As the media and residents continue to unleash frustration at Beirut’s lack of healthy public spaces, the Green Party deftly moves in with solutions.
After an era of uninhibited urbanization, Lebanon’s Green Party is politicizing Beirut’s absence of “green space.” Tel Aviv has Hayarkon, Cairo has Al-Azhar, and Dubai has the Ras al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary – all slivers of nature amidst the smog and noise that typify life in many cities. These natural enclaves are designed to offer respite from an otherwise “unnatural” environment of hot tar and glass and the endless clang of construction.
The degree to which cities incorporate parks and other public spaces into their urban plans determines residents’ well-being, while failure to prioritize nature can lead to violence. At least, this is the view of Lebanon’s Green Party head, Phillip Skaff, who hopes to add thousands of green square meters to the capital.
Divided by politics and now water: Turkey to take care of its occupied half of Northern Cyprus by diverting fresh water in a 48 mile undersea pipeline.
Building dams in Turkey to store water has been mentioned previously, and one such dam, at Allianoi in Northwestern Turkey is feared to result in the 
Winjnand Van Till captured what would become National Geographic’s 2010 top Landscape photo in The Netherlands edition.
The Federation of American Scientists urge Yemen to take up “science diplomacy” – otherwise existing security problems could get worse.
A green choice? Fit for a Mexican drug lord, with cigar moistener, the outside view of the Israeli PM’s new Audi A-8 Security. Worth a million bucks?
