October 2008 - UAE Pics
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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Past pictures: The UAE's famous female celebrity visitors

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Past pictures: The UAE's famous female celebrity visitors
Cindy Crawford was one of the most successful models of the 90s, during which time her marriage to Richard Gere made them one of the most high-profile couples in showbiz. Here, she joined a number of other A-listers, including Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis, in opening Dubai's Planet Hollywood restaurant in May 1998
Naomi Campbell is one of the most recognised supermodels in the world and has also tried her hand at being a singer, author, actress, and fashion designer. Unfortunately, her reputation for violence has recently eclipsed her success as a model. She has been arrested and convicted of physically and verbally abusing others on several occasions. In January 2007 she was sentenced to five days community service for assaulting her maid.
Claudia Schiffer was one of a number of top supermodels who visited Dubai in May 1998. Schiffer, originally from Germany, is one of the world's most successful models, having appeared on over 500 magazine covers. She has also appeared in several films, and married film director Matthew Vaughn in 2002.
Egyptian actress Safia El Emary visits the Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre in Dubai in this shot from December 1997. She became a goodwill ambassador for the Arab world for the United Nations Population Fund earlier that year.
Karisma Kapoor dances with Shah Rukh Khan in Dubai in this photo from February 1997. The Indian actress is the sister of Kareena Kapoor and has starred in several successful films, including 1997's Dil To Pagal Hai. She took a break from cinema in 2003 but is set to make a comeback soon.
English socialite Jemima Khan is pictured at the Dubai World Cup with then husband, former Pakistani cricketing legend and politician, Imran Khan, in this picture from March 1996. The couple had two sons before splitting and most recently she was in a relationship with actor Hugh Grant.
Former Miss World Aishwarya Rai is one of the most recognised Bollywood faces in the world. Married to Abhishek Bachchan, she has starred in dozens of Hindi movies, and several English-language films, including the commercially successful Bride and Prejudice. Here, she enjoys some Arabic coffee in this shot from May 1995.Indian actress Jaya Bachchan has acted in many films throughout her career, which began as far back as the 60s. She has also, until recently, dabbled in politics. The wife of Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan and the mother of actor AbhishekMadhuri Dixit made a promotional visit to these shores in November 1992. An accomplished dancer, she is one of the most successful actresses in India. In 2008, she was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, by the Government of India.
Zsa Zsa Padilla is an award winning and world class Filipino singer, recording and concert artist, and also a dramatic and comedy actress. She's also a songwriter, commercial model, product endorser, businesswoman, and record producer. In a relationship with comedian Dolphy, she managed to squeeze in a visit to the UAE in May 1991.
Egyptian actress Athar El Hakim began acting over 20 years ago. She has made over 20 movies and has also starred in several television shows, including Ramadan blockbusters Zizinia and We Don't Plant Thorns. She takes part in a press conference in this shot from January 1990.
Elaine Paige is one of the most prominent stars of musical theatre in the UK, and has appeared in dozens of well-known stage shows, including Grease, Evita and Cats. In 1985, Paige released "I Know Him So Well" with Barbara Dickson from the musical Chess, which remains the biggest-selling record by a female duo. She is seen here during a visit in July 1989.
Pakistani-born Salma Agha sang as well as acted in several Indian films in the 1980s and the early 1990s. Born to a wealthy father in Karachi, she moved to London at age 9 and has also worked on many Pakistani movies, none as successful as her Indian films. Pictured in Dubai in February 1987, Agha currently lives in the city.
Bollywood diva Rekha is pictured here visiting the country in March 1985. Born in Chennai, India, she has acted in over 180 films in a career that has spanned 40 years.
Sharon Cuneta, seen here in December 1991, is a television star and singer. The mother of actress and model KC Concepcion, she is also known as The Mega Star of Philippine Showbiz.
Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave is an English actress and member of the famous Redgrave acting family. A social activist for human rights, she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1977, for her role in the film Julia, about a woman murdered by the Nazi regime in the years prior to World War II. She visited the UAE in October 1982.
Actress and Lebanese director Nidal Al Ashkar on a visit to the UAE in May 1993. After studying at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London, Al Ashkar went on to become a founder of the Theatre Workshop in Beirut and has had main roles in many popular Arab television series.

