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Location: Dubai, UAE
CEO Middle East
May 2007
Construction Week
May 2007
Arabian Business Arabic
May 2007
Arabian Business English
May 2007Analysis of The Month
May was World Exclusive Month at ArabianBusiness.com 'Desert Diaries' gave the world an inside look at the private world of HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud.
A day in the life of the 'Businessman/Billionaire/Prince' become our most popular story of the year on ArabianBusiness.com and confirmed us as the region's premier business magazine.
Early in the month, we met i-mate founder Jim Morrison in 'What a difference a day makes', discussing with him the 'hirings, firing, shake ups and break-ups' of the last 12 months at the famous tech company.
The technology-theme continued the following week when we met Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates right-hand man and Microsoft CEO, in 'Micro Maestro' to discuss why the Middle East is the most vital ICT market in the world.
Arabian Business closed the month by flying to Dubailand, not the new name of the Emirate itself but the world's most ambitious tourism, leisure and entertainment development in our interview with CEO Mohammed Alhabbai titled 'The Greatest Show on Earth'.
Important events covered in the month included Cityscape Abu Dhabi 2007 and the Arabian Travel Market.
ArabianBusiness.com Editor-in-Chief James Bennett aired his views in March with Access all areas, revealing that it had taken two years in the making to gain exclusive access to Prince Alwaleed but "like every good Canadian Mountie we always get our man".
A day in the life of the 'Businessman/Billionaire/Prince' become our most popular story of the year on ArabianBusiness.com and confirmed us as the region's premier business magazine.
Early in the month, we met i-mate founder Jim Morrison in 'What a difference a day makes', discussing with him the 'hirings, firing, shake ups and break-ups' of the last 12 months at the famous tech company.
The technology-theme continued the following week when we met Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates right-hand man and Microsoft CEO, in 'Micro Maestro' to discuss why the Middle East is the most vital ICT market in the world.
Arabian Business closed the month by flying to Dubailand, not the new name of the Emirate itself but the world's most ambitious tourism, leisure and entertainment development in our interview with CEO Mohammed Alhabbai titled 'The Greatest Show on Earth'.
Important events covered in the month included Cityscape Abu Dhabi 2007 and the Arabian Travel Market.
ArabianBusiness.com Editor-in-Chief James Bennett aired his views in March with Access all areas, revealing that it had taken two years in the making to gain exclusive access to Prince Alwaleed but "like every good Canadian Mountie we always get our man".
May in Quotes
But it's only 2 am! The day isn't over yet. You see, you can live your life at 120 miles per hour, and that's pretty impressive. But it's not good enough. Unless you live at 150 miles per hour, the world will pass you by.
HRH Prince Waleed bin Talal tries to convince ArabianBusiness.com to live fast in the supersonic lane.
Partner's Cover Stories
Authority figure
Banking & Finance
Former DFSA chairman Dr Habib Al Mulla talks about what direction the DIFC, and the UAE, should be going in.
In Pictures
Timeline
2007 May 1
Iran stood firm in opposing language in a nuclear conference agenda that reaffirms the need for full compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a stance that diplomats said could scuttle the meeting aimed at strengthening the accord.
2007 May 1
Japan and Qatar stressed their solid energy partnership and agreed to launch initial negotiations on moves to stimulate Japanese investment in the Gulf state.
2007 May 2
Egypt and Japan agreed to push together in a bid to end the crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions, calling for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction.
2007 May 2
The US and EU warned Turkey's military to stay out of the country's political showdown between the Islamic-rooted government and those in the secular establishment who fear the country will shift toward Islamic rule.
2007 May 3
African neighbours Sudan and Chad signed a Saudi-brokered reconciliation deal in Saudi Arabia, requiring both sides to cooperate with the United Nations to stabilize Darfur and the adjacent region in Chad.
2007 May 3
In Egypt a conference of nearly 50 nations opened at Sharm el-Sheik to rally international support, particularly from Arab nations, for an ambitious plan to stabilize Iraq. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Syria's foreign minister in the first high-level talks between the two countries in years. Hours after the chief military spokesman in Iraq said Syria had moved to reduce "the flow of foreign fighters" across its border.
2007 May 3
In France Claude Mandil, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), told a news conference that there is no reason why Iran should not have nuclear energy.
2007 May 4
In Austria a standoff pitting Iran against most others delegations at a 130-nation nuclear conference deepened, with organizers adjourning the third straight session in as many days without breaking a deadlock over the language of the meeting's agenda.
