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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By LAHAV HARKOV,SHARON UDASIN 08/20/2015 Likud MK Amsalem has made it his mission to lower water prices. Knesset Interior Committee chairman David Amsalem (Likud) set a goal for when the Knesset returns from its summer recess: Make sure water prices are significantly lowered. Following a meeting of his committee regarding a water corporation in the […]

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Aug. 19, 2015 | 12:16 AM No sense of shame Many Lebanese people have opinions on a whole host of varied topics, and these opinions are delivered with absolutely authority http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Editorial/2015/Aug-19/311707-no-sense-of-shame.ashx ———————– Aug. 19, 2015 | 08:28 PM Kataeb protests delay in trash bidding announcement The Kataeb Party has informed Prime Minister Tammam Salam of […]

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By DANIEL K. EISENBUD 08/18/2015 An attorney representing the activists suggested, as an alternative site, an abandoned army base in the Beit Zayit area, just west of the city, or Givat Ram, near the Hebrew University. Amid controversial plans to construct a sprawling IDF military college in the Jerusalem Forest, a consortium of environmentalist groups […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 08/11/2015 Gabbay: Haifa Bay residents have the right to breathe clean air. Aiming to bring about dramatic change to the Haifa Bay region’s air quality, Environmental Protection Ministry officials are promoting a plan they say would significantly reduce both industrial and vehicular emissions in and around the city. “Haifa Bay residents have […]

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By Muath Freij – Aug 18,2015 The Greater Amman Municipality is encouraging the capital’s residents to clean their rooftops (Photo courtesy of GAM) AMMAN — Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) teams have conducted field visits 120 buildings since the beginning of August to check the cleanliness of their rooftops, a GAM official said on Monday. Raed […]

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By Giulia Maccagli – Aug 13,2015 AMMAN — Starting with children in Jerash, volunteers with a development centre are working to spread the culture of recycling in Jordan. “If only one of the 30 kids who take part in our workshop, once at home, asks his parents to start recycling their waste, teaching them how […]

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The heat dome with perceived temperature of 158 degrees wilted the region – and much worse is in store for 5 million Israelis and the rest of the Levant. David Rosenberg Aug 12, 2015 The Middle East is a hot place even in normal times. But last week a “heat dome” hovering over the region […]

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Aug 15,2015 TORONTO — Global food shortages will become three times more likely as a result of climate change and the international community needs to be ready to respond to price shocks to prevent civil unrest, a joint US-British taskforce warned on Friday. Rather than being a once-a-century event, severe production shocks, including food shortages, […]

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Authority warns that if changes aren’t made to plan, natural gas prices will rise 30% and lead to an increase in electricity prices. Avital Lahav Published: 08.12.15 Israel’s Electricity Authority claimed Wednesday that if changes are not made to the natural gas plan, it will lead to a hike of up to 30 percent in […]

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