Category: Downtime

Stray dogs approach you as you walk by the Zahrani Bridge’s underpass, in south Lebanon. They sniff the air from a distance, trying to make sure you are not there to harm them. Most of these dogs suffer from physical disabilities, namely blindness and missing limbs, but they remain peaceful, wagging their tails as Hussein… Continue reading Lebanon’s Angel of Mercy

The wooden door opens and a smart looking gentleman in a grey suit and a black briefcase in tow walks in, greets the staff, and makes a beeline for an empty table near the back of the long, narrow restaurant. He doesn’t wait long. He is soon joined by a friend and the two quickly… Continue reading Cafe Riche: An Ode to a Bygone Cairo

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the top importer of Lebanese jewelry with about $26.96 million worth of products, or 58 percent of Lebanon’s total jewelry exports in the fourth quarter of 2015. When renowned divas Beyoncé, Madonna and Jennifer Lopez, prance on international stages draped in bedazzling jewelry, little do people know that a good… Continue reading Lebanon: Not All That Glitters Is Gold

In Jabalia market, north of Gaza City, Mohammed Okasha, 42, moves between the stalls of vegetables wearily inspecting piles of tomatoes, cucumber, potatoes and other vegetables. Okasha suspects that the products are harming his family “because of the unhealthy and illegal use of fertilizers, which some farmers are using,” he tells Newsweek Middle East. Rumors… Continue reading Gaza’s Pesky Pesticides

November 12, 1996: Charkhi Dadri Mid-Air Collision The Charkhi Dadri incident is considered the deadliest mid-air collision to date. A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 en route from Delhi to Dhahran, and a Kazakh Ilyushin Il-76 cargo en route from Chimkent to Delhi collided mid-air near New Dekhi, killing 349 people. The Saudi Flight 763 was… Continue reading This Week in History: November 9 – November 13

A few months ago, when cybercrime and extortion organization DD4BC, which stands for ‘DDoS for bitcoin,’ hacked into some of the U.K.’s leading banks and demanded ransom in bitcoins to avoid a total takedown of the system, it was just one in a long list of rising high profile cyber-attacks against financial services institutions. According… Continue reading Cyber-Attacks: Better Safe Than Sorry

We live in a world of constant change, with so much destruction, devastation, and uncertainty around us. At a time when historic buildings, holy sites and ancient monuments are being demolished at the hands of the enemy within, it is important to do everything we can to preserve the history of our world; a history… Continue reading A Hole in Time

The 800 seats at Rashad Shawwa Cultural Center’s old theater in Gaza City were all taken, with dozens of people standing at the back or sitting on the floor, waiting for the curtains to open and the lights to be dimmed signaling the beginning of the The Photographer, a monologue play. The first act of… Continue reading Gaza: Secrets and Lies

In a conversation with Newsweek Middle East, Emirati filmmaker, director and producer, Nahla Al Fahad, is contemplative. A packed schedule and constant travelling have not fazed Fahad, who is now known for her Oscar-shortlisted hijab documentary, The Tainted Veil. Fahad had known from an early age that she wanted to be part of the film… Continue reading Reel Progress

October 5, 1986: Iran-Contra Affair The Iran-Contra incident was a political scandal broken by Newsweek reporter Robert Patty in 1986, which shook the foundations of the second Reagan administration. The U.S. had been involved in a secret arms sale to Iran, despite an arms embargo on the Islamic Republic. It was in fact the U.S. that… Continue reading The Week in History: October 5 – October 11

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual “direct line” conversation with the nation was still going strong when the joking began on social media. “Question: ‘Everyone has had to make cuts to their household budgets recently. What have you cut spending on?’ Putin: ‘On you lot,’” wrote one Twitter user, in a parody of the president’s apparent… Continue reading Russia: Razz Putin

Prior to the current conflict in Syria, immunization rates in the country were among the highest in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. More than 90 percent of Syrian children were vaccinated against diseases like measles and polio and there was no incident of a child being paralyzed by polio since the 1990s. Last year, however, Syria… Continue reading The Cost Of War

Nestled in the far corner of the souk of Tekkiye Suleymaniye in the middle of Damascus lies a small room at the very end of the court-yard, away from the noise of the traffic. Inside the room, canvases of all sizes adorn the walls, and where there is no space on the walls, they are… Continue reading Tales from Damascus

What started at the age of 12 as a hobby quickly turned into an obsession, and today, Jamil Murad is the number one collector of Syrian stamps and banknotes in the country. The 37-year-old, originally from Sednaya, Syria, has dedicated his life to documenting the rise and growth of the Syrian state. The collection itself… Continue reading Syria’s History Through Stamps and Banknotes

When Fatema Mernissi passed away on Nov. 30, a tremor was felt in homes and classrooms throughout the region. She was born in 1940 to a middle class family. Educated at the Sorbonne and at Brandeis University, she had spent her vibrant career at Morocco’s Mohammed V University, where she was housed at the Faculté… Continue reading Fatema Mernissi: A Woman for All Seasons

Here’s the thing about menstruation—it hurts. Period cramps are uncomfortable for women in general, but for those diagnosed with dysmenorrhea, the pain is debilitating and cramps leave you doubled over, unable to move. For many, it directly impacts their everyday activity. Dysmenorrhea is often accompanied by menorrhagia—extremely heavy menstrual bleeding that can last for weeks… Continue reading It is an Issue, Period!

Nearly seven decades ago, a young man launched his own sweets parlor on a narrow street in eastern Beirut’s upscale Achrafieh district in 1949. Hana Mitri Moussa stands in front of the shop his father opened back in 1949. Nothing has changed about Al Salam since then, including his family’s secret recipe for the ice… Continue reading Lebanon’s Ice Cream King

October 31, 1984: Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi Assassinated  On this day in history, India’s only female prime minister to date, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by her own two Sikh bodyguards in New Delhi. Beant Singh shot her two times, and Satwant Singh fired 30 rounds at her, after which the two dropped their weapons… Continue reading Week in History: October 26 – November 1

October 2, 1187: Siege of Jerusalem After ruling Jerusalem for 88 years, the Crusaders, led by Balian of Ibelin, surrendered the city to General Saladin Al Ayubi, following a siege that extended from September 20 to October 2. Prior to the siege, Saladin had taken Acre, Nablus, Jaffa, Toron, Sidon, Beirut and Ascalon. Negotiations were… Continue reading The Week in History: 28th September – 4th October

NEAR THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN town of Ramallah, the Naseeb Shaheen Auditorium in Birzeit University was bustling with life this month. The loud applause from hundreds of music lovers could be heard from outside the concert hall. They had gathered to cheer on world-class conductor Elena Schwarz. The singer gracefully moved across the stage signaling the… Continue reading Palestine: Tuning In

An hour after my plane lands at Marrakech’s gleaming, modern international airport, I find myself stuck in a huge traffic jam. My taxi inches forward, navigating donkey carts, pedestrians with towering bundles on their shoulders, battered saloon cars from the 1950s, camels, horse-drawn wagons and hundreds of weaving, swerving mopeds. At a major intersection near… Continue reading Morocco: Souk Up The Rays