2007 May 4
A rebel spokesman said a Saudi-brokered reconciliation deal signed by Chad with its neighbour Sudan will not halt a guerrilla war by Chadian rebels aimed at toppling President Idriss Deby.
2007 May 6
In Egypt a plane carrying foreign peacekeepers across the Sinai desert crashed near a stretch of highway where it had tried to make an emergency landing, killing eight French soldiers and a Canadian.
2007 May 6
Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul withdrew his candidacy for presidential elections after Parliament failed for the second time to vote him into office.
2007 May 7
In Austria a 130-nation nuclear meeting stalled for its sixth straight day after Iran refused to commit itself to a compromise meant to break a deadlock caused by Tehran's opposition to language of the gathering's agenda.
2007 May 7
Turkey's Islamic-rooted government, whose presidential candidate dropped his bid in the face of protests from pro-secular lawmakers, pushed for a constitutional amendment that allows the president to be elected in a popular vote rather than in a parliamentary poll.
2007 May 8
Iran accepted a compromise on the agenda of a 130-nation nuclear conference, meeting in Austria, clearing the way for the meeting to approve it and end six days of deadlock that threatened to doom the gathering to failure.
2007 May 8
A newspaper owned by Saudi Arabia's royal family said one of seven recently exposed Saudi terrorist cells used Syria as a base for coordinating with al-Qaida in Iraq and held training camps in the desert of neighbouring Yemen.
2007 May 9
In France Nayef al-Shaalan, a Saudi Prince, was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in jail on charges of involvement in a cocaine smuggling gang.
2007 May 9
Saudi authorities beheaded an Ethiopian woman convicted of killing an Egyptian man over a dispute. Khadija Bint Ibrahim Moussa was the second woman to be executed this year. The kingdom last beheaded two women in 2005. Beheadings are carried out with a sword in a public square.
2007 May 9
In northern Syria 7 people were killed and 7 were wounded when a 5-story building collapsed.
2007 May 10
US VP Cheney arrived at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to a red carpet welcome. The vice president is on a weeklong tour of the Middle East that will also take him to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
2007 May 10
In Cairo Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the first high-level discussion between Israel and the Arab world on an Arab initiative calling for an exchange of land for peace.
2007 May 10
US-led forces conducted a raid in the Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr City, killing three militants as they tried to break up a cell accused of smuggling weapons from Iran to fight US forces.
2007 May 10
Turkey's parliament approved a major constitutional amendment to allow the president to be elected directly by voters, a move that could fan fresh tensions between the Islamist-rooted government and secularists.
2007 May 11
Iran detained Kian Tajbakhsh (45), an Iranian-American working for the George Soros Open Society Institute.
2007 May 12
Yemen said it was recalling its ambassadors to Iran and Libya over what it sees as their support for Shi'ite Muslim rebels involved in bloody clashes with government forces. The government of Sunni-dominated Yemen accused the rebels of seeking to oust its secular administration and install Islamist rule.
2007 May 13
Vice President Dick Cheney held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak toward the end of a regional tour, focusing on ways to stem chaos in Iraq and on Iran's impact on security in the Gulf.
2007 May 13
Iran confirmed that it has detained Haleh Esfandiari, a prominent Iranian-American academic. A hardline newspaper accused her of spying for the United States and Israel and trying to start a revolution inside Iran.
2007 May 13
A Syrian court sentenced four pro-democracy campaigners, including one of Syria's most respected writers, to prison terms as part of President's Bashar Assad's latest crack down on dissent.
2007 May 14
Lebanon's prime minister asked the UN Security Council to impose an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.
2007 May 15
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Gulf Arab neighbours to send experts to inspect his country's nuclear power plant, in an apparent effort to ease fears over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
2007 May 15
Mohammed Sayed Saber (35), an Egyptian accused of spying for Israel praised the Jewish state for its advanced technology and claimed documents he passed on were so outdated they posed no threat to Egypt's security.
2007 May 18
Jordan's King Abdullah II made a new attempt to rally Mideast peace efforts as he hosted politicians and business leaders at the World Economic Forum. Politicians attending the forum warned of a bleak future for the Mideast if its explosive tensions are not resolved.
2007 May 19
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, launched a $10 billion foundation to provide scholarships and promote research in the Middle East, saying the region has neglected education despite its oil wealth (www.mbrfoundation.ae).
