Tag archives for Middle East
Posted by Kate Voss, UCCHM Water Policy Fellow. This is the fourth in a series of posts on our Water Diplomacy trip to Israel, Jordan, and Palestine inspired by our paper on ‘Groundwater Depletion in the Middle East.’ Other posts in the series: 1) Middle East Lost a Dead Sea Amount of Water in 7…
Geography in the News: Guantanamo
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on May 2, 2013 By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com Guantanamo’s Troubles The U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was selected by President George W. Bush’s administration to house some of the worst of Osamma bin Laden’s al-Queda terrorists and their Taliban supporters from Afghanistan. It is one of the few…
Geography in the News: The Caucasus’ Storied Cultural Geography
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on April 19, 2013 By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com CHECHNYA AND THE CAUCASUS REGION Among the world’s longest-lived hotspots is the Caucasus region, rivaling only the Balkans as a volatile kettle of violent and rebellious ethnic cultures. Attention is now focused on Chechnya and the Caucasus region because of the ethnicity…
Geography in the News: Golan Heights
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on April 1, 2013 By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM and Maps.com GOLAN HEIGHTS AND THE DMZ In early November 2012, three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized zone (DMZ) of the Golan Heights. The move by Syria is the first violation of the zone in 40 years and concerns countries of the region. Since…
Posted from Tel Aviv by Sasha Richey, UCCHM Graduate Fellow. This is the third in a series of posts on our Water Diplomacy trip to Israel, Jordan and Palestine. Other posts in the series: 1) Middle East Lost a Dead Sea Amount of Water in 7 Years, by Jay Famiglietti ; and 2) Parallel…
Parallel Worlds: Water Management in Israel and California
Posted by Jay Famiglietti of University of California, Irvine in Water Currents on February 27, 2013 
Posted from Jerusalem by Kate Voss, UCCHM Water Policy Fellow. This is the second in a series of posts on our Water Diplomacy trip to Israel, Jordan and Palestine. Other posts in the series: 1) Middle East Lost a Dead Sea Amount of Water in 7 Years, by Jay Famiglietti ; and 3) Desalinating Holy…
The Middle East Lost a Dead Sea-Size Amount of Water in 7 Years
Posted by Jay Famiglietti of University of California, Irvine in Water Currents on February 22, 2013 Posted from Amman, Jordan. This is the first in a series of posts on our water diplomacy trip to Israel, Jordan and Palestine. Other posts in the series: 2) Parallel Worlds: Water Management in Israel and California, by UCCHM Policy Fellow Kate Voss; 3) Desalinating Holy Waters with the Red Sea – Dead Sea Conveyance,…
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Jordan’s first and only “true ecolodge” tries to leave a minimal footprint on its desert ecosystem, while a visionary hotelier has won international accolades for making his company’s five Jordanian resorts and hotels models of sustainability. These are two examples of how the Middle East country is trying to make its tourism industry friendly to the environment.
Arab Spring and the global financial crisis delivered a double whammy to tourism in the Middle East. The Arab world lost more than U.S.$7 billion in tourism revenue as a result of 2011′s upheaval, according to Bandar bin Fahd Al Fahed, the chairman of the Arab Tourism Organization. (Reported by Ahram Online, September 30, 2011.)…
FOX News’ veteran reporter and war correspondent, Steve Harrigan, is currently reporting from Tripoli, Libya as the rebels gain control and Qaddafi’s regime collapses. Harrigan has endured the elements while in Libya — sleeping on the ground, facing pro-Qaddafi forces with guns, navigating the rebel crowds, getting news from locals, seeking shelter amidst the fighting — all the while reporting live on FOX News. He found a moment to answer some questions about his experience.
As long as 6,000 years ago the people of the Middle East were using a system of stone structures to funnel thousands of migrating gazelles and other animals into traps where they could be killed and butchered, a new study has determined. “Humans may have driven a species of gazelle to the brink of extinction…
Posted by Arab hip-hop, once relegated to the sidelines, has emerged as the soundtrack of the resistance.
Posted by A few years back, Gianluca Serra found a legendary bird thought extinct in Syria, with funds from National Geographic’s Committee for Research and Exploration. Now Serra is trying to forge a stable population of these ungainly creatures, with a little help from a prince and some first ladies. By Barbara Moffet Q: The northern bald…
By Andrew Bossone Alexandria, Egypt–Social media’s influence on revolution is a hot issue in the press and also among young people. When Egypt’s interim Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq recently stepped down from his post, the announcement came out not on television or in a press conference, but on Facebook. The Supreme Council of the Armed…
Posted today on the blog of Zahi Hawass, former Egyptian Minister of Antiquity Affairs: Q: Dr. Hawass, for many years you have been the image of modern Egyptology. Why are you leaving now? A: “I am leaving because of a variety of important reasons. The first reason is that, during the Revolution of January 25th,…
Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s Minister of State for Antiquity Affairs, will not accept a post in the new Egyptian government, The New York Times reported today. According to The Times, Egypt’s prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, resigned Thursday, and the army asked his replacement, Essam Sharaf, to form a caretaker cabinet. “If the government will ask me…
By Andrew Bossone Alexandria, Egypt–This year’s Annual Arab Youth Summit at the Library of Alexandria in Egypt was sure to be different in the wake of the Egyptian revolution. This was clear from the opening session. Organizers noted it excluded the former Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Hani Hilal, who had inaugurated the…
Egypt’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina seeks to recapture the spirit of the original ancient Library of Alexandria, while aspiring to be a leading institution of the digital age — a center for learning, tolerance, dialogue and understanding. National Geographic News Watch contributor Andrew Bossone attended the Annual Arab Youth Summit at the Library this past weekend, an…
Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s Minister of State for Antiquity Affairs, said on his blog today that accusations against him of inappropriate or even illegal behavior had convinced him to stay in office, “so that I can continue to do everything in my power to protect Egypt’s cultural heritage.” Hawass added: “I have written to Egypt’s attorney…
Announced today by Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities Affairs: Today, Dr. Zahi Hawass, Minister of Antiquities Affairs, announced that the missing limestone statue of King Akhenaten, the father of Tutankhamun, has been returned to the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photo courtesy of the Egyptian Museum The statue is one of the unique statues…
Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s Minister of State for Antiquity Affairs, said today that tombs in Saqqara and Abusir and storage areas in Saqqara and other archaeological sites had been broken into during the recent political turmoil in the country. There had also been reports of illegal excavations and land invasion, he added. His statement confirms numerous…
FOX News foreign correspondent Dominic Di-Natale was in the thick of covering the developing crisis in Egypt for more than a week. He was one of FOX’s first correspondents dispatched to Egypt where he covered protests, clashes between groups supporting and opposing the Mubarak government, and breaking news as tensions continued to rise. News Watch…
Posted today on the official website of Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs: Dr. Zahi Hawass, Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, announced today that a committee of archaeologists completed a preliminary search of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo and its grounds. The missing Heart Scarab of Yuya was recovered on the west…
News organizations report that more than a hundred demonstrators gathered outside the Cairo office of Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities, demanding jobs. “Not since Indiana Jones have archaeologists seemed quite so belligerent,” Sky News reported on its website. A protester, center-left, and an army soldier policing the protest, center-right, gesture to about 150 graduates…
A soldier guards one of Saqqara’s tombs; Jeffrey Bartholet On January 29, looters swarmed into the archaeological site of Saqqara, an ancient burial ground known for its pyramids and many surrounding tombs. Reports circulated about damage to the tombs and their beautiful reliefs. “All the sites are safe,” said Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass. “Nothing…
