By SHARON UDASIN 08/31/2015 Following a meeting with representatives of Greenpeace Israel, Finance Ministry officials pledged on Sunday to reevaluate certain barriers blocking the solar energy industry’s advancement. Finance Ministry director- general Shai Babad held the meeting with Greenpeace representatives, who presented reforms they felt could revolutionize the field and generate profits to private citizens, […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 08/27/2015 A variety of Israeli, German and Jordanian ornithology and climate experts will meet for the 2nd German-Israeli Climate Talks As climate change continues to influence bird migration behaviors, a team of Israeli and German researchers aims to find ways of coping with these ever-evolving patterns. “The climate is a key factor […]

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Slaughter greatest in Egypt, Italy; Israel gets high marks for enforcing no-hunting laws. Zafrir Rinat Aug 23, 2015 About 25 million birds are illegally hunted and killed or captured every year in countries bordering the Mediterranean, and many of these countries have adopted a policy of looking the other way when it comes to the […]

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Hana Namrouqa – Aug 26,2015 AMMAN — The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) launched on Wednesday the graduate level Protected Area Distance Education Programme to qualify professionals in ecosystem protection and the management of the region’s biodiversity. The programme was designed in partnership with the US Forest Service and the University of […]

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Study finds that contaminants are spreading under several sites around Tel Aviv. Zafrir Rinat Aug 23, 2015 Many areas of the Greater Tel Aviv Dan region are still suffering from soil and groundwater contamination whose source is industrial activity that took place decades ago and threatens drinking-water sources and buildings, a new report from the […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 08/26/2015 Jerusalem lags behind other major cities in recycling sector. While most Israelis tend to recycle their plastic bottles, only about half the population recycles paper and cardboard, a Central Bureau of Statistics survey revealed on Wednesday. All in all, about 67 percent of Israelis recycle their plastic bottles, as opposed to […]

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Aug 25,2015 Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour is greeted by his Swedish counterpart Stefan Löfven ahead of talks in Stockholm on Tuesday (Petra photo) AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Tuesday said Jordan is among the poorest three countries in the world when it comes to water. The situation is aggravated by the huge influxes […]

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News that 50,000 citrus trees will be sold at subsidised prices to those wishing to plant them in their garden is an innovative initiative. Citrus trees need a warm environment, soft damp soil, plenty of water and protection from freezing gusts. However, regulation requires 10 per cent of a plot of land to be planted […]

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Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq refused on Monday to participate in the meetings of the ministerial committee tasked with studying the waste management crisis. Al-Mashnouq asked Prime Minister Tammam Salam to appoint another minister in his place. An Nahar daily said Monday that the committee has expanded to include 11 ministers from all political parties. But […]

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BEIRUT (AFP) — Thousands of protesters from across Lebanon converged Saturday on downtown Beirut for a mass rally against a political class seen as corrupt and incapable of providing basic services. Najah Wakim, head of the popular movement told al-Manar channel said that “what is happening is a start of popular revolution against the Lebanese […]

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Nicolas Lupo, Special to Al Arabiya News, Beirut Sunday, 23 August 2015 Thousands of Lebanese rallied on Saturday afternoon in central Beirut to denounce the government’s mismanagement of the city’s waste disposal. Organized by the #YouStink movement and joined by several different groups of society, the protest showed the deep dissatisfaction of the city’s inhabitants […]

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Associated Press | Beirut Monday, 17 August 2015 Lebanon’s health minister says the country is on the brink of a “major health disaster” unless an immediate solution is found for its mounting trash problem. Garbage has been collecting on the streets in Lebanon for the past month amid government paralysis and inability to agree on […]

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15 August 2015 BEIRUT: Economy Minister Alain Hakim warned that garbage was polluting vital Karantina industries Friday, after touring the area and visiting a major flour mill there. The capital has been piling bales of treated municipal waste in lots in the isolated, industrial quarter since late July. The ongoing disposal operations pose a hazard […]

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Yaron Friedman Analysis: Lebanon and Iraq, home to Iranian puppet- regimes, are now paying the price for being the spearhead in the Islamic Republic’s battle against Sunnis; poverty and corruption in these countries raises potential of descent into anarchy 8.31.15 August 2015 was the month in which riots in Lebanon and Iraq broke out in […]

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Without long term planning and a radical shift away from sectarianism and favouritism, Lebanon will not heal itself. 27 Aug 2015 about the Author John Bell John Bell is Director of the Middle East Programme at the Toledo International Centre for Peace in Madrid. He is a former UN and Canadian diplomat, and served as […]

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Thousands of tonnes of uncollected rubbish in Beirut have become a symbol for the country’s deeper political malady. Nour Samaha | 26 Aug 2015 What ostensibly began as public frustration over the Lebanese government’s failure to tackle the country’s rubbish crisis has since swelled into massive street protests, with residents from across the political spectrum […]

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ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT Islamic experts urge more Muslim action on climate change 19/8/2015 A group of Islamic experts urged the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims on Tuesday to do more to fight global warming, in a new example of religious efforts to galvanize action before a U.N. climate summit in Paris in December. In June, the […]

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Aug 05,2015 PARIS — The unprecedented degradation of Earth’s natural resources coupled with climate change could reverse major gains in human health over the last 150 years, according to a recent published sweeping scientific review. “We have been mortgaging the health of future generations to realise economic and development gains in the present,” said the […]

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HEBRON, August 9, 2015 (WAFA) – Israeli forces ordered the village council of Khellet al-Mayyeh, a locale to the east of Yatta, south of Hebron, to stop the construction work on two water tanks funded by the European Union, Sunday reported to a local activist. Coordinator of the popular committee against the wall and settlements, […]

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The city’s call for proposals to restore and develop Mamilla Pool draws protest. Nir Hasson Aug 19, 2015 A call for proposals to restore and develop an ancient reservoir in downtown Jerusalem — earlier suggestions for which have included the installation of a giant Ferris wheel and a landing strip for hot air balloons — […]

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