2007 May 19
Police arrested 14 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood as part of Egypt's ongoing campaign against the country's strongest opposition group.
2007 May 20
Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said his government would offer a counterproposal to an Arab peace initiative to resolve the conflict with Palestinians. Israeli warplanes fired missiles into a car carrying Hamas militants and a load of weapons, killing 3 people, and also demolished arms factories of 2 Palestinian militant groups.
2007 May 20
Thousands of flag-waving Turks demonstrated in the Black Sea port city of Samsun against the Islamic-rooted government, which they fear is undermining Turkey's secular system.
2007 May 20
Kuwait broke ranks with the US dollar and decided to track a basket of currencies. It was estimated that the dollar still accounted for 70% of the basket.
2007 May 21
The presidents of Belarus and Iran sought to cement ties that the Belarusian leader called "a strategic partnership." Belarus will develop an oil field in Iran under an agreement announced by President Alexander Lukashenko during a visit by Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
2007 May 21
Iran charged Haleh Esfandiari, a jailed Iranian-American academic, with setting up a network to overthrow the Islamic establishment, the government announced. Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, has been held at Tehran's notorious Evin Prison since early May.
2007 May 22
In Lebanon a convoy of UN relief supplies was hit in renewed fighting as it tried to enter the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared. At least 15 civilians were left dead or wounded. Lebanon asked the US for $280 million in military assistance.
2007 May 22
Iran jumped gasoline prices 25% in a new blow to consumers already disgruntled over high inflation, and the government said it will begin rationing fuel in two weeks. By November inflation was running at 16%.
2007 May 23
An Iraqi intelligence officer alleged in a published report that 70% percent of insurgents fighting in Iraq come from Gulf countries via Syria where they are provided with forged passports.
2007 May 23
In Lebanon hundreds of Palestinian civilians carrying their belongings in plastic bags trickled out of a besieged refugee camp, taking advantage of a truce in fighting that mostly held overnight.
2007 May 23
In northern Syria 14 people were killed and 20 injured when an Iraqi bus overturned on the Raqqa-Aleppo highway about 250 miles north of Damascus.
2007 May 24
In Lebanon sporadic gunfire erupted inside the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp where Islamic militants are holed up after refusing an ultimatum by Lebanon's defense minister to surrender or face a military onslaught.
2007 May 24
The head of the UN nuclear agency said he agreed with CIA estimates that Iran was three to eight years from being able to make nuclear weapons and he urged the US and other powers to pursue talks with the Islamic country.
2007 May 24
Egypt approved the formation of a new liberal political party headed by a former member of President Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
2007 May 25
Turkey's president vetoed a newly passed constitutional amendment that would have allowed the people, and not Parliament, to elect the new president.
2007 May 25
Kurdish guerrillas bombed and derailed a Syria-bound train from Iran near the town of Genc in Turkey's southeastern Bingol province. Turkish authorities later seized weapons hidden among construction materials found on the train following the attack.
2007 May 26
In Turkey thousands of flag-waving protesters filled streets in Denizli, accusing the government of trying to impose Islamic values on the country's Western way of life.
2007 May 26
An Iranian official said that Iran, embroiled in a row with Washington over its nuclear program, has increased the amount of its oil export earnings in currencies other than US dollars to about 70%.
2007 May 26
In Washington, DC, some 100 supporters of Syria's largest exile opposition group, the National Salvation Front, gathered outside the Damascus embassy to protest against the government of Pres. Assad.
2007 May 27
Kuwait's government announced that it is moving the country's weekend to Friday and Saturday instead of Thursday and Friday effective Sep 1.
2007 May 27
Floods in eastern Turkey killed 10 people including six children aged between 18 months and 12.
2007 May 28
Officials said heavy storms, landslides, flash floods and lightning have killed at least 23 people in Europe and Turkey.
2007 May 28
The US and Iran broke a 27-year diplomatic freeze with a four-hour meeting about Iraqi security.
2007 May 28
In northwest Iran 7 Revolutionary Guard members and five militants were killed in clashes with armed insurgents.
2007 May 29
Iran's judiciary spokesman said US academic Haleh Esfandiari and two other Iranian-Americans have been "formally charged" with endangering national security and espionage.
2007 May 29
Egypt's parliament voted to expel an MP and nephew of late President Anwar Sadat, after he was declared bankrupt.
