Beirut

Armagh-born reporter Jane Ferguson: “Shutting down cellular service is sometimes more effective than coming in with tear gas”

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on September 15, 2015, 8:29 am

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JOURNALISM STILL ALIVE AND WELL: There’s no true substitute for going somewhere. There never will be regardless of the technology and the communications. When you’re there of course you’re relying on your own ‘smarts’ and your own perceptions as a journalist.

#YouStink protests highlight rotten Lebanese politics as garbage brings people onto the streets

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on September 7, 2015, 10:16 am

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Marina Chamma blogs and tweets from Beirut and Lebanon as Eye On The East. She’s been on the ground during the #YouStink public protests that, like Lebanese domestic garbage, have spilt out onto the streets. She spoke to me this morning about the situation in Beirut. Uncollected waste has brought people together across normal community lines to highlight the dysfunction and corruption within Lebanese politics. If it hadn’t been garbage, any number of political issues might have tipped the population …