The big story today in Dubai is the resignation of Tawhid Abdulla, Damas’ CEO, over $165m worth of unauthorised payments.

Arabian Business was first with the news in the region. Read our story HERE.

What the other papers had to report:

The National: Damas chief resigns after telling of $165m deals

The Peninsula: Damas chief departs over ‘unauthorised deals’

Wall Street Journal: Damas Accepts CEO’s Resignation

The Financial Times: Gulf jewel chief quits over ‘unauthorised’ deals

Gulf Times: Damas CEO resigns over $165mn unauthorised transactions

Here are some interesting figures about labourers AB found online this morning.

A total of 69 labour protests took place in the first six months of the year in Dubai.

Forty of these related to the non-payment of wages, nine for an increase in wages, and 20 over poor services and facilities.

Official figures show 263 complaints were lodged by labourers for non-payment of salaries, two for aggressive acts, 47 for visa cancellations, three for visa transfer, 21 for bad treatment and withholding of documents, three for other reasons.

The Arabian Business team is a bit tired this morning after all the excitement of the CEO Awards last night.

There was a great turnout with lots of Dubai’s top movers and shakers there – so much so there almost wasn’t room for us to sit down at the tables.

One guest was playing a little game of guess the wealth in the room. He was asking people to put a price tag on how much everyone was worth. Totals ranged from $20bn to $50bn, but it was a bit like playing pin the tail on the donkey, they were really just taking a stab in the dark. Feel free to post your guesses below.

Noteworthy winners were: Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) who scooped the prestigious Man of the Year award for his leadership in the Dubai Metro project; Leila El Solh, the vice president of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation, winner of the Businesswoman of the Year award; and Arabtec boss Riad Kamal, who received a special Lifetime Achievement Award.

For more more news and a full list of winners read our story here.

Or see pictures of the winners here.

Highlight: Mr Kamal’s guest speech (and joke).

Low: Getting to Grosvenor House Hotel, what is going on with the road works?

Tonight are the CEO Middle East magazine awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Dubai. The AB team will be there to find out who’s won what, but in the meantime, here are seven facts about the awards.

1. This is the award’s third year.

2. More than 240 business executives and senior government officials are set to attend.

3. There are 15 awards categories up for grabs, including Visionary of the Year; Young CEO of the Year; Businesswoman of the Year; and Man of the Year.

4. In 2007, the Young CEO of the Year was awarded to Mohammed Saeed Harib, CEO of Lammtara Media.

5. While, last year Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan was named Aviation CEO of the Year.

6. The guest speaker this year will be Riad Kamal, the CEO of Arabtec.

7. It is the second best awards ceremony in Dubai. The first is Arabian Business awards, of course…

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai must be delighted. According to a poll on its own web site, 61 percent of commuters will use the Metro to get to work once it is launched.

A mere 21 percent of the population will not use it to get to work, and 16 percent are undecided.

This is not a small poll where only RTA employees cast their votes. The web site counter says that 18,901 people have voted.

On the same web site a few months ago, an almost identical poll asked whether people will use the new public buses in Dubai. 59 percent said they will.

The results of these surveys are not necessarily contradictory. After all, it is possible for six out of every ten people to commute to work on the Metro, and to use new public buses. Indeed, this is exactly what the RTA would like: catch a bus from home to the Metro stations, and continue your journey to work on the train.

So it seems that what the RTA wants, it gets, even when it comes to results of spot polls on its web site.