2007 May 29
Lebanon's army clashed with al-Qaida-linked Islamic fighters in a Palestinian refugee camp, breaking a weeklong truce.
2007 May 30
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, host of the Islamic Development Bank's annual meeting, spoke on behalf of the bank's launch of a $10 billion fund to combat poverty in developing Muslim nations in Africa and other parts of the world. Saudi Arabia pledged to contribute $1 billion, Kuwait $300 million, Iran $100 million and Senegal $10 million.
2007 May 30
A Saudi Arabian detainee died at Guantanamo Bay prison and the US military said he apparently committed suicide.
2007 May 30
Iranian troops killed 10 militants in ongoing clashes in the country's northwest, near the border with Turkey.
2007 May 31
Turkish lawmakers approved again a constitutional amendment that would see the president elected by popular vote, a change vetoed last week by the outgoing head of state. Turkey's top general said the military was ready to stage a cross-border offensive to fight Kurdish guerrillas in Iraq and that he already had sought government approval to mount military action.
Iran stood firm in opposing language in a nuclear conference agenda that reaffirms the need for full compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a stance that diplomats said could scuttle the meeting aimed at strengthening the accord.
2007 May 1
Japan and Qatar stressed their solid energy partnership and agreed to launch initial negotiations on moves to stimulate Japanese investment in the Gulf state.
2007 May 2
Egypt and Japan agreed to push together in a bid to end the crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions, calling for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction.
2007 May 2
The US and EU warned Turkey's military to stay out of the country's political showdown between the Islamic-rooted government and those in the secular establishment who fear the country will shift toward Islamic rule.
2007 May 3
African neighbours Sudan and Chad signed a Saudi-brokered reconciliation deal in Saudi Arabia, requiring both sides to cooperate with the United Nations to stabilize Darfur and the adjacent region in Chad.
2007 May 3
In Egypt a conference of nearly 50 nations opened at Sharm el-Sheik to rally international support, particularly from Arab nations, for an ambitious plan to stabilize Iraq. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Syria's foreign minister in the first high-level talks between the two countries in years. Hours after the chief military spokesman in Iraq said Syria had moved to reduce "the flow of foreign fighters" across its border.
2007 May 3
In France Claude Mandil, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), told a news conference that there is no reason why Iran should not have nuclear energy.
2007 May 4
In Austria a standoff pitting Iran against most others delegations at a 130-nation nuclear conference deepened, with organizers adjourning the third straight session in as many days without breaking a deadlock over the language of the meeting's agenda.
2007 May 4
A rebel spokesman said a Saudi-brokered reconciliation deal signed by Chad with its neighbour Sudan will not halt a guerrilla war by Chadian rebels aimed at toppling President Idriss Deby.
2007 May 6
In Egypt a plane carrying foreign peacekeepers across the Sinai desert crashed near a stretch of highway where it had tried to make an emergency landing, killing eight French soldiers and a Canadian.
2007 May 6
Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul withdrew his candidacy for presidential elections after Parliament failed for the second time to vote him into office.
2007 May 7
In Austria a 130-nation nuclear meeting stalled for its sixth straight day after Iran refused to commit itself to a compromise meant to break a deadlock caused by Tehran's opposition to language of the gathering's agenda.
2007 May 7
Turkey's Islamic-rooted government, whose presidential candidate dropped his bid in the face of protests from pro-secular lawmakers, pushed for a constitutional amendment that allows the president to be elected in a popular vote rather than in a parliamentary poll.
2007 May 8
Iran accepted a compromise on the agenda of a 130-nation nuclear conference, meeting in Austria, clearing the way for the meeting to approve it and end six days of deadlock that threatened to doom the gathering to failure.
2007 May 8
A newspaper owned by Saudi Arabia's royal family said one of seven recently exposed Saudi terrorist cells used Syria as a base for coordinating with al-Qaida in Iraq and held training camps in the desert of neighbouring Yemen.
2007 May 9
In France Nayef al-Shaalan, a Saudi Prince, was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in jail on charges of involvement in a cocaine smuggling gang.
2007 May 9
Saudi authorities beheaded an Ethiopian woman convicted of killing an Egyptian man over a dispute. Khadija Bint Ibrahim Moussa was the second woman to be executed this year. The kingdom last beheaded two women in 2005. Beheadings are carried out with a sword in a public square.
2007 May 9
In northern Syria 7 people were killed and 7 were wounded when a 5-story building collapsed.
