A reported blog about all things Middle East and North Africa.
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NASA scientists confirmed to AP today that after a meterorite sighting over Morocco last summer, 15 pounds of rock collected from the area did indeed come from Mars.
AP reports:
This is only the fifth time experts have confirmed chemically that fresh Martian rocks fell to Earth.
... And they landed in Morocco. Though surely stranger things have happened in the region.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/the-casbah/moroccos-very-own-invasion-marsno-seriously
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Jaume Plensa's "Tel Aviv Man" at Art Basel, the world’s premier trade fair for leading galleries and collectors focused on modern and contemporary art.
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The front of the Art Basel building. This year’s show attracted 303 of the world’s top galleries from 36 countries, showing the works of more than 2,500 artists. It drew more than 62,000 visitors, a new record.
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Platform Gallery's Chen Wei and one of his "Recovery Room" series at Liste Young Artist's show. By the time the week was over he had sold more than 10 works, with prices ranging from $1,800 to nearly $3,000.
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A performance spectator admires some of the pieces at Basel Art.
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A performance piece at Basel Scope, done by an unidentified nearly naked man who moved in slow motion up and down the aisles dressed like a Greek version of Mars, the god of war.
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A performance piece at Scope. The man clutched a staff, on which a plastic container for motor oil with the BP logo was impaled.
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An installation piece at Basel Art.
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An installation piece with paper tubes at Basel Art.
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A gallery scene at the Scope Basel show.
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A sculpture of Sperone Westwater Gallery's employee, Michael Short, by Evan Penny.
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Evan Penny's sculpture of Michael Short.
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A woman views Jaume Plensa's "Tel Aviv Man," (Study) 2010, Galerie Lelong, Paris.
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"Medusa marinara," 1997 — a photographic representation of the Medusa in spaghetti and tomato sauce by New York-based Brazilian artist, Vic Muniz.
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Children play around Ai Weiwei's piece, "Field," 2010.
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Heimo Sobernig's "Black Cube" sits on display outside outside.
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A piece by Yayoi Kusama titled "Pumkin."
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Stretching from Morocco to Iran, more than 500 million people live the Middle East and North Africa. That population is expected to exceed 700 million by 2050. Still, the region's population is small relative to its importance. Some 60 percent of the world's oil reserves and 45 percent of natural gas reserves are here, making it one of the world's most consequential economic and political regions. It is also a region of impressive diversity, where civilization began and where sweeping changes are underway.
GlobalPost Middle East editor. read more
GlobalPost Senior Correspondent in Cairo, Egypt. read more
GlobalPost correspondent in Jerusalem.
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