Plans to build a desalination plant to save Melbourne from the grips of drought are in trouble as Australia battles economic recession.

Sourcing finance for big ticket infrastructure items such as the AU$3.1bn plant are drying up almost as fast as the land down under.

Bankers have told media the project faces a funding gap of between AU$1bn and $2bn and that there is just $300m to $500m available from banks for major projects across the country.

The desalination plant is planned for a Melbourne beach and is to built as part of a public private partnership (PPP) with up-front funding from private operators.

Bass Water (led by French company Veolia) and Aquasure (led by French company Degremont) are in the running for the contract to build it and a winner is to be announced mid-2009.

This excellent article in major broadsheet newspaper The Age suggests the plant might die and take its major supporter state premier John Brumby with it.

The newspaper also reports that the federal and state governments are now looking at emergency plans to shore up PPPs struggling across the wide, brown land.

A flowery looking residential development is sprouting from the skyline in Bucharest, Romania.

Designed by MYS Architects, Anador consists of three 27-storey towers currently under construction in the city.

The towers are all the same and look quite curvy from the street, but from above each wing looks like the petals of a flower.

There are plenty of balconies for residents to grow their own greens on - except those lucky enough to score a balcony with a private pool.

Yep this development looks like one for the moneyed and is expected to be finished in 2011.

Amid all the global doom and gloom it looks like Kuwait could be about to make up for all the iced projects around the world with one massive development.

The Kuwaiti government is reportedly about to start on its City of Silk, a brand new 250,000 sq m metropolis on the Tigris and Euphrates river delta.

Anchoring the new city will be the Burj Mubarak al Kabir, a 1001m skyscraper to rival the Burj Dubai.

Designed by London-based architect Eric Kuhne, the skyscraper is three interlocking towers, each twisting 45 degrees top to bottom.

This unusual design is to ensure the whole structure doesn't topple over in high winds.

Popular Science claims the development is about to go ahead. But I guess we shall have to wait and see.

Indonesia will celebrate its national art of batik with a pair of skyscrapers clad in material resembling the textile.

The 210m high Sahid Perdana Twin Towers in Jakarta will reference the traditional form of art on its upper floors while still maintaining a truly modernistic feel.

Designed by Urbane, the elliptical towers will rise from a podium with a pod-shaped entrance. The glass facade will change as the towers rise, merging into a batik-like appearance at the top.

The towers will be linked by a space-age looking skybridge that looks kind of like a UFO has become wedged between the two towers!

The whole complex is expected to open in 2010.

Work has started on a trio of interconnected energy-efficient skyscrapers with lush rooftop gardens in bustling Taipei, Taiwan.

The Chinatrust Bank Headquarters will use the latest technologies and design tools to reduce its carbon footprint and optimise passive heating and cooling.

Designed by NBBJ Architects with Fei and Cheng Associates, the complex features a 30-storey building, 21-storey office block and a 10-storey hotel.

Each of the towers will include vertical atriums and rooftop gardens to insulate the buildings, reduce rainwater runoff and mitigate the urban heat island effect.

They are due for completion in 2012.

Donors have pledged more than £3.2bn to rebuild heavily bombed Gaza after Israel's offensive, but have been warned the money could be useless.

Europe, the US and Gulf states have pledged the most and are expected to hand it over in the next two years.

But Palestinian leaders have warned that rebuilding efforts will be futile unless a peace agreement can be brokered with Israel.

United Nations representatives said rebuilding efforts would also be difficult if border crossings remained closed.

"Aid workers do not have access. Essential commodities cannot get in," said Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general.

"Our first goal is open crossings. By the same token it is essential to ensure illegal weapons do not enter Gaza".

As you might expect there isn't an easy solution. Hamas, which was not invited to the donor conference in Egypt, said bypassing Palestinian authorities undermined reconstruction efforts.

This insightful TIME article looks at why the rebuild money will not help Gaza - throwing water on the hopes of those that might win big rebuild contracts.

And this interestingly explores the politicising of rebuild efforts.

Reuters poses the question: with cash gushing, are things looking up for Gaza - with some interesting results.

Three high flying property executives, including two Nakheel employees, are among 13 Australians that have been arrested as part of a major bribery probe in Dubai.

Among those jailed, detained or under house arrest is the former managing director of state-owned Nakheel's Dubai Waterfront development Matthew Joyce. He has not been charged.

Also under investigation is David Brown, architect and middle eastern head of the Sunland Group - a development company part-owned by wealthy Aussie James Packer. Brown has apparently been interrogated eight times and had his passport confiscated.

Sunland has denied Brown's arrest, saying he is there as a witness to the investigation.

Also in jail without charge is Marcus Lee - a senior executive with Nakheel. He has not been charged.

It is believed the bribery allegations involve millions of dollars in consultancy payments by Sunland to Nakheel and a third party over a waterfront property purchase.

Lawyers and Australian authorities are particularly concerned by the probe.

They say Lee and Joyce have been in solitary confinement since January 25, their mental health is suffering and that they have had only little access to family and lawyers.

Worse still, United Arab Emirates laws allow suspects to be held indefinitely without charge.

Top Aussie newspaper the Sydney Morning Herald has reported the men may be scapegoats.

It reports: "There is a lot of face-saving to be done," said one Melbourne property player well versed in business in Dubai. "The sheik can never be responsible, so somebody else has to be."

Nakheel's Dubai Waterfront is the world's largest coastal development and consists of canals and artificial islands that will shelter around Palm Jebel Ali.

While the rest of the world's cement mixers lay covered in dust, Shenzhen in China is going gangbusters.

The city that is presently building the 439m Kingkey Financial Centre has now jumped on the sustainability bandwagon and is about the show the world how it is done with Shenzhen 4 Tower 1.

Since the name is kind of nonsensical, let's just call it the tetris tower because it kind of looks like the architects at Coop Himmelb(l)au were involved in a particularly taxing round of the game while designing it.

And yeah, yeah tetris tower has been bandied around a bit but too bad.

Now to the important stuff: the wave-like outer skin of the 49m building will be lined with photovoltaic cells featuring mechanisms that will increase wind resistance, provide shade for the worker bees inside, provide natural ventilation and display advertising banners.

The outer skin will also be partially powered by solar and wind energy.

Also, the building will be sectioned. Not in a Britney Spears-on-a-stretcher kind of way but into uses. Inside, offices will be at the top, public areas on the bottom and conferences, meetings and gardens in the middle.

The Middle East better watch out - Shenzhen is fast becoming the new Dubai!