2007 May 10
US VP Cheney arrived at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to a red carpet welcome. The vice president is on a weeklong tour of the Middle East that will also take him to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
2007 May 10
In Cairo Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the first high-level discussion between Israel and the Arab world on an Arab initiative calling for an exchange of land for peace.
2007 May 10
US-led forces conducted a raid in the Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr City, killing three militants as they tried to break up a cell accused of smuggling weapons from Iran to fight US forces.
2007 May 10
Turkey's parliament approved a major constitutional amendment to allow the president to be elected directly by voters, a move that could fan fresh tensions between the Islamist-rooted government and secularists.
2007 May 11
Iran detained Kian Tajbakhsh (45), an Iranian-American working for the George Soros Open Society Institute.
2007 May 12
Yemen said it was recalling its ambassadors to Iran and Libya over what it sees as their support for Shi'ite Muslim rebels involved in bloody clashes with government forces. The government of Sunni-dominated Yemen accused the rebels of seeking to oust its secular administration and install Islamist rule.
2007 May 13
Vice President Dick Cheney held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak toward the end of a regional tour, focusing on ways to stem chaos in Iraq and on Iran's impact on security in the Gulf.
2007 May 13
Iran confirmed that it has detained Haleh Esfandiari, a prominent Iranian-American academic. A hardline newspaper accused her of spying for the United States and Israel and trying to start a revolution inside Iran.
2007 May 13
A Syrian court sentenced four pro-democracy campaigners, including one of Syria's most respected writers, to prison terms as part of President's Bashar Assad's latest crack down on dissent.
2007 May 14
Lebanon's prime minister asked the UN Security Council to impose an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.
2007 May 15
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Gulf Arab neighbours to send experts to inspect his country's nuclear power plant, in an apparent effort to ease fears over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
2007 May 15
Mohammed Sayed Saber (35), an Egyptian accused of spying for Israel praised the Jewish state for its advanced technology and claimed documents he passed on were so outdated they posed no threat to Egypt's security.
2007 May 18
Jordan's King Abdullah II made a new attempt to rally Mideast peace efforts as he hosted politicians and business leaders at the World Economic Forum. Politicians attending the forum warned of a bleak future for the Mideast if its explosive tensions are not resolved.
2007 May 19
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, launched a $10 billion foundation to provide scholarships and promote research in the Middle East, saying the region has neglected education despite its oil wealth (www.mbrfoundation.ae).
2007 May 19
Police arrested 14 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood as part of Egypt's ongoing campaign against the country's strongest opposition group.
2007 May 20
Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said his government would offer a counterproposal to an Arab peace initiative to resolve the conflict with Palestinians. Israeli warplanes fired missiles into a car carrying Hamas militants and a load of weapons, killing 3 people, and also demolished arms factories of 2 Palestinian militant groups.
2007 May 20
Thousands of flag-waving Turks demonstrated in the Black Sea port city of Samsun against the Islamic-rooted government, which they fear is undermining Turkey's secular system.
2007 May 20
Kuwait broke ranks with the US dollar and decided to track a basket of currencies. It was estimated that the dollar still accounted for 70% of the basket.
2007 May 21
The presidents of Belarus and Iran sought to cement ties that the Belarusian leader called "a strategic partnership." Belarus will develop an oil field in Iran under an agreement announced by President Alexander Lukashenko during a visit by Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
2007 May 21
Iran charged Haleh Esfandiari, a jailed Iranian-American academic, with setting up a network to overthrow the Islamic establishment, the government announced. Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, has been held at Tehran's notorious Evin Prison since early May.
2007 May 22
In Lebanon a convoy of UN relief supplies was hit in renewed fighting as it tried to enter the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared. At least 15 civilians were left dead or wounded. Lebanon asked the US for $280 million in military assistance.
2007 May 22
Iran jumped gasoline prices 25% in a new blow to consumers already disgruntled over high inflation, and the government said it will begin rationing fuel in two weeks. By November inflation was running at 16%.
2007 May 23
An Iraqi intelligence officer alleged in a published report that 70% percent of insurgents fighting in Iraq come from Gulf countries via Syria where they are provided with forged passports.
2007 May 23
In Lebanon hundreds of Palestinian civilians carrying their belongings in plastic bags trickled out of a besieged refugee camp, taking advantage of a truce in fighting that mostly held overnight.
