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Developers in Dubai have claimed a new record for the tallest building in the world, saying that the Burj Dubai skyscraper has now topped 688 metres (2,257 ft). The slender, rocket-shaped tower is still under construction. Its final height remains a closely guarded secret, although it is expected to reach 800m. Emaar Properties announced last summer that the skyscraper had surpassed Taiwan’s Taipei 101, which - at 508 metres (1,667 ft) - had been officially the world's tallest building since 2004.

The Mayans and Egyptians constructed incredible feats of architecture able to weather the test of time, but they had no idea their pyramids would inspire the shape of the latest carbon-neutral super-structure to hit Dubai. Dubai-based environmental design firm Timelinks recently released some eye-catching renderings of the gigantic eco pyramid - aptly named Ziggurat - with plans for its official unveiling scheduled for the Cityscape Dubai event which runs October 6-9 of this year. The ginormous pyramid will cover 2.3 square kilometers and will be able to sustain a “community” of up to 1 million. Timelinks claims that their Ziggurat...

Pentagon Makes Fighting Extremism Top Priority Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Pentagon on Thursday officially named "the long war" against global extremism as its top priority and pledged to avert any conventional military threat from China or Russia through dialogue. The Defense Department, in a new national defense strategy, also emphasized the need to subordinate military operations to "soft power" initiatives to undermine Islamist militancy by promoting economic, political and social development in vulnerable corners of the world. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the change would help establish permanent institutional support for counterinsurgency skills...

An editor of an Egyptian independent newspaper said he was questioned by prosecutors Tuesday for violating a government ban on publishing information on the high-profile killing of a Lebanese pop singer. Sunday's edition of the Al-Dustour daily was barred from distribution by authorities because it included an article on arrest of an Egyptian in the slaying of singer Suzanne Tamim last month in the Gulf emirate of Dubai. The article remained on the paper's Web site. Tamim was found stabbed and decapitated in her Dubai apartment on July 28. Her killing has been a top story in Arab media outside...

Security progress in Basra is “overwhelming” and Iraq’s second-largest city could be “another Dubai in the coming decade,” the commander of Multi-National Division - Southeast said July 14, referring to the bustling international business hub. British Army Maj. Gen. Barney White-Spunner told Pentagon reporters via teleconference from Baghdad that Operation Charge of the Knights - ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in March - has “well and truly” turned the tide in the city. Before the operation, militias controlled large parts of the city. Militia leaders, many under control of Iran, intimidated the populace and turned the city into...

GE Dubai frenzy

British expatraites in Dubai continued to party away this weekend - despite last week's stern reminder from the kingdom's rulers that Sex on the Beach should remain restricted to the cocktail menu. A week after the arrest of British saleswoman Michelle Palmer for an alleged drunken tryste on the shores of the Persian Gulf, fellow expats appeared to have lost little enthusiasm for the work-hard, play-hard lifestyle for which the Emirate has become famous. In the Double Decker, a packed London bus-themed pub near the soaring tower of the seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel, Simone Dobson nursed a vodka and...

0-14 TowerDetailsArabian BladeDetails Burj DubaiDetailsDancing TowersDetails DubaiLand Snow DomeDetails Falcon City Of Wonders Details Madinat Al ArabDetails Dubai MarinaDetails Dubai Metro Details Dubai Old TownDetails The OpusDetailsDubai Pearl Details Dubai RenaissanceDetails Dubai Sports CityDetailsDubai Towers Details Dubai WaterfrontDetails Golden DomeDetailsDubai Hydropolis Details Palm IslandsDetails Sports Science WorldDetails The Cloud Details The WorldDetailsDa Vinci TowerDetailsArch Bridge DetailsUpdates (27-3-2008) Dubai MallDetailsDubai World Central International AirportDetails

An Iraqi man smiles as he drives by giving a friend a ride with his cargo motorcycle in the neighborhood of Hayy Al Asdiqa, Basra, Iraq, last month. Photo by Sgt. Tim Ortez. WASHINGTON — Security progress in Basra is “overwhelming� and Iraq’s second-largest city could be “another Dubai in the coming decade,� the commander of Multi-National Division - Southeast said June 14, referring to the bustling international business hub.British Army Maj. Gen. Barney White-Spunner told Pentagon reporters via teleconference from Baghdad that Operation Charge of the Knights - ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in March - has...

