Red-Dead Canal Hits More Snags

— The World Bank already is starting to slip behind its own deadlines in launching a $15.5 million USD feasibility study of the proposed Red Sea-Dead Sea canal project. Before the first shovel of dirt is turned, the project to build a canal connecting the two seas will already have to engineer its way through a manmade landscape of political, economic, and environmental obstacles. Step One was supposed to be a formal request for expressions of interest from consulting firms who want to bid on conducting the study. That was to have happened by the end of January. Now, as the end of February approaches, a World Bank officer says the request will be issued "shortly...