Ras al Khaimah will play host to the 23 finalists for next year's Miss Germany pageant as they practise their talents before the contest. Cameras will capture the women practising interview techniques and modelling skills in a weeklong camp at the Al Hamra Fort and Beach resort. The results are to be shown on German television and the emirate hopes the exposure will provide a boost for its tourist industry.
"The camp is to help prepare the girls," said Hilary McCormack, manager of RAK Tourism. "In previous years, it has been held in Egypt and Spain. The pageant organisers looked all over the UAE and Al Hamra offered the best venue because it was a very large site. "For us, the main attraction is to increase our profile in the German market. It will highlight Ras al Khaimah as a new destination in the UAE."
The Miss Germany Corporation sponsors the pageant. It organises 250 events to select the finalists, each of whom represents one of Germany's main districts. The reigning Miss Germany, Kim-Valerie Voigt, is expected to attend the launch of the camp in Ras al Khaimah. The camp will run from Jan 28 to Feb 7. The pageant finals are scheduled for Feb 14 in Rust, Germany. Last week, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras al Khaimah, urged developers to speed up completion of hotels, shopping malls and a new airport. The emirate is building tourism projects worth about Dh18.3 billion (US$5bn) but efforts have been hampered by power shortages.
Ras al Khaimah plans to attract 2.5 million visitors a year by 2012. It currently attracts about 500,000.
jgerson@thenational.ae
more from Janine di Giovanni
Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The UN General Assembly President in quotes:
YEMEN: “The developments we have seen are promising. We really hope that the parties are going to respect the agreed ceasefire. I think that the sense of really having the political will to have a peace process is vital. There is a little bit of hope and the role that the UN has played is very important.”
PALESTINE: “There is no easy fix. We need to find the political will and comply with the resolutions that we have agreed upon.”
OMAN: “It is a very important country in our system. They have a very important role to play in terms of the balance and peace process of that particular part of the world, in that their position is neutral. That is why it is very important to have a dialogue with the Omani authorities.”
REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL: “This is complicated and it requires time. It is dependent on the effort that members want to put into the process. It is a process that has been going on for 25 years. That process is slow but the issue is huge. I really hope we will see some progress during my tenure.”
