Over the past decade the Middle East has made a massive move to secure some of the world's major sporting events. Abu Dhabi won the right to host a Formula One Grand Prix beginning in 2009, Qatar was successful in its FIFA World Cup bid for 2022 and the world's top tennis players and golfers regularly head to the region for big tour tournaments.
Tiger Woods talks with CNN after finishing joint third at the Abu Dhabi Championship.
This month Road to Rio: A Green City journey is touching down in the United Arab Emirates. In the wake of an inconclusive United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, CNN's Rima Maktabi, Leone Lakhani and Nick Glass head to Abu Dhabi, soon-to-be host city of the World Future Energy Summit. The capital's conference center will host the likes of Ban Ki Moon from January 16-19, 2012.
This month on Inside the Middle East, CNN travels to explore the constantly-expanding city of Abu Dhabi and talk to Sheikh Nahayan bin Mubarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education. Meanwhile, CNN Special Corrrespondent Philippe Cousteau embarks on his first visit to the Middle East and Schams Elwazer visits the Abu Dhabi Science Festival.
Sebastian Vettel's first lap retirement in Abu Dhabi saw all four drivers behind him in the world championship close the gap on the 2011 title holder.
Fernando Alonso is determined to banish his demons in Abu Dhabi as he returns to the track where his 2010 Formula One world championship chances disintegrated.
CNN Special Correspondent Philippe Cousteau looks at the impact of climate change in one of the coldest places on the planet.
Manchester City announced a deal with Etihad Airways on Friday which will see the English football club rename their home stadium.
Sustainability is the biggest issue facing global business in the 21st century. While breakthroughs like improved battery technology will likely provide a solution to the CO2 challenge, another issue -- "Global Gridlock" -- is quietly taking its place.
A young cheetah has been captured while wandering the streets of Abu Dhabi, an animal welfare activist said Sunday.
An eye-catching spiral skyscraper with a garden on every level is being planned for Abu Dhabi.
Martin Kaymer looks set to leapfrog Tiger Woods as the world's number two golfer as the German closed on victory at the European Tour event in Abu Dhabi.
A tiny island off the coast of Abu Dhabi is in the running to become one of the new seven natural wonders of the world.
Sebastian Vettel made Formula One history as he won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to clinch the title.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton scored an early boost over his three Formula One world-championship rivals on Friday as he set the fastest time in practice ahead of Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
It's not just oil they talk about in the Middle East, these days. With millions of the region's dollars being spent in an explosion of art collecting, they could just as easily be talking about oil paintings.
There's a state-of-the-art hospital in Abu Dhabi where pampered patients stay in air-conditioned rooms and are fed a daily diet of quail -- and occasionally, mice.
In focus -- Technology transfer
"Sex and the City 2", produced by Warner Bros., also owned by CNN's parent company Time Warner, faces a ban in Abu Dhabi.
Carrie Bradshaw and her friends are packing their suitcases, putting on their high heels and heading to Abu Dhabi, where luxury hotels and pristine beaches serve as a glamorous backdrop for their next adventure.
The body of the managing director of one of the richest investment funds in the world was found Tuesday, four days after he disappeared after a plane crash in Morocco, the official Moroccan news agency reported.
CNN's Leone Lakhani reports on the funeral of the head of Abu Dhabi's sovereign fund.
The managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Fund is missing after his glider plane crashed into a lake in Morocco, the state news agency of the United Arab Emirates reported Friday.
Saudi novelist Abdo Khal, who won the Arabic Booker prize for his novel depicting the ravaging effects of unlimited wealth, says he writes about the "double standards in our life."
Monaco and Abu Dhabi are both exclusive tax havens known for high-profile monarchs and ostentatious displays of wealth.
Sergio Garcia continued his bright start to 2010 as he reached the halfway stage of the Abu Dhabi Championship just one shot behind surprise leader Rick Kulacz.
Golf is a game which lends itself to luxury stays in swanky resorts, so not unnaturally the accommodation offered in its hotels and clubhouses is often of the highest standard with cutting edge architecture and design to the fore with no expense spared.
Renzo Gracie, one of Brazilian jiu-jitsu's great ambassadors, has taken many trips to Abu Dhabi over the past two decades. In April, he'll journey back to the oil-rich Gulf state, where, for the past 14 years, he has served as the personal instructor to Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan -- son to the first United Arab Emirates president, creator of the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship and newly minted 10-percent owner of Zuffa LLC.