London, July 9: Publishing firm manager Michelle Palmer has landed in trouble after being caught and arrested by a cop for having sex on Jumeirah Beach in Dubai. Now, the Brit woman, who breached a strict ban on unmarried sex during her beach romp in Dubai on July 8, could end up serving six years in jail. She had earlier gotten drunk during a champagne brunch that turned into an all-day binge, and was later spotted with another British holidaymaker, known only as Vince, walking together along the shore. The pair was later seen by a police officer as having...

Slavery's new Mecca In a new book documenting the modern slave trade, E. Benjamin Skinner travels to Dubai, known in the sex trade as 'Disneyland for men' E. Benjamin Skinner, National Post Published: Friday, July 04, 2008 Charles Crowell/Bloomberg News To enter Dubai's most notorious brothel, the Cyclone, I paid $16 for a ticket that the bursar stamped with the official seal of the Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing. Prostitution is illegal in Dubai, whose laws are rooted in Islam, with penalties ranging up to death. But the stamp was only the first of several contradictions in a place...

Here's a crazy idea that's being discussed by the rulers of the Persian Gulf city-state of Dubai: What if they were to invite Barack Obama and John McCain to come to the desert oasis for a presidential debate? Yes, I know: This is America's presidential campaign, not a traveling roadshow to be shared with foreigners. And if the candidates can't even agree on a schedule of town meetings out in the American heartland, why should they travel to a sheikdom that's 7,000 miles from Washington - and a short boat ride from Iran? But the idea of a Dubai debate...

Two men were recently arrested on charges of conspiring to export military aircraft parts to Iran. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency states Hassan Saied Keshari and Traian Bujduveanu are charged in a federal Criminal Complaint with conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the United States Iran Embargo, and the Arms Export Control Act for their participation in a conspiracy to export US-made military aircraft parts to Iran. According to the affidavit filed in support of the Criminal Complaint, Keshari owns and operates Kesh Air International, a business located in Novato, CA. Bujduveanu owns and operates...

ABU DHABI — A leading Gulf firm in the United Arab Emirates whose plans to operate six U.S. ports was last year rebuffed by Congress, has been certified as a partner in a U.S. port security program. The state-owned Dubai Ports World has been certified as a partner in the Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism. DP World underwent a successful audit that determined the company met international ISO 28000 security standards required by C-TPAT. In 2007, DP abandoned plans to purchase a British company that operated six major ports in the United States, Middle East Newsline reported. Congress was opposed to...

Dubai terror threat is no surprise Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom And there is often the feeling that any Islamic extremists plotting attacks in the UAE, rapidly becoming the financial centre of the Middle East, ...

DUBAI: Doha Bank is in talks with JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley to help it sell $1bn of Islamic bonds to fund the Gulf’s first carbon credits exchange. The sale will probably happen in the first quarter of next year after being delayed from this October, Doha Bank chief executive R Seetharaman said in an interview in Dubai yesterday. “I want to make sure we have all the regulatory approvals for our Energy City project and that the borrowing is cost- effective,” Seetharaman said. Seetharaman said last year Doha Bank was working with the San Francisco, California-based RainTrust...

The first refuge of a politician panicked by rising prices is always to blame "speculators." So right on time for this election season, Congress has decided to do something about rising oil prices by shooting the messenger known as the energy futures market... And who are these "speculators"...? The ...Intercontinental Exchange says that an increasing share of its customers are not financial houses but commercial firms that need to manage oil-price risks – refiners, airlines, and other major energy consumers... the leaders of Capitol Hill's shoot-the-messenger caucus are among those most culpable for the lack of domestic oil supplies. Senator...

