The show goes on in Tripoli

Two neighbourhoods in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli have been at war with one another since the early 80's. Every so often the violence will kick off, a few people get shot by snipers and homes get destroyed by RPGs. These days, the conflict is being chucked in with the war currently going on across the border, as the two sides mirror the Sunny vs Alawite conflict currently wracking Syria. I'm not sure if either side have even tried to take so much of an inch of ground in this feud, which has been running longer than I've been alive, or whether they ever will. The last bout – which kicked off at the tail end of last week – was particularly nasty, with over 100 wounded and 17 totally pointless deaths so far. Read more by the talented Mitchell Prothero in the Observer, who picked up one of my pics from AFP. Also check out this account by Josh Wood here.

A little taste of revolution

 Some 400 members of Lebanon's secular Left marched on downtown Beirut today. Rightly pissed about the country's 'government' and rising food prices, the demonstrators called for change. Those I spoke to said they had been inspired by the recent events in Tunisia and Egypt-esque movement and were hoping for a revolution of their own. Maybe when the sun comes back out...
There's a good commentary on the protest at the Lebanese voices blog, here.