Three Qatari “Suspects” Who are Spreading MERS Virus

Guess who might be the culprit carrying a new SARS-like virus to people in the Middle East?

It’s that frying time of the year again. Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights which lasts for eight days. The holiday commemorates the victory of the Jewish people against Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 165 B.C, and the restoration of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, which had been ransacked and desecrated. The light in the Temple, […]

Israel, being on the “land bridge” that links it with Africa and Asia Minor, has always been well known for a number of biblical fruits. These include: the multi-seed pomegranates, grapes from which superb wines are now made; and of course several varieties of dates and olives. Another iconic fruit, although not native, comes from the […]

Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates have all ranked among the world’s top 10 fattest nations with ballooning obesity rates and an explosion of associated diseases. But there’s an upside to oversize:

Polio,or Poliomyelitis has not been a serious medical issue ever since the first wide scale vaccines were developed by Dr. Jonas Salk in the early 1950s. Within the past few years, however, the often debilitating virus has began to return to epidemic proportions in many parts of the world. This includes the Middle East.

Green Prophets burn lots of calories trying to make the planet a better place, but you can’t do much do-gooding if you’re dead. I’ll share a day in my week as a cautionary tale (and offer a peek into Amman’s excellent, and sometimes culturally surreal, medical system).

The number of people left homeless by the devastating Philippines typhoon Haiyan has topped 800,000 according to the latest United Nations estimate. Haiyan was the biggest storm ever recorded to reach landfall, wiping out entire villages and killing over 4,000 people (numbers continue to rise). Feeling the inevitable urge to assist?

A photographic series entitled Pacific Light captures a spellbinding dance that begins when ink, paint and soap collide. Watch stunning color combinations puddle and swirl. Visual artist Ruslan Khasanov snapped gorgeous photos, but his video and GIFs (short for Graphic Interchange Format, a form of computer image that moves as soundless animation) are spectacular.

With the Middle Eastern olive season in full swing, it’s natural to think of cooking with those fleshy, savory olive morsels. If you’ve been lucky enough to get olives pickled on the farm, as I did at the Olive Branch Festival in Israel, most of your work has been done for you.

In the race towards old age, our “girls” cross the finish line first! Maybe not a prize you want to win, but breast tissue ages faster than the rest of our body according to a study published in the journal Genome Biology.

More massive-scale animal abuse found in Israel. This time the kosher status of the company is at stake: Following news that cattle and sheep are being severely mistreated at a large kosher slaughterhouse, Israel’s Kolbotek consumer watchdog program has again revealed large scale animal abuse at the country’s leading poultry processing plant, Soglowek.

Scientists in Dubai are growing a new kind of food crop in salt marshes along the Persian Gulf coast. A variety of salt-resistant succulent, Salicornia are typically sold in gourmet shops in Europe, but they have other uses as well.

Smoking the hookah, nargilah or shisha pipe is a truly fun and social way to connect in the Middle East. It’s an oriental fantasy for newcomers and even for women in private circles who want to wind down and let loose. But one session can be like smoking 600 cigarettes!

We have to laugh at this research, given the latest news that there is a gay test being developed by Kuwait to weed out homosexuals from Gulf regions: scientists from Israel and Switzerland find that while many kinds of insects and spiders “act” gay, they probably are gay by accident.

“Middle Eastern food” is a catch-phrase that embraces the cuisines of so many countries, and ethnic streams inside those countries, that a list of 60 essential ingredients can’t cover everything. But if you love the flavors of the Middle East…

Truffles -the delicious tubers- have been a topic in food literature throughout the ages, from neo-Sumerian inscriptions in the 20th century BCE, to the writings of 19th-century chef Brilliant Savarin, to the joyful greediness of contemporary author Peter Mayle. But if you think that good truffles come exclusively from Italy and France…

There’s nothing like homemade falafel when you’re in the mood for those savory, crunchy chickpea balls packed into a fluffy pita. We teach you how to make whole-wheat pita here. Making your own falafel, you decide exactly which fixings go into your package of chickpea goodness.

Eating vegan only has become so popular in Tel Aviv that a new NGO called Vegan Friendly are handing out certificates to restaurants who offer a vegan main course. Look for the sticker on the door.

It’s the final run-up to Eid al-Adha, when Muslims around the planet commemorate God’s test of the Prophet Ibrahim by slaughtering a hapless quadruped: also called Qurbani, it’s an essential religious ritual wherein an estimated 100 million creatures will be killed.

Khameer, a round flatbread of humble Beduin origins, once fell out of favor with the upscale eaters of the United Arab Emirates. But the tender round bread with its golden top is enjoying a comeback. We show you how to make it. Gently slit open, the puffy top separates from the flexible bottom layer to make […]

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the immune system attacks the nervous system. The result can be a wide range of debilitating motor, physical, and mental problems. But smoking a spliff might decrease this inflammation, scientists from Israel find.

Public health officials in the Gulf states are playing down fears about an outbreak of the deadly MERS coronavirus among pilgrims travelling to the Hajj in Saudi Arabia this month, though doctors are advising the elderly, people with existing health conditions, pregnant women and young children to stay away.

If someone offered you camel bourguignon or a camel-burger on a gold-leaf bun, would you think they were kidding? We offered you an affordable recipe for camel burgers in this post. Now The Daily Star reports that in the Abu Dhabi Emirates Palace Hotel, the humble camel has been elevated into the new ulra-gourmet meat.

Gnocchi or kofteh? I’d always thought of kofteh as meatballs of one kind or another. But in this recipe, I discovered that a dumpling may go by that name too. And how delicious the dumplings – gnocchi – or kofteh are.

Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but piety may prove lethal. So say global health officials as they warn travellers to take special precautions when on Hajj, where a mysterious virus knowns as MERS threatens a concentrated pilgrim population expected to exceed 3 million. Over a year has passed since the first case emerged of […]