Well, according to reports from Friday, it’s sinking: “Luxury Dubai development sinking.”

Of course, this all comes from a lawsuit against Nakheel, the state-run developer on the islands, but still, it’s quite possible.

Just today publisher Simon & Schuster announced that Jeffery Deaver’s contemporary-set James Bond novel will be titled “CARTE BLANCHE” and is set in Dubai!

Throws another monkeywrench into my whole James Bond vs. Mission: Impossible in Dubai debate (see James Bond in Dubai).

Somehow it fell through the cracks this July, but luckily I just thought of it today (what with it being the UAE’s National Day today).

So here’s the article: “The World’s Richest Royals.”

Key quote:

No surprise then that Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum fared the worst. His fortune dropped $7.5 billion this year as his Dubai Holding crumbled under a $12 billion debt burden. This comes on the heels of last year’s loss of $6 billion, making him the biggest loser on Forbes’ annual list of the world’s 15 richest royals two years in a row.

To boot, Dubai had to ask for another handout from fellow emirate Abu Dhabi in December, to the tune of $10 billion. Abu Dhabi’s ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan, though not as heavily indebted, also saw his fortune shrink for the second year in a row, down $3 billion as result of last year’s 40% decline in oil export earnings as well as double-digit declines in real estate and stock markets. He falls down a notch to No.4 on the list.

Here’s the list:

1 ) King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Thailand
Fortune: $30 billion (unchanged)

2 ) Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Brunei
Fortune: $20 billion (unchanged)

3 ) King Abdullah bin Abul Aziz, Saudi Arabia
Fortune: $18 billion (up)

4 ) Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan, United Arab Emirates
Fortune: $15 billion (down)

5 ) Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai
Fortune: $4.5 billion (down)

6 ) Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein
Fortune: $3.5 billion (unchanged)

7 ) King Mohammed IV, Morocco
Fortune: $2.5 billion (unchanged)

8 ) Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatar
Fortune: $2.4 billion (up)

9 ) Prince Albert II, Monaco
Fortune: $1 billion (unchanged)

10 ) Prince Karim Al Husseini, Aga Khan
Fortune: $800 million (unchanged)

The basic gist is that for a month Muslims fast from dawn until sunset; using it as time for inner reflection, devotion to God, and self-control. The usual practice is to have a pre-fast meal in the early morning and a post-fast meal after dark.

I was amazed in Dubai how many consumer products used Ramadan in marketing. One example I showed on the blog was the Ramadan M&Ms bag (see Ruining Ramadan).

There was an bus stop poster ad I always meant to take a photo of but didn’t. It was always too hot to stop, and I was driving fast in my air conditioned car. After the ads came down I kicked myself.

But then I found an image online.

First a little background – the Islamic calendar is lunar, so the start of Ramadan is based on the first waxing crescent moon.

Pretty awesome, isn’t it?

Ramadan Kareem, everyone. Go in peace.

Reality?

Dubai?

I’m … shocked!

Dubailand was the conglomerate of theme parks that was always touted as “twice the size of Walt Disney World” using phrases such as “45 mega projects” and “5 billion square feet” – even though right now it’s all desert. I railed on it quite about over at Newlywed in Dubai.

Anyway, here’s today’s key quote:

Theme parks still on the list include Universal Studios, Six Flags and Legoland, [Khalid Al Malek, chief executive officer of Dubai Properties Group] said.

No mention of the other parks, which include (but are not limited to):

Warner Bros. Movie World
Dreamworks Animation Theme Park
F1-X Theme Park Dubai
Marvel Superheroes Theme Park
Dubai Snowdome
Astrolab

Huh. Reality.

So I uploaded the 380 pages of my Newlywed in Dubai: Best of the Blog book and came up with this:

Pretty cool.

You might recognize it from Newlywed in Dubai …