If your tap gushes water laced with fluoride, you’re taking a powerful drug with every sip. Imagine a stranger pressing you to drink a clear liquid with no special odor, color, or taste. “Just drink, it’s good for you,” he insists. What would you do? Refuse it, probably. And if the stranger were to become […]
Environmentalists raise concerns after another vessel is abandoned in the Gulf of Aqaba Around two weeks ago, a ferry carrying 1,230 passengers caught fire in the Gulf of Aqaba en route to the Egyptian port of Nuweibeh. Despite three days of work to put out the fire, the ship named ‘Pella’ began to take on […]
Is the eco-friendly food movement getting even more complicated, or are ecotarians simplifying matters? The green movement is riddled with a lot of food ideologies. When it comes to food, there are a lot of environmental issues to consider: locavores protest the pollution stemming from the transport of food from far away, vegetarians (and vegawarians) […]
Nabil Hirbawy from Siwa, Egypt lost an eye to his craft, but that hasn’t dampened his passion for carving salt rock into beautiful works of art! Nabil Hirbawy was polishing off a small salt sculpture when a small piece of it struck him in the eye, leaving him partially blind – not only physically, but […]
Students from the American University of Cairo designed SLIDES – a solar-powered modular home that is slated to compete in next years Solar Decathlon, but lack of financial support could keep this groundbreaking project from being realized. When students from the American University of Cairo were accepted to compete in the 2012 Solar Decathlon design […]
This Cyprus grass snake is now an endangered species First a severe water crisis threatened to create a dire peril to both people and animals in Cyprus. Then we revealed a crisis gripping the island’s song bird population with over one million songbirds killed to make a popular pickled food dish. Now the common Cyprus grass […]
Dutch Docklands proposes floating islands as an alternative to developing Dubai’s “The World” artificial islands We can’t think of anything more unfortunate than getting stuck with an artificial island (like this one that Israel proposes to build off Gaza). But investors who bought one of 300 “countries” off the coast of Dubai will be happy […]
The hideous Mekkah Clocktower may have been the final straw – officials now state that any additions will be more in tune with traditional architecture It seems that the powers that be in Mekkah (Mecca) are finally listening. After widespread complaints that Mekkah was beginning to resemble Las Vegas with its preference for gargantuan and […]
Guest writer and Oxford student Will Todman describes the mood in Lebanon following the announcement that Jeita Grotto failed to secure a spot as one of the new 7 Natural Wonders of the World. Lebanon’s hopes of having its candidate, Jeita Grotto, declared one of the new 7 Natural Wonders of the World were crushed […]
These women in the Siwa oasis near Libya are trained in the traditional craft of weaving Kleem (rugs). Tafline takes a rare inside look at their work. You might have already read about the first part of our journey where our bus kept breaking down on the road to Siwa. When our host Yehia secured […]
I see that solar panels are now commonplace on rooftops in Barcelona European countries, especially Spain are becoming stronger on green projects like renewable energy and recycling. This was the impression I received while on a recent trip to the Spanish coastal city of Barcelona, where recycling efforts and water conservation are widely practiced and […]
Israelis discuss the problem of getting nuclear neighbors. In a small region like the Middle East, a single country’s decision to build nuclear power can easily spill over borders. At a panel last Monday, Israeli energy experts spoke on the risks and benefits of nuclear power, noting that even if Israel avoided the risks of […]
His mother passed away at birth. Now zookeepers at the Al Ain Zoo in Abu Dhabi are asking the public to give this baby gazelle a name. No Splashypants please! Remember Mr. Splashypants the whale that was named during an online Greenpeace campaign? Like it or not, that’s what voters chose for the whale now […]
This was the plan: leave at 8pm Friday night from Turgoman station in Cairo. Arrive in Siwa at 5.30am and meet my friend Gwen from France at the Siwa Inn Hotel. Bestow copious hugs and kisses before finding Vivek, a Couchsurfing buddy who traveled from Alexandria. And then, after introducing my friends, relax in this […]
We speak to Fazlun Khalid who set up The Islamic Foundation For Ecology And Environmental Sciences about the highs and lows of over two decades of work The link between Islam and the environment is slowly gaining recognition amongst the wider public and The Islamic Foundation For Ecology And Environmental Sciences (IFEES) may have something […]