2007 May 23
In northern Syria 14 people were killed and 20 injured when an Iraqi bus overturned on the Raqqa-Aleppo highway about 250 miles north of Damascus.
2007 May 24
In Lebanon sporadic gunfire erupted inside the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp where Islamic militants are holed up after refusing an ultimatum by Lebanon's defense minister to surrender or face a military onslaught.
2007 May 24
The head of the UN nuclear agency said he agreed with CIA estimates that Iran was three to eight years from being able to make nuclear weapons and he urged the US and other powers to pursue talks with the Islamic country.
2007 May 24
Egypt approved the formation of a new liberal political party headed by a former member of President Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
2007 May 25
Turkey's president vetoed a newly passed constitutional amendment that would have allowed the people, and not Parliament, to elect the new president.
2007 May 25
Kurdish guerrillas bombed and derailed a Syria-bound train from Iran near the town of Genc in Turkey's southeastern Bingol province. Turkish authorities later seized weapons hidden among construction materials found on the train following the attack.
2007 May 26
In Turkey thousands of flag-waving protesters filled streets in Denizli, accusing the government of trying to impose Islamic values on the country's Western way of life.
2007 May 26
An Iranian official said that Iran, embroiled in a row with Washington over its nuclear program, has increased the amount of its oil export earnings in currencies other than US dollars to about 70%.
2007 May 26
In Washington, DC, some 100 supporters of Syria's largest exile opposition group, the National Salvation Front, gathered outside the Damascus embassy to protest against the government of Pres. Assad.
2007 May 27
Kuwait's government announced that it is moving the country's weekend to Friday and Saturday instead of Thursday and Friday effective Sep 1.
2007 May 27
Floods in eastern Turkey killed 10 people including six children aged between 18 months and 12.
2007 May 28
Officials said heavy storms, landslides, flash floods and lightning have killed at least 23 people in Europe and Turkey.
2007 May 28
The US and Iran broke a 27-year diplomatic freeze with a four-hour meeting about Iraqi security.
2007 May 28
In northwest Iran 7 Revolutionary Guard members and five militants were killed in clashes with armed insurgents.
2007 May 29
Iran's judiciary spokesman said US academic Haleh Esfandiari and two other Iranian-Americans have been "formally charged" with endangering national security and espionage.
2007 May 29
Egypt's parliament voted to expel an MP and nephew of late President Anwar Sadat, after he was declared bankrupt.
2007 May 29
Lebanon's army clashed with al-Qaida-linked Islamic fighters in a Palestinian refugee camp, breaking a weeklong truce.
2007 May 30
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, host of the Islamic Development Bank's annual meeting, spoke on behalf of the bank's launch of a $10 billion fund to combat poverty in developing Muslim nations in Africa and other parts of the world. Saudi Arabia pledged to contribute $1 billion, Kuwait $300 million, Iran $100 million and Senegal $10 million.
2007 May 30
A Saudi Arabian detainee died at Guantanamo Bay prison and the US military said he apparently committed suicide.
2007 May 30
Iranian troops killed 10 militants in ongoing clashes in the country's northwest, near the border with Turkey.
2007 May 31
Turkish lawmakers approved again a constitutional amendment that would see the president elected by popular vote, a change vetoed last week by the outgoing head of state. Turkey's top general said the military was ready to stage a cross-border offensive to fight Kurdish guerrillas in Iraq and that he already had sought government approval to mount military action.
Fundamental errors
Posted by James, Dubai, UAE on 26 January 2008 at 12:49 UAE time
Try - sent the US dollar to a 17 year LOW, not high. And the Ruppee is worth far MORE than it was 12 months ago.
By the way being proud of the chaos that ensued following your stroy on the dollar depeg is nothing to be proud of, if that what your implying happened.
HSBC and other major banks were profiteering in the aftermath buying dollars at 3.40 and selling at 3.69? Best of both worlds for them? Or just covering themselves? But a disaster for everyday businesses and people who were stuck with dollars and debts in dirhams... all on the back of mere speculation - go the market economy?!?. The banking industry - along with Arabian Business should be ashamed.
Posted by James, Dubai, UAE on 26 January 2008 at 12:49 UAE time
Try - sent the US dollar to a 17 year LOW, not high. And the Ruppee is worth far MORE than it was 12 months ago.
By the way being proud of the chaos that ensued following your stroy on the dollar depeg is nothing to be proud of, if that what your implying happened.
