Tag Archives: weather
Shaikh Mohammed launches electronic container terminal
Shaikh Mohammed launches electronic container terminal (Wam) / 28 January 2014 The capacity of the new terminal, which handles four million containers, will raise the capacity of three terminals at the port to 19 million containers during this year. His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the first electronic container handling terminal at Jebel Ali, operated by remote control, built at cost $850 million, on Monday. The capacity of the new terminal, which handles four million containers, will raise the capacity of three terminals at the port to 19 million containers during this year. Shaikh Mohammed was briefed at Jebel Ali Port by the container handling officials at the remote control operation system at distance of 15km from quay. He also viewed a documentary film about the Jebel Ali Port. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Development to pick up pace as Dubai gears for Expo 2020
Development to pick up pace as Dubai gears for Expo 2020 (Wam) / 28 January 2014 The ongoing Destination Dubai 2020 event is the first conference to detail the very latest developments in Dubai’s preparations for Expo 2020. Development is expected to pick up pace beginning next year as Dubai sets into motion its master-plan for World Expo 2020, key government agencies revealed at the ongoing Destination Dubai 2020 conference. The Dubai Expo 2020 event will require GBP 6.45bn (Dh 39.23 billion) of investment to develop all of the required facilities and host the event – a figure that, according to Helal Saeed al Marri, Director-General at Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), would be needed for the development and operational costs until the end of the event. Al Marri said a “significant amount” of the funding will come from the government, but there was also an opportunity for the private sector to invest during the build up to Expo 2020 and during the event itself. “There was a significant opportunity for foreign direct investment (FDI) from the event,” he said in the opening keynote session at the conference which opened today at Dubai’s JW Marriott Marquis Hotel. Al Marri said preparation for the event involved two main areas, development of the actual Expo site and the development of the city. “The Expo site requires significant infrastructure and development, and the team is working on designs for this. This will be very project based,” he said. “The other side is city readiness. [The event] will require significant development around the city.” Al Marri highlighted that doubling the number of hotel rooms was a key part of preparing the city to handle the 25 million visitors expected to attend the event, 70 per cent of whom will come from outside the UAE. This will include a number of “good quality” three- and four-star hotels. The DTCM chief said the newly created Higher Committee would coordinate the activities of all the different government entities to ensure all projects are delivered on time. Another exciting development set to take off next year is Burj 2020, which when completed is expected to be the world’s tallest commercial tower, revealed Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC). “We have put out tender to work with consultants, the architect will be announced this year, and construction will start next year [2015]. It will be built by 2020,” said Ahmed bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, DMCC. The tower is planned as the world tallest commercial tower. It will be a steel structure meaning that it can be built quickly. “That tower is likely to be a steel structure and very efficient,” continued bin Sulayem. “We are leaving nothing to chance with that building.” For leasing, DMCC expects that the tower will attract large international companies. “It is catering to multi-national corporations that need 10-20 floors,” he added. The ongoing Destination Dubai 2020 event is the first conference to detail the very latest developments in Dubai’s preparations for Expo 2020. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Syria to allow women, children to leave besieged parts
Syria to allow women, children to leave besieged parts (AFP) / 27 January 2014 UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi says other civilians are also welcome to leave, but the government needs a list of their names first. The Syrian regime has agreed to allow women and children to leave besieged rebel-held areas of the central city of Homs, UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Sunday at peace talks in Geneva. “What we have been told by the government side is that women and children in this besieged area of the city are welcome to leave immediately,” Brahimi told reporters. “Hopefully starting tomorrow, women and children will be able to leave the Old City in Homs.” He said that as well as women and children, “other civilians are also welcome to leave, but the government needs a list of their names first”. The subject of Homs — where hundreds of families in the Old City are living under siege with near-daily shelling and the barest of supplies — has been discussed at length since the two parties started face-to-face talks on Saturday. Brahimi said talks also touched on continued efforts to have convoys of humanitarian aid brought into Homs, with rebel fighters pledging not to attack them. Speaking separately, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad confirmed that women and children would be allowed to leave but blamed rebel forces for preventing that. “I have been personally involved over the past two years to get these women and children out of the Old City of Homs. But we could not. In all these attempts we have been prevented by the armed groups, who did not allow a single person out,” Muqdad told reporters. Brahimi admitted the talks were progressing slowly but said he was pleased with the atmosphere. “I am happy, because in general there is mutual respect and they are aware of the fact that this attempt is important and we must continue. I hope that this mood will continue,” he said. Sunday’s talks also touched on the thousands of people jailed, kidnapped or missing in Syria. Brahimi said the opposition agreed to try to draw up a list of people held by rebel forces they control or have contact with, to hand over to the regime and move the process of prisoner exchanges forward. Muqdad brushed off questions about a list of 47,000 people, including 2,300 women and children, allegedly held by the regime. “It is not as big as you described. More than 60 or 70 per cent of the people have never entered any prison, 20 percent were released, and the rest haven’t been in a prison,” he said. “I deny categorically that there are any children being detained,” Muqdad said. He accused the rebels of press-ganging children and said any youngsters captured by government forces were cared for, not jailed. The opposition has called for the talks on Monday to move to the core issue of political transition. “This is a political negotiation, everything we discuss is political,” Brahimi said. “I think tomorrow I expect the two parties to make some general statement about the way forward.” Muqdad said the government had come to Geneva “very seriously and in all sincerity”, but struck a note of caution. “When we say we are ready to discuss everything, this does not mean that the opposition will have our full approval of what they want, or that we shall have their full approval of what we want,” he said. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
