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Dubai's New Queen Is a British Legend -- An Iconic Ship to Shore

November 29, 2008 2:13 PM

By Lara Setrakian, ABC News Dubai

The great dame of ocean liners – the queen, really – sailed into port one last time this week. On the World News Webcast we called her the latest British expat to move to Dubai.

The Queen Elizabeth 2, the legendary oceanliner and longtime flagship of the Cunard Line, retired from its ranks with a one-way trip to Dubai. Here she’ll be converted into a floating hotel with room for five restaurants, apartments, a spa and a broadway-scale theater in the space where the engines now sit. The QE2's signature smokestack is to be refitted as a luxury five-floor penthouse.

It was earlier this month that the QE2 left its home in Southampton for her new home, Dubai’s Palm Island. She retires with an illustrious past: over her four decades of service she’s circled the globe 25 times, carried 2.5 million passengers, and sailed 6 million nautical miles – the equivalent of going to the moon and back fourteen times.

The QE2’s welcome was, true to locale, over the top. A flotilla of yachts, including the ruler Sheikh Mohammed’s M/Y Dubai, flanked the ship on her way into Port Rashid. There were fireworks, flags waving, and an Arab band on bagpipes.

It’s true that in the city of business and bling, the QE2 is more trophy for her new owners. But on the flip side, Cunard and Dubai both note that if she hadn’t found a home in the Persian Gulf, she’d likely be torn apart in a British shipyard. Service as a floating hotel is the QE2’s second life.

“Dubai will add value to the QE2 and the QE2 will add value to Dubai,” Abdulrahman Kalantar told me. Kalantar is with Nakheel, the state-owned real estate giant that bought the QE2 for $100 million.

ABC News was given a rare chance to board the QE2 after she pulled into   Rashid. I felt extremely lucky – it may well have been the last chance to see her in cruise ship form before the Dubai makeover. The interiors were a mix of old Britannia and late 1960’s chic. To get a look yourself watch our Good Morning America report on the QE2 in Dubai.

While on the ship we caught the very emotional moment when the QE2 was officially handed over from the Cunard Line to Dubai. Her captain and senior officers watched as the house flag came down and the fog horn sounded for the last time, a sign that the Queen is docked. Long live the Queen.

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November 29, 2008 in Lara Setrakian | Permalink | User Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Pakistan Will Help India With Investigation

November 28, 2008 12:01 PM

By Habibullah Khan, ABC News Producer Islamabad

As news of the coordinated terrorist attacks in Mumbai spread, Pakistanis, like people around the world, closely watched as the events unfolded on their television screens. 

And then, as everyone was expecting, the finger of blame started pointing towards Pakistan. 

The Pakistani government was swift to condemn the gruesome attacks. Both the president and the prime minister called Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to condemn the violence, and they assured him of their cooperation with the investigation to follow.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said that "the government will cooperate with India in exposing and apprehending the culprits and the masterminds behind the attack."

The chief of Pakistan's powerful spy agency, ISI, is headed to India to help with the investigations after a request from the Indian government. Many here, however, see the move as a sign of weakness and say Pakistan should avoid such involvement.

After all the accusations, Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani met this morning to discuss the situation.

The terrorist incident came as both countries were inching toward a broader dialogue to ease tensions between the two countries. In a recent interaction with Indian media, Zardari proposed a no-first-nuclear-strike agreement and said the region must be denuclearized.

Pakistan wants to carry forward the peace process and help India with the the investigation but "not at the cost of our dignity," said Marvi Memon, a member of Pakistan's national assembly.

Pakistan's foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who was in India before the Mumbai incident on a peace initiative, appealed for people "not to politicize" the incident and said "both countries face a common enemy which is terrorisn and they must fight it."

However, tensions remain high on both sides of the border, and the blame game between the two countries has raised its ugly head once again. 

"Whenever we start making headway in our relationship, the evil hand strikes and takes us back to 1947," Junaid Ali, a businessman from Islamabad, told ABC News, referring to the bloody partition of the British Indian empire.

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November 28, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (18) | TrackBack (0)

Mumbai Streets Empty, Gunfire Continues

November 28, 2008 6:08 AM

By KAREN RUSSO, ABC News Mumbai

The view from Wasim Khan's roof reveals a new Mumbai. Instead of streets crowded full of taxis, cars and cows, the roads are nearly empty but the roofs are full of people.

Atop buildings near Colaba Causeway in south Mumbai, thousands of Mumbaikers have focused their attention on Nariman House where Indian military commandos are fighting with what is believed to be a handful of remaining uncaptured terrorists.

Khan, along with about 50 people, have been watching the fighting from his roof since early Friday morning. He watched in part because he wants to see the action, but also because it is the only safe activity while their city is under seige.

"We can't go outside, we have to stay in our own buildings," said Khan, 24. "Police are not letting us out to get food to eat."

