We have often lamented that people from Dubai and other Arabian Gulf countries walk around with wild cats the way Hollywood stars carry Chihuahuas. But now one of the world’s leading Cheetah experts says these people can actually help to save the species from extinction.
Tesla Motors, the California maker of prestigious and high priced total electric sports cars is still to become a true reality in most countries of the Middle East where men prefer big, gas guzzling cars. But it might fill the gap after the failure of Better Place.
It is a sad day. Better Place’s battery swap technology is an obvious and practical technological solution to a basic problem of physics and electrochemistry, it is both dangerous and difficult to rapidly charge a chemical battery.
Three Emirati men were booted from Saudi Arabia because of their smoldering good looks. If you swallow that, then you’ll also believe top scientists are scrambling to determine if heat emanating from the handsome trio may be at the center of global warming.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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