Tires of fire

It's been a busy day in Beirut, with a handful of hardcore Sunni supporters protesting against the selection of Najib Mikati as Lebanon's premier, after Saad Hariri's government collapsed earlier in the month.

Most of the protesting took place in the Northen city of Tripoli but some hundred (at most) demonstrators blocked off the Cola intersection for a good portion of the day, as well as other skirmishes around the city.  No doubt the world's press will tell us the whole country is a ablaze, but for now, in Beirut at least, the busses are still running and everything is pretty much normal - bar the obvious.

Esquire's Alexandria spread

Here are a few more pictures from my cold and wet jaunt to Alexandria in December, which will be in next month's Esquire Middle East. (un-subbed)Words, as ever, by Mr Josh Wood.

Beirut's Synagogue and Jewish cemetery

For those of you who are a little rusty on your Swedish, the headline below reads "Hezbollah supports Jewish shrine," or so says google translate...

Swedish national daily Svenska Dagbladet printed my pictures of the (almost) reconstructed Beirut Synagogue and old Jewish cemetery to accompany a story by freelancer Emma Löfgren on January 2nd, which made for a nice start to the year. The guy in the picture is Anthony, the decorator responsible for getting the Synagogue back into shape which, rumour has it, may have been destroyed by Israeli shells in the first place... 

A damp day in Alex

 I was in Alexandria on some freelance assignments a couple of weekends back and managed to arrive pretty much at the exact same time one of the worst storms the city has seen in recent years. Western tourists are a bit thin on the ground at this time of year so I think I was something of a novelty for the locals. Fortunately, this translated in a positive way and people seemed very receptive to having their pictures taken by this strange, wet, whitey.

Of ministers and men, machines and magazines

 

A bit of an odd- ball collection but it's been a busy few days. First up is Lebanon's Finance Minister Raya Hassan, followed by welding in the Bekaa Vaalley, cardboard recycling and, finally, Samia el Solh, editor of the newly formed women's 'business and empowerment' magazine, Push, the first ever issue of which came off the press yesterday.

International Herald Tribune

International Herald Tribune is the "global edition of the New York Times," so having a picture printed in it (that'll be the wee tiny one on the right) from my recent trip to Lebanon's southern border feels pretty gosh-darned premium. That's Josh Wood's uber-massive story it's running with.

The thin blue line

 Nepal was one of the first countries to supply troops to the UN mission in Lebanon, sending five observers to the country in 1958. Today this modest mountainous country is responsible for the longest section of the UN demarcated 'Blue Line' between Lebanon and Israel, much of which crosses farm land - always a sensitive area when villagers can't harvest crops on land that has been in their families for centuries. I spent an afternoon running after a Nepalese unit as it patrolled such an olive grove, along with journalist Josh Wood for an upcoming piece in Esquire and maybe even the International Herald and Tribune, which would be nice.