Beware talk of Dubai being home to the world's biggest hotel. The recently expanded Venetian hotel in Las Vegas now offers 7,000 rooms - topping the 6,500 rooms at the planned Asia Asia in Dubailand. The Venetian's new $2bn, 50-storey Palazzo extension adds two award-winning restaurant franchises and a nightclub run by Jay-Z. In total the hotel now offers 50 restaurants, cafés, bars and banqueting halls can serve 10,000 diners a night. Asia Asia, due to open in 2010, plans for 6,500 rooms (of which 5,100 will be four-star and 1,400 five star), but, with plenty of desert space, could...

Dubai is picking up the mantle of the financial capital of the world, as global banking sectors London and New York continue to fade on the back of the global credit crises. The new mantra in New York and London is "Dubai, Mumbai, Shanghai or goodbye", as job losses mount in both cities while opportunities in the east continue to rise. Lehman Brothers on Tuesday became the latest investment bank moving one of its most senior positions to the UAE. Philip Lynch, the bank's co-head of equities for Europe and the Middle East, will be relocating to Dubai after serving...

A 50-year-old Saudi woman asked for divorce after her husband lifted her face veil while she was sleeping, local press reported. For 30 years, the wife said she never showed her face to her husband in conformity with the tradition of her native village near the south western Saudi city of Khamis Mushayt. "After all these years, he tries to commit such a big mistake," the wife told Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadh, after she left the house in total disbelief. She said the husband apologized and promised never to do it again. This is not the first case of husbands who...

The FINANCIAL -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce raised alarm over legislation introduced by Senator Harry Reid to repeal tax incentives for oil exploration, impose a 25% windfall tax on oil companies, and allow consumers to sue nations that supply oil to the U.S. "Higher taxes and more lawsuits won't lower the price of gas at the pump or make America more energy secure. If this legislation is enacted, Americans must be prepared for potential oil supply disruptions and higher prices for gasoline, home heating oil and natural gas," said Bill Kovacs, vice president of Environment, Technology and Regulatory Affairs...

Somali forces rescued a hijacked ship carrying food to this desperately poor African nation Tuesday, as a top security official accused U.S. troops stationed off the lawless coast of failing to combat growing piracy. Seven pirates were arrested and three were wounded in the raid on the Dubai-flagged al-Khaleej, said Abdullahi Said Samatar... "It is sad that the American forces off the coast of Somalia are here for fun and are not combatting the pirates," ... A spokesman for the transitional government, Abdi Hagi Gobdon, welcomed French and U.S. efforts to combat piracy and guard the country's coastline. The transitional...

Tax data shows $15 million from partnership with Arab sheik The tax returns released by Bill and Hillary Clinton late Friday reveal $15 million earned in a partnership with billionaire "supermarket czar" investor Ron Burkle and the sheik of Dubai, whose Arab state sparked controversy with a purchase giving it control of 22 American ports. Burkle is widely known as a top "FOB," or "Friend of Bill," whose corporate jet Bill Clinton has used so often the New York Observer claims Clinton has taken to calling it "Air Force Two." The news comes with the disclosure Burkle's Yucaipa Companies...

MADINAT ZAYED, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai's crown prince bought a camel for an unprecedented high price of $2.7 million during a desert festival in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Sheik Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the son of Dubai's ruler Sheik Mohammed and his heir apparent, bought 16 camels for $4.5 million during a camel beauty pageant taking place during a desert carnival that aims to preserve the nomadic way of life in the oil-rich Gulf. Sheik Hamdan paid $2.7 million for one camel, Emirates' state news agency WAM reported Tuesday. It gave no details on the...

Emaar Properties' iconic Burj Dubai has reached a towering 629 metres, smashing the existing record to become the world’s tallest manmade structure, the developer said on Monday. The 160-storey tower, already the world’s tallest building and tallest free-standing structure, has now surpassed the 628.8-metre high KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, US. The KVLY-TV mast, used for transmitting television signals, had held the title of world’s tallest supported structure since 1963. Emaar Chairman Mohamed Ali Alabbar said the new record was another milestone for the Burj Dubai, placing the city in the global spotlight once again. “With over 160 storeys now,...