As gunfire is exchanged and grenades explode, the crowds of onlookers yell and clap along with what appears to be military progress.

"They are cheering like their team's quarterback made a good throw," said local resident Peter Keep.

But the oddly carnival-like atmosphere betrays the somber attitude felt across the city. The ordinarily bustling tourist haven along Calaba Causeway, a street that includes restaurants, local shops and outside vendors selling everything from scarves to wooden stamps, is mostly closed.

Across the city, many people stayed home from work. Those who did venture to the office were met with a frightening reality; continued firefights throughout South Bombay.

Anand Tanna, a banker, went to work only to hear gunshots nearby.

"I made sure the bank's shutters were down and everyone was safe inside. Then I left and went to work at a friend's office down the road."

At a hospital about two miles away, dozens of victims are recovering from the attacks. Bed after bed in one ward of the intensive care unit is full of people suffering from gunshot wounds.

Australians Katherine Anstee, 22, and David Coker, 23, arrived to Mumbai on Wednesday night for the start of an eleven-week traveling holiday. Just two hours later they were being shot at by terrorists who attacked Leopold's Cafe.

Anstee was shot in the back of her thigh which shattered her femur. She is in a full leg cast, but expects to be transfered to a hospital in Sydney next week.

During the shooting, Anstee at first thought the bullets were firecrackers because of the noise they made when hitting the tile floor. She dove under a table to try to reach safety but was shot.

"When I was crawling on the floor, there was a woman lying in front of me who was dead.

The two managed to escape the attack, eventually hailing a taxi to the hospital.

"We feel lucky," she said from her hospital bed. "We feel relatively unscathed."

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November 28, 2008 in Karen Russo | Permalink | User Comments (14) | TrackBack (0)

Pakistani Hand in Mumbai Attacks?

November 27, 2008 1:07 PM

By JIM SCIUTTO, Senior Foreign Correspondent, ABC News London

Off the coast of India, authorities have captured Pakistani merchant ships which may be tied to Wednesday's terrorist attacks according to IANS news agency quoting Indian Navy officials. Many Indians had already begun speculating about a Pakistani connection. While India has an Islamist problem of its own, driven in part by huge class differences between Muslims and Hindus in India, Pakistani terror groups have staged attacks in India before and Indian Islamist groups have ties across the border.

For Americans, the Mumbai attacks could be another sign of how Pakistan’s implosion has huge regional implications – for U.S. interests in Afghanistan, for nuclear-armed Pakistan and for India. Some analysts see today’s attack as a wider "call to jihad" for India’s 150 million Muslims, a figure nearly on par with the entire population of Pakistan.

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November 27, 2008 in Jim Sciutto | Permalink | User Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)

Buddhism Inc. in Capitalist China

November 27, 2008 9:42 AM

By Stephanie Sy, Correspondent, ABC News Beijing

When I visited the famed Shaolin Temple in China's Henan Province with my producer a few months ago, I naively hoped to find a mystical place where peace-loving monks solemnly practice their ancient martial arts form beneath the shade of bodhi trees in between doing other monk-like activities, such as prayer and meditation. I have clearly watched one too many Jet Li movies. Who was I kidding? It was a tourist trap. In order to see any kung fu, we had to buy tickets for a performance, which took place in a nondescript, modern auditorium nowhere near the temple.

Afterward, our driver was able to get us onstage to take silly photos with the monk. The driver hinted that he’d prearranged some kickback for this special treatment. I was confused—were they monks or paid performers?

In capitalist China (or maybe anywhere), anything can be bought, and in a country with very little religion, very little is sacred. 

So it came as no surprise to me when I read reports in the Chinese press this week that the head abbot of the 1500 year-old temple, Shi Yongxin, has ambitious expansion plans. After all, not everyone can make it to remote Song Mountain in Henan. I was only in the region because my producer begged me to accompany her to watch her personal trainer’s fitness competition (but that’s a whole other blog). Why not have offshoots, or as one critic described it, “franchises,” in other provinces?

“Our management model centers on culture, martial arts, education, charity, and Zen Buddhism,” Shi told the Xinhua news agency.

But few doubt that Shi’s real motive is profit, and the abbot-cum-CEO is drawing fire from Chinese netizens, who increasingly seem to view themselves as guardians of morality (and sometimes vigilantes).

On web portal sohu.com, one post reads, “The holy place of Buddhism is now flooded with the stink of money.”

Another person writes, “Shaolin Temple has always attached importance to profit. From the money and fortune they cheated from tourists we can see that they're already a bunch of robbers cloaked in Buddhism.”

Under abbot Shi, “Shaolin” has become a brand—consisting of modern marketing strategies, international performance tours and online merchandising.

