Amr al-Dabbagh has no doubt that if he builds it, they will come. The governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) is one of the brains behind King Abdullah Economic City, a $27 billion development rising out of the desert 100 km north of Jeddah, and he can already envision the arrival of [...]

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A sleepy stretch of sand visited mainly by the odd camel caravan over the centuries, Qatar is in the midst of a massive spending spree, financing museums, skyscrapers and rapid modernization - like much of the Gulf region. But unlike Dubai, which wants to dominate in tourism, Qatar has more modest targets for its seemingly [...]

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FORTUNA, Spain — Lush fields of lettuce and hothouses of tomatoes line the roads. Verdant new developments of plush pastel vacation homes beckon buyers from Britain and Germany. Golf courses — dozens of them, all recently built — give way to the beach. At last, this hardscrabble corner of southeast Spain is thriving.
There is only [...]

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Grain production in Saudi Arabia is now down 42 percent from the peak of 4.9 million tons reached in 1994 and is now on track to decline rapidly in the coming years. Thanks to Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute for compiling these figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
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Peak water in Saudi [...]

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The sprawling site, known as Natanz, made headlines recently because Iran is testing a new generation of centrifuges there that spin faster and, in theory, can more rapidly turn natural uranium into fuel for reactors or nuclear arms. The new machines are also meant to be more reliable than their forerunners, which often failed catastrophically.
On [...]

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Thirty years ago, Dubai wasn’t on the international art map. Today, Art Dubai 2008 serves up a cocktail of private equity firms and expensive art, where Land Rovers and seven-star hotels swaddle international art buyers in a simulated Arabian paradise. By R. Jay Magill, Jr. in Dubai more…

Photo Gallery: Art Dubai 2008
Global Village Dubai: Cultures [...]

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