From a €17 pad in Sharm Sheikh to a €61 room on Gaza Beach and a cave home in Israel, AirBnB is used widely across the Middle East, but the San Francisco-based startup ran into a glitch recently which could mean trouble for the rest of the world.
AirBnB Rental Ruled Illegal – What it Means for the Middle East
Muslims in Myanmar Forced to Two Child Limit
While limiting children, or not having them at all, is a good way to fight global warming and the demise of our poor planet, there is nothing more inhumane in being told how many children you can have.
Israel’s Better Place EV Company Dies and Files for Bankruptcy
It seemed like a sure thing five years ago, but today Israel’s Better Place electric car company has pulled the plug on its electric car network in Israel as it files for bankruptcy today.Â
Israel’s Earthquake Proof Table Added to MoMA’s Permanent Collection
Students are typically advised to crawl under their desks when an earthquake strikes, but then they often become trapped when the table collapses. Israeli designers Arthur Brutter and Ido Bruno designed a solution to this problem called “the Earthquake Proof Table”. It’s able to withstand one tonne of weight, and meets the needs in developing nations.Â
Jordan’s Wadi Rum in Pictures, a Green Prophet Journey
Jordan’s magical red dessert is short on plastic bags, throwaway bottles, and paper litter. Begs the question, does raw nature shame us into better environmental behavior? If so, a stay in Wadi Rum nature reserve should be a national obligation.
Following Oman Success, GlassPoint Wants to be the IKEA of Solar
New life for old oil fields? Last year Oman inaugurated a 7MW solar pilot plant that produces steam to loosen thick, stubborn oil. Petroleum Development Oman has since hailed the four acre complex of glass houses a scorching success, and the supplier GlassPoint is preparing to become the “Ikea of solar,” Forbes reports.
Architects Embrace Iranian History at the Tabriz Bazaar
Head to the heart of any Middle Eastern city and find a vibrant commercial hub, usually in the shadow of a major mosque – the bazaar. An Iranian bazaar with incredible history (Marco Polo shopped there!) may now win the 2013 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
Futuristic Dubailand Theme Park City Growing Ahead With $55 Billion
It’s a fact that Disneyland fits inside Disney World’s parking lot. Now double up Disney World and you almost match the planned footprint of Dubaiworld. That’s unimaginable, and sure to haunt my dreams.
Abu Dhabi: Biggest Polluter Turned Green Police
In October 2010, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) called out oil-producing Abu Dhabi for being one of the world’s highest emitters of carbon dioxide per capita. Now, less than three years later, the government’s environmental arm has turned the emirate into the eco-police.
Molasses, or black treacle is Egypt’s favorite sugar
It is hard to find a house anywhere in the world that doesn’t have sugar in the pantry, but in Egypt, molasses is the number one sweet treat. This is particularly true of Upper Egypt (the southern half of the country), the site of many sugar cane plantations.
Also referred to as black treacle, molasses is formed as a byproduct of refining sugar cane, according to Raef Abdul Salam, who discusses his family business in a recent interview.
Abdul Salam’s father ran a plantation and sugar cane mill in Upper Egypt, and when he died, the family decided to split up the business. One son runs the plantation, another oversees operations at the mill, and Abdul Salam is the salesman.
He packs ceramic jars filled with a mix of sesame paste and black treacle and rides around Cairo on a motorbike. One jar fetches just $1.07.
Cheaper than honey, according to Abdul Salam, but packed with calories, the sticky sweet molasses is a staple for Egyptian families. But it is also has other applications.
Cleopatra’s beauty secret?
Used in beauty products, such as hair strengtheners, and in pastries and sweets, such as jallab, molasses is said to be a natural cough suppressant, and also wards off anemia and indigestion.At least, that is what his father used to say.
What is Jallab concentrate?
Jallab is a syrup that is sugar and molasses based and rose flavored. This Levant born drink is a perfect sweet treat on Arabic nights. Sadly, sugar cane production has declined in recent years as more farmers are using their land for more profitable crops, says the salesman, yet molasses remains in rich demand.
While regular refined sugar has repeatedly shown itself to be a natural enemy of the body, black treacle is one of the few sweeteners that have nutritional benefits. It is a source of iron and calcium and also contains potassium, magnesium, vitamin B6 and selenium.
There is an old piece of wisdom, says Abdul Salam. “If you want to live a long life, you should take four spoonfuls of black treacle a day.”
Update to 2023, a Nature study shows that are health risks from consuming molasses, which potentially increases epileptic seizures. Folk wisdom may be true when we had a very different unprocessed diet and non-GMO food and less meat. Taking bits of the best research to confirm why you eat a lot of meat, drink red wine and eat molasses may be a foolish thing to do.