Shi’s supporters say he is taking necessary steps to preserve Shaolin kung fu and culture, but it’s just as likely that Shi is cashing in on the current hype. With popular movies like “Shaolin Soccer,” “Kungfu Hustle” and, more recently, “Kung Fu Panda,” Chinese martial arts have a higher global profile than at any time since Bruce Lee. And China’s first production to hit Broadway, “The Soul of Shalin,” will be on show early next year.

Back on Song Mountain, when we finally reached the actual Shaolin Temple, there was hardly a monk in sight. Our guide told us they no longer use the Temple for kung fu practice or prayer. But for the tourists milling around, the 1,500-year old temple was empty.

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Arab World Goes Nuclear: The Future of Energy in the Oil Rich Gulf

November 26, 2008 1:05 AM

by LARA SETRAKIAN, ABC News Abu Dhabi

This week in Abu Dhabi, UAE, nuclear energy was the talk of the town. The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research hosted a conference that made one thing clear: the Middle East has gone nuclear.

The UAE has declared its nuclear program, seeking nuclear energy as a cheap and clean alternative to the fossil fuels that have made the country rich. Why would OPEC's fourth-largest producer need nuclear fuel? Aside from the environmental benefits, there's a logic that they're better off using nuclear power at home and selling oil abroad. Burning oil at home has an opportunity cost: It's burning money before it hits the bank. Nuclear power also enables a "nuclear desalination," a relatively green way to turn sea water into fresh water for Dubai's sinks and swimming pools. At present, desalination uses carbon-based energy, with high cost and high pollution. An expert with the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi told me it costs more to produce a gallon of water here than a gallon of oil.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Syria  and Jordan have all expressed interest in nuclear power. But is it really smart (and safe) to have an expanding nuclear map across the Middle East? Hans Blix, formerly the chief weapons inspector and Intenational Atomic Energy Agency chief, was at the Abu Dhabi conference, speaking in favor of nuclear energy in the Arab world.

"Nothing is without a risk. All energy sources have some risk, and I’m not saying nuclear is without some risk. But we have so far managed to keep it on an even keel. Long term, I’m more worried about global warning than about weapons of mass destruction," Blix told me. The UAE stated clearly it would not enrich its own uranium -- unlike Iran, its feather-ruffling neighbor to the north.

A few more energy tidbits from the conference: Oil experts see the natural price of oil somewhere between $70-$100 per barrel for the coming 30-40 years. Today's price (under $50) is undervalued; this summer's peak (almost $150) was overvalued. The world's top energy consumers per capital are in the Gulf Arab states -- Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar  and the UAE top the charts for carbon footprint. And, according to the IEA, even in the best-case scenario renewable energy along the lines of solar and wind will still scarcely contribute to our overall energy supply mix in the decades to come.

November 26, 2008 in Lara Setrakian | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

China's Richest Man Goes Missing

November 25, 2008 11:47 AM

By Stephanie Sy, Correspondent, ABC News Beijing

It isn’t clear when China’s richest man was last seen, but he was reportedly detained Nov. 19, nearly a week ago. Huang Guangyu, the founder and head of Gome Electrical appliances, is one of the most well-known businessmen in China, but even the state-run media are having a hard time confirming his whereabouts.

If more transparency and accountability is the government’s goal in investigating the business practices of men like Huang, it certainly doesn’t seem to be the policy of the powerful Ministry of Public Security. Days after it was first reported by the respected investigative magazine Caijing that Huang had been detained for questioning for “share price manipulation,” ministry officials are refusing to confirm whether this is true.

This has led to sensational headlines such as, “Chinese Billionaire Vanishes” (Sydney Morning Herald). For those of us who regularly cover China, the “disappearance” of someone being questioned by police is quite common, but usually occurs in the context of someone being investigated for something like “subverting state power” i.e. political dissidents.

According to Caijing, Huang, whose name is also spelled Wong Kwong-yu, is under investigation for reported links to his big brother’s company, which has seen a peculiar pattern in share price in the last year. Other media reports speculate that he is accused of corruption. All of it reeks of something resoundingly familiar to journalist-turned-businessman Jim McGregor, author of “One Billion Customers.”

“This is a very dangerous place to be rich,” McGregor said. “When they first came up with the ‘rich list’ here, they started calling it the ‘death list’ because about five years ago the top people on the list all ended up in jail.”

It is taken as a cynical but probably accurate assumption that the most successful private entrepreneurs in China must have the right relationships, or “guanxi,” to make it in the Wild West of China’s rough and tumble economy.

“This guy is in the consumer-goods business, a brand-new business in China,” McGregor said. “You can imagine all the opportunities there are for kickbacks and corruption in all those suppliers to all those stores, and something he may have had nothing to do with, but it’s just part of the business landscape.”

