Eco-tourists may be able to get to see these underwater creatures in Eilat faster due to the construction of a railway line from Tel Aviv. Eilat, located at the southern tip of Israel , draws both local and international tourists year-round due to its warm weather and marine biodiversity. Read More »

Are Islamic banks anti-war? Islamic banks discourage investment in the arms and military industry as well as speculation and taking excessive risks A couple of weeks ago, I was asked by a fantastic organisation to look into Islamic banking and how ethical it really is. Read More »

When it is complete, the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Hotel will be the world’s tallest. Never mind that scientists have discovered giant plumes of methane that could speed up global-warming , which could contribute to even higher temperatures in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other countries. Read More »

An excellent time to get away from the cold weather, Thailand can easily become the Cancun or Ibiza for the Middle East. This week I’ve landed at the Japanese-influenced resort called Akyra . Read More »

Palestinians living in Masafer Yatta who do not have access to the electrical grid have been developing home grown renewable energy plants. Palestinians living in the Masafer Yatta village have been secretly pursuing wind and solar energy projects in order to mitigate a serious shortfall of energy in the village. Read More »

The LEED-hopeful Siemens headquarters in Masdar City has been awarded the coveted 2012 MIPIM future projects award. Read More »

An English-language ‘green’ tour of Tel Aviv will take place this weekend in honor of Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish New Year for trees. The city of Tel Aviv is no stranger to green tours, in fact it has seen all kinds of them. Read More »

This creamy vegan rice dish, dotted with little chunks of aromatic asparagus, satisfies the taste for something substantial and savory. Asparagus has been in the markets for some time in the Middle East. It’s worth buying it for this low-fat, creamy risotto. And don’t forget another great vegan recipe – Chickpea and Artichoke Salad. Read More »

The winter months in the Middle East are the perfect time to travel to Thailand, especially with this year’s cold snap. Warm tropical temperatures hovering around 30, paired with a pineapple strip and a beach anywhere south of Bangkok can cure anyone’s winter blues. Read More »

Arava Power Company pioneers first ever solar contract for Israel’s Bedouin minority The first-ever license for a solar project has been awarded this week to Israel’s bedouin community by Israel’s Public Utility Authority. Read More »

Going green doesn’t come naturally to wealthy villa owners in the Gulf. An online real estate company listed a seven bedroom villa in Dubai’s neighboring Emirate Abu Dhabi for $95,300 a year, which amounts to nearly $8,000 a month. Read More »

Omar Samra is an adventurer whose incredible pursuits highlight the importance of environmental awareness. When Omar Samra isn’t running one of the few genuinely eco-friendly and socially responsible tourism outfits in Egypt called Wild Guanabana , he climbs mountains. Big ones. He was the first Egyptian to summit Mt. Read More »

H5N1 has infected 159 and killed 55 people in Egypt since 2006. A nationwide campaign to stop the spread of H5N1 avian influenza in Egypt is to be launched by the government in a few weeks, say officials, but details are still sketchy. Read More »

Two-thirds of Tel Aviv’s water wells are too polluted to use. A recent study discovered that many Tel Aviv wells are polluted beyond suitability as drinking water sources. Data collected by the Health Ministry and Water Authority showed that 96 of a total 166 wells in the Tel Aviv area were closed due to contamination. Read More »

Tanin 1 gas field, in large yellow area north of the Tamar field, is too close for comfort to Lebanese shores. Lebanon is going to the UN to complain. Israel’s got natural gas. A lot of it. Cleaner burning than coal or bitumen, natural gas has a reputation for being more environmentally friendly. Countries lile Qatar are very natural gas rich. Read More »

Can mega well bring peace to Sudan? At least 300,000 people died and almost three million were displaced by the Darfur conflict in Sudan. Egyptian-American geologist Farouk El-Baz believes that limited access to water is one of the root causes of this conflict. Doctor El-Baz is director of Boston University’s center for remote sensing. Read More »

Spring has sprung in Israel, marked by almond blossoms and Tu Bishvat The Jewish holiday of Tu Bishvat begins as the sun sets on the 7th of February 2012. This holiday has its origins in some ecologically-focused passages in the Talmud. Read More »

eL Seed, a Tunisian artist who combines Arabic calligraphy and street painting, is making an imprint on the world street art scene. I can’t remember how I found him. One of those idle internet ramblings where a sound or image grabs you by the hair and pulls you smack up to the monitor to find out more. I love when that happens. Read More »

Open only six weeks each year, Hajj Terminal is rated one of the world’s best and busiest. Dozens of gleaming white tents form a bold roofline covering 120 acres of passenger services; sustainable magnificence created by visionary architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill over thirty years ago. Read More »

The Nabucco natural gas pipeline (in orange) was designed to lessen eastern Europe’s dependence on Russia’s sometimes unreliable gas supply. But Russia’s South Stream pipeline project (in blue) now seems more likely to be built. A 2,400-mile pipeline transporting 30 million cubic meters from central Asia to Austria each year. Read More »