March 2007 March 2007
 The "Eighth Wonder of The World" aka The Palm Jumeirah is getting ready for 4000 families and 35 hotels and commercial buildings are in various stages of completion. The developer is getting the infrastructure ready for the many occupants and visitors (if they get it right I'll start believing in the Toothfairy) |
 The Burj Dubai is now taller than any other structure in the Middle East and Europe. At 110 storeys and 380 metres it has the largest number of floors of any building in the World, matching Sears Tower in Chicago. |
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Perish the thought of the employer providing proper cooking facilities in hte workers accomodation.. |
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- the population is now 1.422 million (of which 1.073 m are male = 75,5%) - 2,222 new buildings were completed - 212,867 new vehicles were registered - there are 2,21m mobile phonelines (and 179,345 internet lines) - 5,44m tourists visited Dubai - 68,312 million gallons of water was produced - 20,314 gigawatt hours of electricity was produced - Import stood at 122.763billion Dirhams - export stood at 84.323 billion Dirhams (of what, I ask) |
 no comment |
 A Saudi prince performs a traditional dance during the Janadriya Festival on the outskirts of Riyadh. It bagan 22 years ago and is a showcase for the Bedouin cultural heritage and is seen as an opportunity to encourage national unity |
 No comment - other than about time! |
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Sometimes the driver sports pictures of the rulers of the emirates - imagine the shock you would get to see a whole football team staring back at you when you look in the rear view mirror...... |
 Henrik Stenson won the Dubai Desert Classic in February - a popular winner of the Tournament |
 His Highness Shaikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vicepresident and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai (Shaikh Mo to his friends) inaugurated the first phase of villas for distribution to Nationals - the total number of villas will be 570. The villas will give young Emiratis the feeling of psychological stability (so it says). Shaikh Mo instructed the developer to increase the number of designs so as to give the young men many options to choose from - oh, and he also instructed that the villas should meet halth and safety rules. |
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Shaikh Khalifa (President of the UAE) said: "Today is a historic turning point in the march of the nation as we, leaders and people, work together to cement the pillars of this modern country and look forward to a political system that achieves Shura(consultation), establishes justice, allows security to prevail and enables citizens, men and women, to actively and positively participate in leading this country and plan for its future in accordance with the Constitution and the rule of law": |
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"Our hopes for our country have no ceiling and our aspirations for our citizens have no limits...our expectations for the future are getting stronger as we enter a new era that reflects an ambitious national vision..." take that Anders Fogh! |
 His Highness Shaikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vicepresident and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai (again Shaikh Mo to the friends) invited the cabinet to the desert for a two-day workshop (in fact to the resort Bab Al Shams, which we visited last year for lunch). After the cabinet meeting Shaikh Mo and Princess Haya (number ?? wife and sister of the Jordanian King Abdullah) shared a traditional lunch. |
March 16th the view from upstairs was quite hazy with all the sand in the air - a sandstorm from the Empty Quarter Desert (remember Liwa??)  |
 My car was covered in fine sand, not to mention the entire garden and the house inside. |
 The same view the day after - clearer but still hazy |
Ahmad - a worker in an agricultural farm - is making roti (wheat bread) on a heated drum near Al Ain. Often people from hte subcontinent fint innovative methods to cook their food, like Ahmad. 
Dubai population has mas a big surge in 2006 - 24,333 were added to the population every month last year thats around 33 every hour.
The police is going to launch a cracksown on vehicles that have images of personalities on hteir windscreens or rear windows that block the view. The trend has spread since the UAE football team won the gulf tournament last month. 
On February 13th the Federal National Council held its first meeting to include elected members. The council has 40 members half of which were elected in December last year. Nine women (one elected) sits on the council. 
The Federal national Council in Abu Dhabi.