Ancient masters return to Iraq

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Image source: arabianbusiness.com

Ur’s palaces and temples lie in ruins, but its hulking ziggurat still dominates the desert flatlands of what is now southern Iraq, as it has for millennia.

Climbing the ziggurat’s baked-brick stairway to its wind-scoured summit, you gaze over the royal cemetery excavated 90 years ago by Leonard Woolley, a Briton who recovered treasures rivalling those found in Tutankhamen’s tomb in Egypt in 1924.

Very little work has been done here since, but British archaeologists are now back in the area despite the insecurity in Iraq that had kept them — and all but the most adventurous tourists — away from one of the world’s oldest cities.

Brushing the caked dust from their clothes, Jane Moon and Stuart Campbell arrive back in Ur from another day of digging in a smaller settlement at Tell Khaiber, 20 km (13 miles) away.

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Bahrain's GFH to start delayed $3bn Tunisia project

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Bahrain's Gulf Finance House (GFH) will start building a $3 billion financial park and real estate development north of Tunisia's capital, a project that had been suspended for five years, the Islamic investment bank said on Monday.

The project will be one of the largest private foreign investments in the North African state, which has struggled to revive its economy since the revolution that toppled former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali three years ago.

A caretaker government has taken over to run Tunisia until elections later this year, ending months of crisis. But despite political progress, high living costs and a lack of economic opportunities remain the major concerns for many Tunisians.

GFH's project was scheduled to begin in 2009, but financial difficulties at the Islamic bank andTunisia's 2011 uprising froze several large-scale projects.

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Aldar says building 2,300 new homes for Emiratis

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Aldar Properties said on Monday that it is building 2,300 homes worth AED5.7 billion ($1.55 billion) for UAE nationals on behalf of the Abu Dhabi Government.

The developer said in a statement that current projects under development include two large projects in Abu Dhabi and one in Al Ain. The projects consist of 1,020 villas on Yas Island and 996 villas in Al Falah and 275 Villas at Al Ghuraibah in Al Ain.

The projects are fully funded by the Government of Abu Dhabi and form part of itscommitment towards raising the quality of living for UAE nationals.

The three developments are slated for completion in 2016, Aldar said.

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