There are tall buildings, there are very tall buildings, and then there is the Burj Khalifa. Standing at 829.8 meters, just over half a mile, it has been the tallest structure on the planet since its topping out in 2009, surpassing Taipei 101, which had held the record for half a decade. But the raw number only tells part of the story. Dubai built it for a reason. The emirate had been watching its oil reserves dwindle for years and made a calculated bet on tourism and global prestige instead......

Opened on 11 November 2017, this was the first museum to bear the Louvre name outside France — a landmark moment for the Arab world's cultural ambitions and for Abu Dhabi's long-term vision of Saadiyat Island as a global arts destination. The building alone justifies the visit. Jean Nouvel's design centres on a vast latticed dome — 180 metres across — made up of 7,850 unique metal stars. Sunlight filters through in constantly shifting patterns, casting what has become known as a 'rain of light' .....