More western countries are banning circuses with animals, and allow only humans to perform. Can Lebanon and the Middle East change their passion for this cruel form of entertainment? The circus came to town in Beirut Lebanon; but will have to leave in a hurry after it was discovered that animals brought to participate in […]
Taste of Beirut blog features authentic Lebanese cuisine and a great give-away. I love this blog. I love Lebanese food, and author Joumana, a Lebanese ex-pat living in the States, presents recipe after delicious-looking recipe, Slow Food style. Just a small example – the Toom garlic paste, a staple flavoring in Lebanese kitchens. Whirl garlic, […]
Lebanese animal rights’ activists report serious abuse of mistreated circus animals on ring circuit from Egypt, Jordan, Syria to Lebanon. Abuse of circus animals comes to forefront of Lebanese politics: When the Monte Carlo Circus’ lions and tigers arrived in Lebanon two weeks ago they were meant to be welcomed by beaming children, adoring parents […]
Running for green issues in Beirut: but will the government listen? The year 2009 was bleak for Lebanon’s environmental track record, according to the country’s Daily Star. Despite the impressive action of IndyACT, Lebanon’s delegation brought little effect at December’s COP 15 climate change summit; they were not able to accomplish much of anything insofar […]
If you’ve been following Green Prophet, you’ll know we’re running a water series on Israeli water experts. And we love the idea of hydro-diplomacy. Hoping for some sustainable changes in the water sector for Israel and its neighbours, we’ve partnered with the Strategic Foresight Group to interview those people and organizations at the heart of […]
Beirut, the “Paris of the Middle East,” is pouring raw sewage into Mediterranean Sea. It’s not just the Sidon garbage dump that’s polluting the Mediterranean Coast of Lebanon. Irrelevant Combinations blog shows airplane view pictures of raw sewage being dumped into the sea off the coast of Beirut. Although the weather outside may be frightful […]
“You smell it before you can see it,” says Mohammad who talks of Lebanon’s utterly toxic dumping ground by the sea. Image: BBC. We’ve written about Israel’s infamous garbage (sh*t) mountain and national “landmark” Hirira outside of Tel Aviv. We learn that another large regional garbage mound, the Sidon Rubbish Dump or the Saida dump is attracting […]
The sunny MENA (Middle East- North Africa) region and its associated countries could solar power the world, Maurice reports. This map-maker left out Israel. Middle Eastern and North African countries, often referred to under the umbrella term MENA countries, have the potential to create more than 3 times the world’s power needs, according to a […]
Lebanon’s Energy Ministry plans to work with the UN’s regional development project, UNDP to use solar energy for both heating and energy in various parts of the country, reports the UPI. The UN agency currently has at least 25 development projects ongoing in Lebanon, with at least two of them involving solar energy. We’ve already […]
The Slow Food Movement, founded in 1989, in a non-profit organization that attempts “to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.” Delicious and […]
If you read any story this week make it this one: What could be the most important event of the next decade, world leaders and activists are meeting as we speak in Copenhagen, Denmark to lay the foundations of a plan to stop climate change. On the forefront of representing the Arab world, and criticizing the […]
Today opens the two-week round of climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark. From this corner of the world the conference is a meeting of giants – literally, the giant polluters like the U.S. and China, which make it seem like there is little the small countries of the Middle East can do to stop global […]
The newly formed Green Party of Lebanon (GPL) is planning its debut with the May 2010 municipal elections. The Daily Star reports that the GPL is a secular, environmental, human-rights oriented party bent on slashing corruption and recovering burnt forests. GPL President Philippe Skaff (left) told the Star that focusing only on the immediate political crises […]
We reported earlier in the year that a Beirut-based property developer has designs to build a Dubai “World”-like set of islands in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Lebanon. Modelled after Dubai’s The World and Palm Islands, developers in Lebanon report that its $8 billion development project will not sink. This is all despite […]
[youtube width=”560″ height=”480″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUEHgCSE9I0[/youtube] In a pretty radical move, Lebanon’s IndyACT organizes protest against what it calls Saudi obstructionism in climate change talks. Watch this vertigo-inducing video of their silent protest at Barcelona, a pre-Copenhagen climate meeting last month. In the last week of November activists from the Global League of Activists, IndyACT, carried out a […]