Beirut Marathon

Over 20,000 runners took to the streets of Beirut today - those pictured here were some of the 245 who slogged it out for the whole 23 mile marathon course. In the rain. I discovered the hard way that my new flash trigger didn't bounce, just as the first runners crossed the finish line so, sadly, there were no sweaty-just-about-to-die shots.



Haifa Wehbe - apparently she's big stuff on the pop scene out here. Daily Star sports supremo Kenny Laurie blagged me all the way into the VIP area to take a picture of him with her; I was so carried away with the light-bouncing opportunities afforded by the tiny white tent we were in I totally forgot to get him in the frame. Kenny, I'm sorry - but look closely and you'll see he's reflected in the right hand frame of her AVs. Out of the box, right?

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.