HSBC and other major banks were profiteering in the aftermath buying dollars at 3.40 and selling at 3.69? Best of both worlds for them? Or just covering themselves? But a disaster for everyday businesses and people who were stuck with dollars and debts in dirhams... all on the back of mere speculation - go the market economy?!?. The banking industry - along with Arabian Business should be ashamed.
Review 2007
Posted by N. A. Mirza, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 31 December 2007 at 17:39 UAE time
Looks sound and indeed worth preserving. December Timeline should have stories on the most peaceful and accident free Haj, BJP's history-making victory in India's western state of Gujrat and above all assassination of Benazir Bhutto. An analysis on King Abdullah's sincere peace efforts was a must.
Editor's reply: December's timeline will be updated with the happenings of the last two weeks of December shortly.
Posted by N. A. Mirza, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 31 December 2007 at 17:39 UAE time
Looks sound and indeed worth preserving. December Timeline should have stories on the most peaceful and accident free Haj, BJP's history-making victory in India's western state of Gujrat and above all assassination of Benazir Bhutto. An analysis on King Abdullah's sincere peace efforts was a must.
Editor's reply: December's timeline will be updated with the happenings of the last two weeks of December shortly.
BEST AND WORST NEWS OF 2007!
Posted by RAJENDRA ANEJA, DUBAI, UAE on 27 December 2007 at 11:50 UAE time
Best news:
1. Some peace in Iraq and refugee return.
2. More focus on climate
3. Dialogue between Bush, Putin
4. No war with Iran
5. Talks between Israel, Palesine
6. Shakira going to study at a university
Worst news:
1. Continuation of world poverty
2. No cure for Aids, cancer
3. Human rights violations and beating of monk in Burma
4. Inflation across the word, including Gulf.
5. Instability in India, Pakistan.
6. I have not become a movie-star (the pay is better, than that in management).
Posted by RAJENDRA ANEJA, DUBAI, UAE on 27 December 2007 at 11:50 UAE time
Best news:
1. Some peace in Iraq and refugee return.
2. More focus on climate
3. Dialogue between Bush, Putin
4. No war with Iran
5. Talks between Israel, Palesine
6. Shakira going to study at a university
Worst news:
1. Continuation of world poverty
2. No cure for Aids, cancer
3. Human rights violations and beating of monk in Burma
4. Inflation across the word, including Gulf.
5. Instability in India, Pakistan.
6. I have not become a movie-star (the pay is better, than that in management).
REVIEW 2007: PROFITS AND SOUL
Posted by RAJENDRA ANEJA, DUBAI, UAE on 26 December 2007 at 17:04 UAE time
The review writtn by Mr James Bennett, is sound, pithy and covers all key issues. Congratulations for this excellent encapsulation.
I hope 2008, will be a more enlightened year for the Gulf and for all of us. Let us hope, we realise that money is important, but without good HR practices, there can be no profits in the long run.
And as the Bible preaches, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, at the loss of his own soul."
Posted by RAJENDRA ANEJA, DUBAI, UAE on 26 December 2007 at 17:04 UAE time
The review writtn by Mr James Bennett, is sound, pithy and covers all key issues. Congratulations for this excellent encapsulation.
I hope 2008, will be a more enlightened year for the Gulf and for all of us. Let us hope, we realise that money is important, but without good HR practices, there can be no profits in the long run.
And as the Bible preaches, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, at the loss of his own soul."
Brilliant
Posted by Frank Dane, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 26 December 2007 at 11:26 UAE time
That is one of the best Year in Reviews I have seen. Really polished - especially on the later months - October to December. I love it. Thank you - another great reference site, and hugely entertaining as well.
Posted by Frank Dane, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 26 December 2007 at 11:26 UAE time
That is one of the best Year in Reviews I have seen. Really polished - especially on the later months - October to December. I love it. Thank you - another great reference site, and hugely entertaining as well.
Pressure mounts on last female minister to quit
Posted by Adam, Kuwait, Kuwait on 25 December 2007 at 08:53 UAE time
The Kuwait government needs to get a life.. The men in parliament cannot handle a women minister. I admire her and for what she is doing and putting all these silly men to shame.. Wake up guys...
Posted by Adam, Kuwait, Kuwait on 25 December 2007 at 08:53 UAE time
The Kuwait government needs to get a life.. The men in parliament cannot handle a women minister. I admire her and for what she is doing and putting all these silly men to shame.. Wake up guys...