Mixology 101
updated: Thu Dec 31 2009 09:26:00
Celebrity chef and mixologist Kathy Casey shares her trendy recipes for festive cocktails from a hotel bar in Abu Dhabi.
On Wednesday night, TP Mazembe, a Congolese team hailing from the country's second city of Lubumbashi, and New Zealand's Auckland City FC will play a FIFA Club World Cup fifth place play-off in an unseasonably wet and no doubt half-empty stadium in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai gets $10 billion from neighboring Abu Dhabi to pay down its debt. CNN's Cal Perry reports
Abu Dhabi's decision to offer Dubai financial succour has bought time for the debt-laden emirate to restructure its troubled Dubai World conglomerate, but the former boom town still faces a severe test.
Abu Dhabi stepped in to help troubled fellow emirate Dubai and its state-owned holding company, Dubai World, with $10 billion in financing on Monday.
Since its inception in 2000 the FIFA Club World Cup -- which pits club champions from the six world confederations against each other -- has been maligned by many, especially by European fans, players and coaches.
Oil rich Abu Dhabi is in talks with fellow Emirate Dubai over its debt, as CNN's Jim Boulden reports.
Whether knowingly or not, Dubai, a city state built with grandiose long-term plans financed by piles of short-term debt, has cut off a crucial lifeline that may have helped it navigate the storm that threatens to engulf it.
The United Arab Emirates on Sunday stepped in to shore up its banks and head off any potential capital flight as the nation's federal authorities attempted to counter concerns over Dubai's debt problems.
With all the pomp and money befitting its status as the world's richest city, Abu Dhabi will soon unveil its new Formula One track on Yas Island, a spectacular entertainment destination emerging from the turquoise waters off the coast of the Emirati capital.
IME goes inside Abu Dhabi?s iconic Sheikh Zayed Al-Nahyan Mosque and looks at F1 preparations at the new Yas Marina Circuit.
CNN Abu Dhabi, the latest newsgathering expansion from the global news brand, opens its doors today, it was announced by Tony Maddox, MD and EVP CNN International.
CNN's Stan Grant takes CNN on a tour of the new Abu Dhabi bureau.
Last year's world champion Lewis Hamilton has claimed pole position for Sunday's inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix while his successor as Formula One's top driver, Jenson Button, qualified fifth.
This weekend, Abu Dhabi plays host to its first Formula 1 Grand Prix, and in typical fashion, the capital of the United Arab Emirates is pulling out all the stops, with a brand new racecourse estimated to have cost $1 billion and festivities including performances from Beyoncé and Aerosmith.
This month on Inside the Middle East -- Brent Sadler Hosts from Beirut, Lebanon.
THIS MONTH ON IME -- Stan Grant hosts this month's edition of Inside the Middle East from Abu Dhabi where he highlights some of the city's most prominent landmarks.
In focus: Abu Dhabi's space ambitions
A member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi who was captured on videotape torturing an Afghan grain dealer has reportedly been detained, a senior U.S. State Department official told CNN Saturday.
As many of the world's industries struggle in the face of global economic hardship, the inaugural Abu Dhabi Yacht Show went ahead earlier this month.
England's Paul Casey charged into contention in the storm-hit Abu Dhabi Championship as he bids for his first victory since the same tournament two years ago.
World number four Andy Murray made a winning start to 2009 with a straight sets victory over James Blake of the United States in a big-money exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
England's cricket squad have confirmed they are flying out to Abu Dhabi on Thursday and will resume their two-Test tour of India following days of talks with security advisors.
English football clubs have always attracted wealthy owners. Traditionally, club chairmen were bluff local businessmen with a few spare millions in the bank, perhaps looking to put something back into their local community, somewhere to schmooze clients and colleagues, and seduced by the idea of being a player -- albeit at boardroom level -- in a sport that is an obsession for millions.
The takeover of Manchester City by an Abu Dhabi group is further evidence that soccer clubs have become a hot buy
James Hogan is the CEO of Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad. MME caught up with him at the Farnborough International Air Show this week to discuss the airline's future expansion plans as it struck one of the biggest deals in aviation history after placing orders worth more than $20 billion.
Farnborough marks its 60th anniversary during a year when the aviation industry is being hit hard by high oil prices and faltering economies.
