Why the Paris of the Arab world is a destroyed and hungry city

 ABOVE: Ariel view of Beirut, Lebanon. By Elie Mikhael Nasrallah Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, was once the Paris of the Arab world, now a destroyed city, a hungry cosmopolitan, and an invisible shadow of its previous self. A tragedy of historic proportions amidst a pandemic that knows no mercy or memory. In

Cry, for beloved Lebanon and Syria

 ABOVE: Green Line, Beirut 1982 (PHOTO: James Case, flickr.com) My grandmother used to say the world would end in the Middle East. ISIL had that in mind when it systematically massacred villages like hers because they embraced a building with a cross on it. Her village in the southern Beqaa

Ottawans should not turn away from Lebanon’s plight

 by Matthew Horwood Before the events of August 4, the country of Lebanon was already experiencing a severe financial, political and public health crisis. A breakdown of the country’s economic system last year had forced the government to default on its debts in March. Amid high unemployment, skyrocketing inflation and

Album Reviews: Beirut, Bob Mould, Noi and more

 Panda Bear - Buoys (Baltimore, MD/Lisbon, Portugal) Though it goes without saying that Panda Bear has definitely maintained a specific sound and niche kind of writing, he's always carved infectious writing into this sound. For as often as he meditates on ideas in this latest release, Panda Bear makes a

Film Review: Beirut

 Synopsis: Caught in the crossfires of civil war, CIA operatives must send a former U.S. diplomat to negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind. Stars: Jon Hamm, Rosamund Pike Director: Jeff Wadlow