What the sites say: the best of the rest
Dubai to figure on the US campaign trail?
Could McCain and Obama be set for a battle in Dubai? According to David Ignatius, writing on www.WashingtonPost.com, the emirate could hold a debate between the presidential hopefuls. The idea "emerged in conversations and e-mails over the past week with officials in Dubai. [The emirate's] leaders 'realise the importance of such an idea and are ready to receive the candidates and organise the event'," wrote Ignatius, quoting a 'senior official'. He added that such an event could help challenge the perception that the US is "arrogant".
Baghdad opens door to foreign developers
The Financial Times (www.FT.com) report on Iraq's decision to allow foreign companies to bid for the development of eight of its oil and gas fields was accompanied by an informative comment piece. "International oil groups are rarely deterred by troubled environments," wrote Roula Khalaf and Ed Crooks. "But their foray into Iraq will present more than a security challenge." The great unknown surrounds the delayed legislation to decide the allocation of oil reserves, described in the piece as "an essential ingredient to national reconciliation."
Ray Mali is game for cricket in the desert
India's www.NDTV.com has an exclusive interview with International Cricket Council president Ray Mali, in which he said Dubai could become the "focal point" for international cricket. ICC members were set to tour Dubai Sports City last week to assess the stadium that is under construction. Mali said that the 25,000-seat venue has sufficient capacity to host international cricket, and that Dubai's high profile worldwide can help publicise the game. Mali believes future editions of the Indian Premier League can be played in the city.
The UAE's public relations nightmare
The rather quirky Kipp Report (www.kippreport.com) played a mischievous trick on in-house PRs recently. Kipp called various companies, posing as journalists with genuine enquiries, to test whether it would be "a soul destroying task trying to extract the simplest of information". The Roads and Transport Authority, Ministry of Labour, and Nakheel all scored zero points. It was, perhaps, a little unfair: Nakeel's external PR, for example, regularly send out press releases containing multiple mobile phone contacts.
Dubai shows immunity from credit crunch
www.Sky.com on Saturday reported how the emirate has been immune from the global credit crisis, citing ongoing development projects that have attracted the world's wealthiest investors.
"Despite all the doom and gloom of the world's financial markets, there is a place where the pace of development has hardly skipped a beat and the credit crunch is for other people to worry about. That place is Dubai."
One example given was that of villas which sold for around £500,000 (Dh3.65 million) six years ago are now priced 10 times higher, the report said.