:: Al-Shorfa
Watch Out for Falling Palm Trees Near You
The date palm is an important part of the religious, cultural, and economic heritage of the
Arabian Peninsula and the rest of the Middle East. But now it is being decimated by a tiny invasive beetle.
New Petition Calls for End to Animal Cruelty in Saudi Arabia
AÂ new online petition has been created to curtail animal cruelty in Saudi Arabia. It calls for ending the use of violence against animals for human pleasure and currently needs around 1200 signatures in order for the petition and letter to be sent to the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture.
Barcelona Rejects Soaring Dubai-Style “Space Hotel”
A US developer recently approached Barcelona City Hall with plans to build a soaring Dubai-style “Space Hotel” complete with a zero gravity spa, but the city mayor rejected the concept on the grounds that it would create too much of a “spectacle.”
Natural tea and beeswax sunscreen recipe
Now that the sun is out in full force, and you’ve tried this recipe for sugar wax, it’s time to up the ante and make a paraban-free, organic, and skin-nourishing sunscreen.
Last summer 2020, The Wall Street Journal reports that chemicals in our sunscreen may be building up in our bodies faster than we thought, so natural alternatives may be a relief at least for lower sunlight exposures and everyday use.
I was an adorable child. No, really. I have photos to prove it. There I was, age four at the pool in the afternoon sunshine, in a cute bathing suit and getting really, really sunburned. I got sunburned every summer of my life. Nobody took “suntan lotion” very seriously back then.
Since those careless times, I’ve learned that sunburns continue destroying skin cells even years later, so our previous post about protecting children’s skin from the sun struck a note with me.
I wasn’t surprised when my dermatologist told me I had two basel cell carcinomas that had best be removed. Skin cancer from those old sunburns? Probably, says the doctor.
Naturally, I never risk exposing my skin to the sun anymore, unless I slather on plenty of sunscreen before leaving the house. But commercial sunscreens are so far from natural – see the scary list of chemicals that they contain – that I was happy to find an inexpensive and effective natural sunscreen I can make by myself.
I can’t say how much sun protection factor this lotion has. I can say that I’m quite fair-skinned and burn easily, but using the lotion, I stay burn-free – as long as I reapply it every couple of hours, which is true of commercial sunscreens also.
The tea-based lotion initially feels greasy. But once massaged on, it withstands water and sweat. It nourishes the skin, too, leaving it supple and soft.
Inexpensive, effective and all-natural sunscreen. Gotta love it.
All-Natural Tea Sunscreen Recipe:
Equipment:
Glass bowl or measuring cup that holds 2 cups volume, or two cooking pots that fit one inside the other
Pan big enough for the bowl/cup to sit in
Spatula
Blender
If using stick blender, a clean towel to rest stick blender on
For storage and use: Very clean, very dry small jars, or ziplock bags, or empty, clean, and dry re-used shampoo bottles.
Ingredients (choose organic if you can):
1/2 oz. – a well-filled tablespoon – of natural beeswax. I use beeswax pellets, but you may simply chop up a natural beeswax candle and measure the wax. When the wax melts, you simply fish the wicks out.
1/2 cup boiling water
3 black tea bags
1/2 cup sesame oil, no other
Optional: 2 drops lavender essential oil. Lavender is healing to skin itself, but it’s included here mostly to perfume the lotion. Don’t go overboard with the essential oil, especially if you mean to apply the lotion to children. Essential oils are powerful.
Make a strong tea infusion with the teabags and water. Cover and allow to steep at least 20 minutes. Remove the bags before proceeding, squeezing them out to extract as much tea as possible.
Place the bowl in a pan with water in it, or if using pots, fill the bottom pot halfway up with water. Place the smaller pot on top. Heat the water over medium heat.
Put the beeswax and oil in the bowl (or top pot). When the wax has melted, remove the bowl or pot from the heat. If using Pyrex, place it on a folded kitchen towel to prevent shattering.
If the tea has cooled down completely, warm it over a low flame. It doesn’t need to boil, just be warm.
If using a stick blender, start blending the oil/beeswax mix. If using a standing blender, pour the mix in.
Very slowly, pour the warm tea into the oil mix, blending at high speed. Keep blending while the lotion takes shape. It will become somewhat paler as it cools down and eventually become quite thick.
Add the essential oil if using, blend again thoroughly, and spoon into storage containers.
Fill a squat lotion tube, like the one in the top photo, or a small shampoo bottle, if you want to take the lotion out with you.
Keep the lotion refrigerated. It will last 3 months. Extra may be frozen – just label it with contents and date or someone may mistake it for dulce de leche. If you are looking for another sunscreen recipe to try, check out this one for organic sunscreen.
More natural skin care suggestions: