Free Republic

ANALYSIS-North Korea's prosperity push could raise poverty 12 May 2009 08:01:56 GMT Source: Reuters By Jon Herskovitz SEOUL, May 12 (Reuters) - North Korea's plan to mark the centenary of the birth of its founder and eternal president, Kim Il-sung, with major rebuilding projects will likely drag its ravaged economy deeper into poverty. But that in turn may eventually force the hermit state to be more cooperative with the outside world, which has been trying with little success to halt Pyongyang's efforts to build nuclear weapons in return for aid. The programme to forge a "great and prosperous nation" by...

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...

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,...

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,...

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...

Dubai: The city on Tuesday unveiled a 75-km canal that will reshape the southern part of Dubai and transform the massive Jebel Ali landmass into an island. New Dubai's latest mega-project, Arabian Canal, will be one of the world's biggest and most expensive engineering feats, costing $61 billion (about Dh224 billion). The giant project will be built in two parts - an $11 billion, 75km canal which will snake from the Palm Jebel Ali to the Palm Jumeirah and a $50 billion "city within a city" that will cover 20,000 hectares along the canal's southern flank. Developed by Limitless, the...