You can grow a living medicine chest in your garden with little effort. The old song says, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Let’s add echinacea, garlic and basil. Most are culinary herbs with poetic histories. All are green medicines that you can harvest at will. The herbs don’t take up much space, if not much […]
A small piece of plastic can save lives, preserve local eco-systems, and cut greenhouse gas emissions: finally, positive press for plastics. A Swiss-based company has developed portable water purifiers called LifeStraw that can be deployed at point-of-use to instantly convert water from hazardous to drinkable, without electricity and side-stepping the age-old practice of boiling. Nearly […]
Cold weather and a booming industrial economy is making it hard to breath in the Middle East says NASA Air pollution is a big problem in the Middle East particularly in cities such as Tehran, Cairo and the rich Gulf nations. The latest images from NASA, however, reveal the true extent of the problem with […]
Not long after firing its replacement CEO, the Israeli electric car company Better Place has alluded to Forbes that it will likely close its its North American and Australian operations. Evan Thornley was the CEO of Better Place in Australia and was hired to be the global CEO of Better Place soon after the company’s […]
This is how the camel looked back in February, 2012. Cold, wet and miserable Our stories on animal abuse have included severe abuse of circus animals in Lebanon, neglect and abuse of zoo animals in Egypt, and even rampant abuse of pigs in (supposedly) kosher Israel. Always considered as “silent victims” these animals have suffered severe […]
Images of Tadashi Kawamata’s extraordinary installation entitled Chairs for Abu Dhabi has been circulating the blogosphere the last few days. A follow up of a similar project featured in France, the piece consists of hundreds of chairs – mostly vintage and recycled – stacked on top of one another like a giant hollow mountain of […]
If we hadn’t seen the footage, we would never have believed that Tel Aviv’s municipal workers would paint a fake handicap sign around a woman’s parked car in order to collect on the illegal parking and towing fines they then levied. Even worse, they believed they would get away with it. Unluckily for them, they […]
33 exotic Moroccan recipes from the women who make and cook with argan oil. The argan tree is a Berber identity icon, and production of its oil is traditionally a woman’s job. But as with many folkways, interest in argan began to dwindle. It’s a finicky process with low yield. Unless marketed wisely, it’s hardly […]
Greenpeace Jordan recently launched its first report specific to the Arab World entitled Jordan’s Energy Future (pdf link) to a packed audience of environmentalists, activists and political stakeholders in Amman. The report demonstrates Jordan’s potential to achieve full energy independence through renewable sources whilst campaigning against kingdom ambitions to develop nuclear energy. “This report shows […]
A new study has found that afternoon sun is five times riskier than than sun caught in the morning hours. Are you one of those people who slather sunscreen all over your face come high noon, but remove the T- shirt later in the day to catch those warming, vitamin D-making rays? Well if you […]
Once just a small company with a negligible following, SodaStream has caused a resounding splash with its recent Super Bowl advertising debut. Following up on its earlier strategy of comparing its brand to soda giants like Coca Cola and Pepsi, which waste billions of plastic bottles every month, the Israeli company made a bold move […]
Unreal. That is the first word that swims around our heads when we look at images of Google’s new offices in Tel Aviv. While some plebes schlep to work amid carpet covered cubicles and everlasting beige, Google’s employees have an indoor orange grove reminiscent of Jaffa’s longstanding industry, a wall covered in a giant giclée of the […]
The Hebrew University in Jerusalem improves one of the world’s most important food staples. In a world where rainfall is no longer predictable and droughts hold sway, even affecting politics in the Middle East, we are less and less complacent about food security. Developments like wine produced under desert conditions and pest-resistant wheat brighten the […]
Masdar CEO Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber signed a joint declaration with the French government, paving the way for new collaboration on advancing clean energy projects in France. The deal facilitates co-development of new technology and allows for easier transnational exchange of expertise and experience. In also underscores existing cooperation on the Global Atlas of Renewable […]
The commercial capital of Morocco is catching up to the western world through a series of dedicated governmental initiatives, putting old institutions like ABC Cinema on Boulevard Mohamed V at risk. Made famous by the romance starring Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca is a bustling metropolis with a brand new tram line that connects […]