3, so it would be an issue to get out there for a look.

Dozens of migrant workers die every year out here, thanks to lack of labour laws, working in extremely hot conditions, and general exhaustion. The men killed were most probably very low-paid Indian or Pakistani workers.

For those of you curious about Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, the local currency is the Dirham. At current exchange rates 100 Dirhams is worth about 22 euros/20 US dollars. Here is a photo of some of the currency:

Dirhams

Well I made it to Dubai last night, here is a rather bad night picture of Sheikh Zayed Road. Yes I did have a few pints on me at the time. And bleedin hell its hot. I got a taxi last night with some Syrian guy, we drove past the American Hospital, and I half jokingly said that Osama Bin Laden had stayed there at some point before September 11. (Conspiracy theory alert). The friendly Syrian taxi driver was not sure whether to believe me, but then I said he had definately stayed there. And the Syrians reply? ”Allah akhbar, allah akhbar Osama bin Laden good man.”

View image

From the BBC:

An Islamist website claiming to be linked to the group holding Ken Bigley and two Americans says one of the Americans has been killed.

The website carries a nine-minute video purporting to show the man being beheaded.

Earlier, Tony Blair said Britain would not give in to the hostage takers.

The Reuters news agency reports a US official has confirmed the body of one of the American hostages has been recovered.

A statement on the website said: “The group will next behead the others”.

Another article on Dubai, the “rising star” of the Middle East. A good article too, I see the hack in question had pints down in the Irish Village in Garhoud. The property markey in Dubai is booming, but I would always be sceptical about buying property in a kingdom with no real property rights, and limited to 90 year leases. Who knows what might happen down the line, it seems other people have similar concerns. Curiosuly there are now some 100,000 Brits living in the Emirates, and some 10,000 South Africans.

“There are no consistent laws to follow,” said Andrew Small, a South African who moved to Dubai a little more than four years ago, over a beer with a business colleague at a faux-Irish pub.

Although he sees himself staying for at least another 10 years, he can’t get himself to purchase property. “I’d rather buy somewhere I have political confidence,” he said.

The piece continues:

Jones Lang LaSalle, a global real estate company, recently named Dubai as one of the top three “rising urban stars” in the world, together with Las Vegas and Shanghai, in an assessment that took into account a variety of factors including population and construction growth.

These kinds of assessments have helped keep overseas interest high, said Saeed Chinoy, managing director of Dubai Shows Ltd., which hosts property fairs to introduce real estate investments to foreigners. “We’re selling the dream,” he said.

Recently, though, the target market of that dream has become increasingly local. Arab investments are withdrawing from the United States and moving to Europe and the Middle East, Chinoy said. American companies, which used to come to market American real estate, have all but disappeared.

Chinoy reported that trade show attendance is growing for now, but he is worried about the way the Saudi Arabian economy collapsed once Westerners no longer felt welcome.

“What if Europeans and Americans were advised not to come to Dubai?” Chinoy asked. “It would be brutal.”

I’ve heard that the island has sunk by 1 metre so far - many Irish people, and celebrity football stars, have purchased houses on this artificial island.

Emirates Towers, two of the top ten tallest buildings in the world.

Abu Dhabi at sunset.

From the apartment I stayed in.

Getting stuck in the sand dunes near Dubai.

One of the most expensive hotels in the world, taken from the top of the massive water slide in the Wild Wadi waterpark next door.