But it is a landscape that is changing rapidly, and businessmen who are used to business as usual are experiencing rude shocks. On Friday, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced it is cracking down on “malpractice” in stock trading. At the same time, the commission announced big fines for individuals and companies accused of price manipulation and violating information disclosure regulations. Whether Huang was caught up in this dragnet is unclear, but his apparent arrest shows that authorities may be catching the big fish to warn the small ones.

“They’ve got some real difficult parts of their economy that the arrest of the richest man in China illustrates,” McGregor said. “This is a rough economy that needs regulation, rule of law, and hopefully this will help move them toward that.”

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November 25, 2008 in Stephanie Sy | Permalink | User Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

Britain's Seven Year Recession?

November 25, 2008 11:03 AM

By JIM SCIUTTO, Senior Foreign Correspondent, ABC News London

This is one of the most sobering predictions I’ve seen of how long and deep the economic pain will be. Martin Wolf of the Financial Times isn’t the panicky type but with budget deficits soaring in the United Kingdom, he lays out how Britain may be heading for seven lean years.

Could this be a model of where the United States is heading? Britain’s deficit is expected to reach 4.4 percent of gross domestic product next year. The U.S. deficit was 3.2 percent this year but with more bailouts on the way, we may not be far behind.

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November 25, 2008 in Jim Sciutto | Permalink | User Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

The Bible and The Koran On Your Cell Phone

November 25, 2008 8:45 AM

By Simon McGregor-Wood, Correspondent & Bureau Chief, ABC News Jerusalem

One of Israel’s biggest cell phone companies is offering users full text access to both the Bible and the Koran.

For a fee of $1.40 a month people who use Pelephone cell phones can access any passage of either holy book at the flick of a few keys.

“A year and a half ago we decided to move closer to the world of texts because technology allowed us to create a unique reading experience,” said Pelephone’s Motti Cohen in an interview with Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.

“We have thousands of users who enter and read the Bible and now the Koran too,” he added.

Dr Mordechai Kedar a member of Bar Ilan University’s Arabic Department, welcomes the new service.

“I’m not a subscriber yet” he told Haaretz, “but I think it’s a very practical idea. As a researcher I can see myself going into the Koran via a 3G phone and urgently retrieving a specific verse…the integration of Muslim ideas that were born in the seventh century with 21st century gadgets is a welcome phenomenon.”

Downloading the sound of special Muslim calls to prayer on a cell phone is already very popular in the Middle East. It is not unusual to hear ring tones in the form of a chanting muezzin in Jerusalem’s streets.

Every morning I take my son to kindergarten on the back of my bicycle, and every morning we pass the same young Palestinian man listening to Islamic verses on his cell phone. I wonder if he’s a Pelephone subscriber?

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November 25, 2008 in Simon McGregor-Wood | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Iran's "Blogfather" Reportedly Arrested, Accused of Spying for Israel

November 25, 2008 8:16 AM

By LARA SETRAKIAN, ABC News Dubai

This month Iran’s government agencies announced a wave of anti-Israeli law enforcement, from the execution of a 45-year-old businessman named Ali Ashtari to an alleged ring of Mossad agents that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claim to have uncovered this week.

But the most opaque and mysterious case so far is the reported arrest of Hossein Derakhshan, known as the “blogfather” of Iran and accused of spying for Israel. Derakhshan is rightly credited with the birth of blogging in Iran, the first to figure out the technicalities of blogging in the Persian language and teaching others how to do the same. The following was massive – Iranians flooded the Web with hundreds of thousands of blogs in their native tongue, seeing a space for free and uncensored self-expression. Derakhshan represents the opening of that space. 

Derakhshan’s blog became the platform for his controversial views on Iranian life and politics. He’s launched attacks on practically everyone of note -- a particularly harsh one on Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi -- and though once a a government critic, he had recently taken clear sides with President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, praising his “brilliant strategy of dismissing Israel and smiling to the U.S.” It’s an odd turnaround, given that Derakhshan famously traveled to Israel, blogging from there with the stated goal of humanizing Israelis to his Iranian readers and vice versa. That trip, he recognized, was likely to get him in trouble with authorities when he returned to Iran earlier this month. "But it's worth it," Derakhshan told the Jerusalem Post in 2006. "Israelis are not evil."   

Why is his arrest so mysterious? His detention has been reported widely in Iran and abroad, yet government officials haven’t actually confirmed his arrest; they simply said they had detained someone of his description without giving a name. Derakhshan’s English language blog has been silent since Oct. 6. 

Don’t expect many tears shed for Derakhshan; of the Iran experts I’ve spoken to none expressed any sympathy for the blogfather. Some saw in him a thirst for fame and irresponsible ambition. And none would be quoted – a sign of a tricky case and its testy character.

Derakhshan's English Language Blog, Derakhshan Interviewed by the Jerusalem Post in 2006, And again in 2007

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November 25, 2008 in Lara Setrakian | Permalink | User Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)