The tallest building in the world and still growing Last updated at 15:21pm on 6th April 2008 It is the tallest man-made structure in the world – and it is still growing. When complete next year the Burj Dubai will stretch half a mile into the sky over the United Arab Emirates, taller than three Canary Wharf towers balanced on top of each other. Already 2,200ft tall, and the result of 22million man hours of labour, the Burj is the pinnacle of skyscraper engineering. Scroll down for more... When complete next year the Burj Dubai will be taller than three...

glaringly missing from the summary was mention of $15 million in fees paid by Burkle's Yucaipa Global Opportunities Fund since 2002

The earnings represent 20 percent of the approximately $75 million Bill Clinton earned during the same period, according to the documents. That may raise new questions about what services he performed for Los Angeles-based Yucaipa, whose investors include the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al- Maktoum.Tax lawyers said the Yucaipa partnership income for Bill Clinton looks to be a form of salary because it was in round numbers for most years. ``Most people who make that much money work for it,'' said Yale University tax law professor Michael Graetz, a former Treasury Department official in President George H.W....

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — For years, Sharla Musabih has fought a lonely battle to protect battered wives and victims of human trafficking here. She founded the Emirates’ first women’s shelter here and she became a familiar figure at police stations, relentlessly hounding officers to be tougher on abusive husbands. She has also earned many enemies. Emiratis do not often take kindly to rights advocates drawing attention to the dark side of their fast-growing city-state on the Persian Gulf, better known for its gleaming office towers and artificial islands. Still, no one was quite prepared for the stories that started...

With last week's announcement of Busch's four-park deal in Dubai -- they'll be running a Busch Gardens, SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, and Aquatica water park -- it's worth revisiting what's been going on with all the developments we've covered in Dubai before. And there are plenty of new schemes in the offing as well. Someone somewhere really should maintain an obsessive blog about what's popping in Dubai real estate (hello Curbed?), but failing that, here's a roundup of some of the biggest, weirdest, and most expensive skyscrapers and manufactured metropoli in Dubai and environs. Not comprehensive by any means, because I...

For 3,881 years, the Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest structure ever built. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World had a lot to live up to even then. The Great Pyramid and its cohorts remain something to see: a feat of strength and wealth shouting to the world, “Look at me!” Well, there’s a new Pharaoh in town, and he’s building the world’s tallest buildings on the backs of foreign workers and foreign cash, just like old times. The Middle East once again holds the distinction of being home to the tallest structure on earth. Dubai alone has...

The U.S. Treasury is struggling with how to handle any political or Islamic ramifications as Persian Gulf sovereign wealth funds look to make substantial investments in capital-poor American banks and securities firms. The crisis in mortgage-backed securities has created a need for new capital to enter financial markets after major financial institutions such as Bear Stearns and Carlyle Capital Corp. failed over the weekend. The crisis is an opportunity for sovereign wealth funds that have prospered as the price of oil has soared over $110 a barrel. WND previously reported sovereign wealth funds in six Persian Gulf countries, including Kuwait,...

What happens when you combine a collapsing dollar, America's addiction to oil, a slumping commercial real estate market, tight credit markets, and hopes for revitalization of downtown Los Angeles? You get a situation where the royal family of Dubai plays a major role in shaping the future of Los Angeles. News item: "Armed with $100 million from Dubai and a refined design plan, officials Monday said construction will finally begin next month on the Frank Gehry-designed residential and shopping plaza along Grand Avenue that is considered a linchpin to downtown L.A.'s revitalization." More, from the L.A. Times: "The announcement comes...

News Corp’s Fox unit will launch two free-to-air channels in the Middle East this year, including a 24-hour movie network and a second channel with mostly U.S. programming, Daily Variety reports. Fox, which will use Dubai as headquarters for at least one of the channels, is partnering with Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal’s regional network Rotana, the newspaper says.