Monday, October 20, 2008

GITEX 2008

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GITEX 2008
Gitex, the Middle East's largest technology show, took off with a bang on October 19 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince, opened the Gitex 2008 exhibit on Sunday.
The show is set to receive more than 130,000 visitors and host 3,300 companies from 83 countries over the next five days.His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (right), Dubai Crown Prince, at the Gitex show.
A host of brands are featuring the latest developments at the expo.The annual business and consumer technology exhibition, now in its 28th year, is scheduled to be held from October 19 -23 and promises to be bigger than before.
Gitex Technology Week consists of three major elements: Gitex Business Solutions, Gulfcomms and Consumer Electronics.His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai tours the show.
Gitex is organised by the Dubai World Trade Centre.Gitex Shopper and Consumer Electronics Expo, the retail component of Gitex got off to a flying start on Saturday.
Models show off some of the newest gadgets being launched at this year's expo as part of Gadget Glam 2008.Major international companies launching new products and making announcements at the exhibition include BlackBerry, Dell, du, etisalat, Google, HP and Microsoft.
Oracle, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sun MicroSystems and Symantec are also expected to make big announcements.Visitors take in the tech one day one of the exhibition.
Gitex Business Solutions is a premier exhibition catering to government, enterprise and SMB solution providers.The Dubai Police booth at Gitex 2008.
Gitex attracts experts from a wide variety of fields including medical technology.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

First flight sail through Emirates Terminal 3

1:34 PM 0
First flight sail through Emirates Terminal 3
The first Emirates flight EK843 Dubai-Doha, an Airbus A330-200 with 136 passengers, four in First, 27 in Business and 105 in Economy Class was flagged off from Gate 213, on time at 2.15 pm, on October 14th, 2008
On day one, besides flight EK843, other flights which were scheduled for departure were Emirates Terminal 3 include EK845 to Doha, EK857 and EK859 to Kuwait, EK839 to Bahrain, and EK817 to Riyadh.
Emirates flight EK2926 Jeddah-Dubai was the first flight to arrive at Emirates Terminal 3
Jamal Nasser Lootah, Executive Director for Industrial Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Economy (third from left), and a Gold Skywards member was the first passenger to check in at First Class at Emirates Terminal. Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline (second from left), presented Lootah with a commemorative certificate, and was joined by Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, and Emirates cabin crew member Cintia Michaelsen.
Khalida Mirza, Vice Manager of A1 Properties, a Skywards Gold member and the first passenger at Business Class check-in was presented with a certificate by Mohammad H Mattar, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Airport Services (Dubai) and flowers by Emirates cabin crew member Cintia Michaelsen.
Tamatsu Tamaro, (second from right), the first passenger at Economy check-in received a warm welcome and a commemorative certificate from Dale Griffith, Divisional Senior Vice President; Emirates Airport Services Network and flowers from Emirates cabin crew Tatiana Perez.

Dubai Airport Terminal 3

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Dubai Airport Terminal 3
Dubai's Airport's brand new Terminal 3
The Terminal is designed to handle 43 million passengers a year when fully operational.The terminal is being opened in phases and the first phase will have flights arriving and departing to destinations in the GCC namely Doha, Muscat, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh.
It will also include flights to and from the Americas, including New York, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Toronto.The second phase will open flights to the Middle East and Africa.
The baggage handling system at the new Dubai terminal is one of the largest in the world, Dubai Airports said.There are many self check-in portals available.
Dubai's new Terminal 3 is the complete opposite of its cramped, older counterpart up the road.At one million square metres of space, the facility is nearly double the size of Heathrow's new terminal.
Europe, the Indian Subcontinent, the Far East and Australia will be serviced in later phases.The non-traditional check-in areas have plenty of room to accomodate long queues.
Terminal 3 and its airside facilities at Dubai International will boost the capacity of the airport to an annual figure of over 60 million passengers.Media briefed a special tour of the airport
Light and space dominates the Terminal's interior as well.Even from the outside the new terminal is visually pleasing.
One of the waiting area's in the terminal.Light, spacious, easy to navigate - the Terminal redeems all of it's counterparts flaws.
Terminal 3 has five gates to handle the A380 superjumbo.The swanky waiting lounges are seen in this shot.
The interior of the Terminal is wide and spacious, with abundant waiting areas.
The facility is part of a part of $4.5-billion expansion plan.Emirates is expected to eventually shift its operations to the new terminal and other facilities.
This walkway demonstrates the light-driven interior design.The new Terminal is shoppers' paradise with its large Duty Free area.
Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline and George Horan, Deputy Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free met with members of the media during a tour through the Terminal 3.The Terminal is exclusively for Emirates flights.
The new terminal, which is underground, will also ease the congestion at the older Terminal 1.Terminal 3 will increase DIA's overall passenger handling capacity to 60 million.
The first Emirates flight EK843 Dubai-Doha, an Airbus A330-200 with 136 passengers, four in
First, 27 in Business and 105 in Economy Class was flagged off from Gate flagged off from Gate
213, on time at 2.15 pm.