A 75% stake in the famed Chrysler Building once owned by a German fund has been sold to an Abu Dhabi group, Prudential Financial, Inc. confirmed Wednesday.
Abu Dhabi's debut on the Formula One calendar will see the venue host the season-ending grand prix for 2009.
Icelandic President Olafur Grimsson talks about energy as the most fundamental question of the 21st century.
Icelandic President Olafur Grimsson opened the Doha debate by naming energy as the most fundamental question of the 21st Century.
The money involved is mind boggling, even by Formula One's heady standards.
On Wednesday, at the glittering Emirates Palace hotel, in front of a who's who of the United Arab Emirates, the front page of the world's newest daily broadsheet was unveiled.
Halfway around the world, a zero-carbon, zero-waste, automobile-free city known as Masdar is rising from a 2.3-square mile plot of desert in Abu Dhabi.
A massive stage set in the middle of an empty stretch of Abu Dhabi's desert, with a projector screen several stories high, lined with TV cameras and lights. It was the setting for a stunning announcement -- an ambitious plan to spend $22 billion to build an entirely new green city.
Marketplace Middle East looks into the developing 'green' energies of the Middle East.
Although the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival is in its fifth year, a first-time liaison with New York-based IMG Artists has fast-tracked it onto a new plane of potential.
CNN's Wilf Dinnick reports on bidders that pay millions for vanity license plates in Abu Dhabi.
You expect a motorist to shell out a little extra cash for a vanity license plate.
Abu Dhabi has lots of oil and an enormous carbon footprint, but the capital of the United Arab Emirates is putting huge resources into alternative energy. Why?
European Tour Rookie of the Year Martin Kaymer surged into a six-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Abu Dhabi Championship after a sizzling seven-under-par 65.
So you're lousy with petrocash or other export-driven windfalls, and itching to put your depreciating dollars to work. Where to start? Here's Fortune's handy tip sheet:
U.S. stocks may continue their rebound Wednesday, although investors will have to weigh new details about the mortgage meltdown and related housing slump.
U.S. stocks appeared set for a tough open Wednesday as investors struggled to maintain their poise in the face of ongoing credit problems and a heavy economic calendar.
Citigroup's newfound $7.5 billion cash infusion from Abu Dhabi's state investment fund may not cure all that ails the embattled bank, but it heralds the growing influence of sovereign wealth funds.
More business news from the Middle East: Dubai International Capital acquires Alliance Medical for $1.3 billion; Saudi Arabia inflation rate at highest in 10 years; Emirates posts record half-year figures; MGM Mirage to build $3 billion resort in Abu Dhabi by 2012
Creating a sceneupdated: Fri Oct 05 2007 09:41:00
In a gallery in Dubai this month, local Emirate collectors, passing American tourists and Egyptian expats will mingle to admire the Fez-clad, cigarette-smoking youths in the photographs of London-based but Moroccan-born artist, Hassan Hajjaj.
A visit to Abu Dhabi best illustrates the scale of the dream projects underway. Some projects that probably would never get off the ground elsewhere are finding a home in the Middle East, specifically the Louvre and Guggenheim outposts planned in Abu Dhabi.
Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak is CEO of Mubadala Development Company. In this role, he oversees the delivery of an aggressive investment strategy, generating significant financial returns and driving sustainable economic development in the United Arab Emirates.
This week Marketplace Middle East interviews Khaldoon Mubarak, CEO and Managing Director of Mubadala Development Company.
Private-equity firm the Carlyle Group said Thursday it sold a 7.5 percent stake in its general partnership operations for $1.35 billion to an investment arm of the government of Abu Dhabi.
It may seem strange that the emirate of Abu Dhabi, one of the planet's largest suppliers of oil, is planning to build the world's first carbon-neutral city.
Apollo Management could be the next private equity firm to head to the public markets.
Khaldoon Khalifa al Mubarak is a man in a hurry. The 31-year-old, American-educated developer steps on the gas of his silver Audi and zooms past a hole in the ground crawling with construction work...
Abu Dhabi will host a Formula One Grand Prix from 2009 in a calendar that could be extended to 20 races, F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone said on Saturday.
The eldest son of the late leader of the United Arab Emirates has been elected successor to his father, official sources have told CNN.
The eldest son of the late leader of the United Arab Emirates has been elected successor to his father, official sources told CNN.
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