The booming Muslim Gulf emirate of Dubai announced it will build the world’s first museum dedicated to the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum, has authorised construction of the museum to examine the legacy and message of Islam’s founder, state media reported. “The project aims to shed light on the life and legacy of the Holy Prophet and the divine message he lived for, thus introducing the message of eternal love and peace Islam gave the entire mankind,” the official WAM news agency said.The museum will also inform visitors on the history and...

Preparing an appeal of a dismissed lawsuit against the Council of American-Islamic Relations, talk radio host Michael Savage and his legal team have taken a new tack, investigating CAIR's foreign financial backers, WND has learned. CAIR is registered as a nonprofit organization recognized as tax-exempt under IRS code section 501(c)(3), which restricts "lobbying on behalf of a foreign government." CAIR's website claims that it receives no foreign government support. However, CAIR's headquarters near the U.S. Capitol until recently was owned by the ruler of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the ruler's foundation has pledged $50 million to capitalize a long-term...

A DEVELOPER IN DUBAI, one of seven oil-rich emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, has hired Rem Koolhaas to design a posh new neighborhood, Waterfront City, on a newly created island in the Persian Gulf. The Dutch architect plans to fill the island with a regular grid of intentionally bland highrises punctuated with an eyeball, a pretzel, a drill bit — that is to say, huge buildings that bring such objects to mind. Of course it is ridiculous. In 2000, Koolhaas won the Pritzker Prize. They don’t hand out such an honor willy-nilly. Your work must be totally...

Citigroup, the financial giant that is one of the nation's largest banks and one of New York City's largest private-sector employers, is facing more trouble, with an analyst at Merrill Lynch forecasting an $18 billion write-down in the first quarter for Citi on top of the $18 billion in write-downs the company has already announced.

Mideast sovereign wealth funds may fail to save troubled U.S. banking giant Citigroup Inc. unless more cash is pumped into the lender, the head of a $13 billion Dubai-owned investment firm said Tuesday. Sameer Al Ansari, Chief Executive of Dubai International Capital told delegates at a private equity conference that it will take more than the combined efforts of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the Kuwait Investment Authority and Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to save the bank. "It's going to take more than that to rescue Citi," Ansari said. He added that more write downs are expected and...

As G7 economies battle the subprime crisis, emerging markets continue to power ahead. So does construction there. The huge number of companies setting up in the region is driving demand for office and residential space. Driven by a mix of compact cities, expensive land and corporate ego, 16 of the 20 tallest buildings in the world are already located in Asia or the Middle East, the tallest being Taiwan's 508 meter-high Taipei 101 Tower. This spring, Mori Building Co. will add to the list the Shanghai World Financial Center, No. 2 at 492 meters tall. In Shanghai's Grade A office...

Iranian firms do brisk biz in UAE Agence France-Presse - 13 February, 2008 www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?id=380463&news_type=Economy〈=en Thousands of Iranian firms are still doing business in the country's top trading partner, the United Arab Emirates, despite a US drive to choke Tehran's economy over its controversial nuclear programme. But US banking sanctions are also beginning to bite, industry sources say. Iranian businesses "have not had any problem with local banks because we are considered UAE companies" under local rules requiring at least 51 per cent of a business to be owned by an Emirati national, said Nasser Hashempour, executive deputy president of the...

The MSM have actually been asking where the 5 MILLION DOLLARS that Hillary loaned herself came from, but no one has an answer and the Republicans have NOT followed up on this.....why not?? Was it the URANIUM DEAL money....Ron Burkle's payout of $20 MILLION to Bill Clinton even though Hillary insists it's HER money?? How does one come up with 5 MILLION so easily?? Could it be true they have offshore bank accounts?? Obama raised this issue, but there is NO follow-up....why not??

