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Surprising Reason Big Butts Are Healthy

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:scientists from Britain’s University of Oxford have discovered that – no buts about it! – women with larger than average backsides are […]

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Heaviest Man in Saudi Gets Royal Treatment

Saudi Arabian King Abdullah has intervened to help save the life of his largest subject, ordering Khalid bin Mohsen to be specially transported from the southern border province of Jazan to the country’s capital to undergo treatment. Nineteen-year-old Shaari, who weighs 1,345 pounds, is believed to be one of the world’s heaviest humans.

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Kuwait Prepares for the End of Oil

While the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been outspoken about their shift to renewable energy to shore up for when oil supplies start to wane, Kuwait has largely remained in the shadows. Kuwait has the best solar irradiation along the Arabian Peninsula, which means they are well poised to bring solar energy on […]

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MENA Mayors Put Heads Together to Build Stronger Cities

Middle East city heads want to make their cities more sustainable. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is 60 percent urbanized compared to the global average of 52 percent and is home to one of the world’s most rapidly expanding populations. By 2030, a 45 percent increase of MENA’s urban population will add […]

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Export Oil, Import Water = Risky Economics for Middle East

Water scarcity has already become a fact of daily life for Egyptians The world’s driest region, the Middle East* and North Africa (MENA), is getting drier at an alarming rate. And yet, despite massive population growth (the Middle East’s population grew 61 percent from 1990 to 2010 to 205 million people) predictions of so-called “water […]

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Green Caravan Film Festival Wants YOUR Support

Want to help support a green film festival in the Middle East? Well, here’s your chance Over the last year, the Middle East has released some stunning green films. Whether it was a short animated film exploring the environmentally-focused folktales of the Gulf, a documentary following a Bedouin woman traveling to India to become a […]

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West Elm’s Living Green Wall is a First in Kuwait

It is almost certain that a new green wall installed in Kuwait is the emirate’s very first. The 175 square foot vertical garden was installed in The Avenue Mall’s West Elm store to mark the first time the American furnishings company has opened an international branch. Featuring resilient plants as diverse as Dracaena, White Butterfly, […]

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Eco-Art Gift Ideas for Sandy Claus

Whether your sandy reminiscences are wet or dry, two artists have devised ways to make your memories tangible. My brain inextricably links sand to sea thanks to 25 summers spent on a New Jersey barrier island. Middle East experiences have me now connecting the grainy stuff to locations and memories largely devoid of water, such […]

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Snake Bites Man on Plane, Forces Emergency Landing

A poisonous snake bit a man on a flight from Cairo to Kuwait, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. A Jordanian passenger who owns a reptile shop in Kuwait smuggled the Egyptian Cobra into his carry-on luggage (a baksheesh or bribe would have made the snake invisible to the Egypt Air security personnel […]

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Kuwait’s Towering Trash Problem

For such a tiny nation, Kuwait produces some of the world’s highest per capita amounts of trash Rubbish may not be the glamorous topic to think about but it is probably the most relatable. We all throw out trash such as packaging which only seems to serve us momentarily or food which wasn’t eaten in time. […]