The reported sale comes a month after the Qatari royals snapped up another picturesque slice of the Mediterranean – a portfolio of hotels on Sardinia's exclusive Costa Smeralda. The 1,236-acre uninhabited island of Oxia in the Ionian Sea was bought for €5m (£4.1m). Previously owned by a Greek-Australian family, it had been on the market for close to €7m. But the Qataris were apparently able to drive a hard bargain, arguing for a lower sale price because of increased property taxes recently introduced by the Greek government. Oxia lies close to the fabled island of Ithaca, reputedly the home of Odysseus, the hero of ... (full story)