Former President Clinton stands to reap around $20 million -- and will sever a politically sensitive partnership tie to Dubai -- by ending his high-profile business relationship with the investment firm of billionaire friend Ron Burkle. Mr. Clinton is negotiating to end his relationship with Mr. Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. as part of a broader effort to protect the presidential campaign of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, from potential conflicts of interest. Details of Mr. Clinton's involvement in Yucaipa and his efforts to unwind it come from documents and interviews with people familiar with the matter. The former president has had...

Queen sells landmark to Dubai fund By Daniel Thomas Wed Feb 6, 8:15 PM ET Sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East are benefiting from the sovereign's wealth - by buying a landmark West End building from the Crown Estate. On Wednesday, a consortium backed by Istithmar, the property arm of the Dubai government, paid £130m ($255m) for the 130-year-old Metropole building in London which was part of the Queen's property portfolio. The sale is the latest signal of the forces now driving the capital's property market - no longer the "old money" of the aristocratic estates but the newer...

(CNN) -- An undersea cable carrying Internet traffic was cut off the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai, officials said Friday, the third loss of a line carrying Internet and telephone traffic in three days. Dubai has been hit hard by an Internet outage apparently caused by a cut undersea cable. Ships have been dispatched to repair two undersea cables damaged on Wednesday off Egypt. The ships were expected to reach the site of the break on Tuesday with repairs completed by February 12, according to a press release from FLAG Telecom, which owns one of the cables. Stephan Beckert, an...

The Clintons' Multi-Million Dollar Dubai Conflict-of-Interest Bill's $20 million payoff from the UAE won't end the appearance of corruption. In the most recent Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama threw off their gloves and attacked each other for their suspicious and scandalous ties. And you know what? They were both right! Here’s a story this week that makes my point with respect to Hillary: According to the Wall Street Journal: “Former President Clinton stands to reap around $20 million -- and will sever a politically sensitive partnership tie to Dubai -- by ending his high-profile...

A New York architectural firm has been selected by Dubai authorities to design the longest and what could be the most expensive arch bridge in the world. The firm FXFOWLE has designed a unique structure that will include massive archways that will tower 205 metres above 12 lanes of traffic and two railway lines carrying Dubai Metro trains along the Green Line. The bridge’s largest main span will be 667 metres long, eclipsing the 550-metre main span of Lupu Bridge in Shanghai, China, which is currently the world’s longest arch bridge. The Dh3-billion project will take four years to build,...

Former President Clinton stands to reap around $20 million -- and will sever a politically sensitive partnership tie to Dubai -- by ending his high-profile business relationship with the investment firm of billionaire friend Ron Burkle. Mr. Clinton is negotiating to end his relationship with Mr. Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. as part of a broader effort to protect the presidential campaign of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, from potential conflicts of interest. Details of Mr. Clinton's involvement in Yucaipa and his efforts to unwind it come from documents and interviews with people familiar with the matter. The former president has...

Not content with finishing construction of the "The World", a constellation of man-made islands forming the shape of the continents, Dubai's developer, Nakheel, is to build "The Universe": an archipelago of reclaimed islands depicting the sun and the planets and moons of the solar system. Only half of The World's islands have been sold, but Sultan bin Sulayem, Nakheel's chairman, says Dubai is pressing ahead with another offshore project. Residents have already moved into apartments and villas on Palm Jumeirah, the city's first reclaimed development, which will boast several deluxe hotels, including a refurbished Queen Elizabeth II, the liner's final...

I was surprised to hear Rush Limbaugh the other day say that there was no 'Thoroughbred' Conservative in the 2008 Republican nomination Field for President. I was thinking to myself, What? Rep. Duncan Hunter is Conservative right down the line. From his web site: Hunter' Ratings National Rifle Association: A+ Americans for Better Immigration: A+ Eagle Forum: 100% Christian Coalition: 100% Family Research Council Action: 100% Campaign for Working Families: 100% Concerned Women for America: 100% National Right to Life Committee: 100% Federation for American Immigration Reform: 100% National Federation of Independent Business: 100% Gun Owners of America: A (Read...