Bad day to be a sheep...

The Muslim world celebrated Eid al-Adha festival today, which was bad news for ovines. Families buy a sheep, which the butcher promptly slaughters. A third of the meat they eat, a third goes to their relatives and a third is given to the poor.

The sheep seemed in no way distressed before they were killed, their throats cut with a simple knife. They made no sound, just the rattling gasp of the air leaving their lungs for the last time.

The twitching was unsettling.

It's called soccer out here...

This was for a Daily Star story about a Lebanese football academy that just established ties with Manchester City, of all places, so expect to see this guy on telly some time soon. The power went out just after this happy accident occurred, myself and reporter Kenny Laurie scurried off while the kids stuck out in the pitch black.

The occupation of Beirut

At 6.30am on Sunday 22nd it was as if an occupying force had taken over Gemmayzeh and much of south Beirut; barely a soul was to be seen on the streets, save for clusters of soldiers on almost every corner, checking credentials of passers by. With representatives from every conceivable branch of Lebanon's armed forces gearing up for a parade just 10 minutes away it was understandable that security was tight. Anyway, press cards are a wonderful thing, so here are some pics for everyone who a) couldn't be arsed to get up, and b) probably wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the action anyway.

Slim pickings

In the running for one of Lebanon's smelliest jobs, these guys scrape a living sorting rubbish at the monstrous dump in Sidon. Story is here

From acorns come oaks, and all that...

Derec Gruen, centre, is pretty much the Jesus of cycling; riding round the world  and taking the revolution of Critical Mass with him. Ok, so only seven people turned up for Beirut's first meet-up, but who knows what could happen in the future? Let's just hope if those cyclists decide to run with the whole religious analogy thing they can be kind enough to skip the crusade/inquisition bit...

A proper explanation of all this nonsense is here