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Camille Zakharia Coastal Promenade Photo Exhibition Opens Soon In Dubai

Lifestyle

Tafline Laylin

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February 16, 2011

Camille Zakharia Coastal Promenade Photo Exhibition Opens Soon In Dubai

If you’re in Dubai, don’t miss out on the opportunity to see Camille Zakharia’s beautiful photographic exhibition called Coastal Promenade.

Even tiny Bahrain has been swept up by the furor that has uprooted despotic regimes throughout the Middle East. And it’s not hard to see why. This once quaint coastal country has been overrun by a surge of capitalist change, forever altering its architecture and culture as a result. In part to help restore sections of its coast, Bahrain’s first female Minister of Culture, Sheikha Mai, commissioned the Reclaim Project shown last year at La Biennale International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. Camille Zakharia’s photography featured prominently at the event and will soon be on show at the beautiful Art Sawa Gallery in Dubai’s Al Quoz District.

A Roadmap To Blue (H2O) Peace In The Middle East

Business

Tafline Laylin

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February 16, 2011

A Roadmap To Blue (H2O) Peace In The Middle East

With input from over 100 Middle Eastern leaders, the Swiss government has produced a positive tool that could transform regional water policies.

There are no foregone conclusions. How the next few decades proceed depends on us, on actions that we take today. We know that the Jordan River barely exists six months every year, such is its decline. We know that the Dead Sea is shrinking. And we know that sixty percent of Syria is likely to become an uninhabitable desert. But this is not the end of the line. A new report called “Blue Peace: Rethinking Middle East Water” compiled by the Strategic Foresight Group provides leaders of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories with long-term policy options that could transform regional political disturbance and ecological destruction into a peaceful, cooperative and rejuvenated Middle East.

Saudi Citizens Release Documentary Criticising Lack of Flood Protection

Cities

Arwa Aburawa

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February 15, 2011

Saudi Citizens Release Documentary Criticising Lack of Flood Protection

The short documentary highlights the lack of adequate flood protection in Saudi, after floods killed four this winter and left over 120 people dead in 2009

Whilst the world deals with the recent Wikileak revelations that Saudi exaggerated its oil supplies by 40%, local Saudi citizens have got together to deal with a more pressing issue for them: recurrent and deadly floods. Just this winter four people were killed after heavy rains, electricity was cut off in parts of Saudi’s second largest city of Jeddah and many feared a repeat of the serious flooding of 2009 that killed 122 people.

Jordan Teams With Spanish Firm To Cool Homes With The Sun

Cities

Tafline Laylin

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February 15, 2011

Jordan Teams With Spanish Firm To Cool Homes With The Sun

The Jordanian Renewable Energy Society is adding solar-cooling to their Eco-House project.

While Jordanians argue over whether enviro Queen Rania is entitled to throw lavish birthday parties at the expense of the populace, the business of achieving Jordan’s renewable energy goals continues apace. The Jordanian Renewable Energy Society (JRES) and a Spanish firm have made arrangements to adapt sophisticated solar-cooling technology for domestic applications, according to the Jordan Times. The original project will be installed at the JRES headquarters in West Amman, with a long-term view towards making it available throughout the country.

WikiLeaks: Former Aramco Head Warns US About Saudi’s Strained Oil Production

Business

Tafline Laylin

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February 14, 2011

WikiLeaks: Former Aramco Head Warns US About Saudi’s Strained Oil Production

WikiLeaks show the Saudis overestimated their oil reserves by about 40% – the US is worried.

As the largest exporter of crude oil, Saudi Arabia has kept international oil prices reasonably steady. Until now. The recent instability in the region coupled with overambitious estimates and slowing production has cast serious doubt on the country’s ability to keep prices low. Even more troubling, The Guardian reports that recently leaked confidential cables show that peak oil could occur as early as 2012. Peak oil’s inevitability has long been known, but it was earlier thought that we had until 2020.

Palestine’s Green City Faces New Criticism- this time about JNF Trees

Business

Arwa Aburawa

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February 14, 2011

Palestine’s Green City Faces New Criticism- this time about JNF Trees

Palestine’s green city attracts new criticism after developers admit they will be replacing 3,000 JNF trees with indigenous olive trees

Rawabi, Palestine’s first planned and green city was bound be a project full of stumbling blocks. An ambitious plan to help revive the fortunes of the West Bank, it not only had to prove its green credentials but also carefully navigate the identity politics minefield that it is part of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Back in October, Israeli Environmental Minister Gilad Erdan forced developers to cede access to the environmental impact assessment report of the project (although they were not required to do so) and went to criticize the report and threaten to shut down access roads to developers.

In early January, a boycott call was made against 20 Israeli companies assisting the project as they agreed not to use settlement products as part of their contract. Now, in response to criticisms from the Palestinian side for using JNF-sponsered trees, they have decided to replace them with indigenous Palestinian olive trees instead.

The Green Sheikh Rubber Stamps Cradle To Cradle Event

Cities

Tafline Laylin

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February 14, 2011

The Green Sheikh Rubber Stamps Cradle To Cradle Event

Green Sheik and Michael Braungart at green event in Abu Dhabi.

One of the most respected environmental activists in the Middle East, no sustainability conference is complete without H.H. Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Nuaimi’s stamp of approval. So it is an enormous compliment that the “Green Sheikh” attended an event co-hosted by Abu Dhabi’s leading property developer and an international carpet manufacturer. Designed to generate environmental awareness among United Arab Emirate businesses, the Cradle to Cradle event attracted over 100 leading architects, designers, and government and New York University representatives.

Better Place Says UK Not Giving Electric Cars a (Tax) Break

Transportation

Maurice Picow

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February 14, 2011

Better Place Says UK Not Giving Electric Cars a (Tax) Break

Is the UK’s Tax Man still short-sighted in giving incentives for electric cars?

The British government is not doing enough to give consumers enough incentives to purchase electric cars, says Better Place LLC CEO Shai Agassi in an interview with the UK newspaper The Guardian. The interview quotes Agassi as saying that other countries including China, Denmark, France, Japan, Israel, and the USA are giving incentives and tax deductions ranging from 5,000 Euro in France to zero car taxation in Denmark for persons willing to purchase electric cars over those burning fossil fuels.

Although the British government did pass legislation to give tax incentives of up to 5,000 Pounds on the purchase on an electric car, Agassi claims that these British purchase incentives are “too small and too short term to make investing in an electric car worthwhile.” The British tax incentives are only to be in effect through the year 2012, with the majority of the government’s budget for this purpose set up to only last through the first half of that year, according to the aforesaid news sources.

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