The car park of a monastery on the slopes of Mount Lebanon has been turned into a temporary reservoir. Every few minutes, a helicopter swoops in, filling a tank dangling below it from a large pool fed by firefighters’ hosepipes.
The aircraft’s updraft soaks a dozen onlooking soldiers, and in an instant, it is sauntering off into the distant mountains to drop water on the smouldering ruins of Lebanon’s natural landscape — or what remains of it.
We have equipment that is stuck at the port or in other storage places, and not distributed to the Civil Defence because the politicians don't know to which area they want to give them
Samer El Khoury,
political activist
Wildfires have been ravaging Mount Lebanon and areas in the country’s south for three days but are largely under control now, say those responsible for leading the response. Yet those caught in the heat are exhausted and despondent. It is just the latest in a series of crises to hit the Lebanese people.
“We still had the beauty of this country. Now, it's gone,” says Fady Youssef who runs a tennis academy nestled among the cedars of Mount Lebanon outside the town of Monteverde.
“This is the only place where you could get away from it, in the mountains, now everything is gone,” he says.
Economic catastrophe
Mr Youssef was one of an ever-shrinking number of Lebanese business owners attempting to outlast a political and economic crisis that has bought the country to its knees.
A captain of the Davis Cup Team and former national champion, he opened up his tennis academy three years ago to nurture some of the country’s top talent.
On Monday afternoon, a young girl works on her backhand, patiently encouraged by her coach. In the background, the ash black carcasses of the country’s famous cedar trees continue to smoke — it is a vivid metaphor for a country where a disastrous economic collapse has increasingly taken on environmental dynamics.
Yet while play goes on today, it seems this weekend’s fires were a final straw for Youssef. He says he will leave Lebanon in the next two months.
“They don't want us to stay in this country. They want all of us to leave.”
The scorched earth, still smoking in some areas, runs right up to the academy’s car park. Metres away from the building’s generator a pile of leaves continues to smoke. If the generator had gone, so too would his business — he needs the spotlights to coach at night — there simply aren’t enough hours in the day for him to make a living.
Many The National spoke to said they worked through the weekend extinguishing flames creeping towards their homes and business, only for the fires to start up again after a few hours. Firefighting is a science, and done incorrectly, will only see the flames start up again.
Many are convinced that arson is behind the fires — they blame scavengers who have been illegally felling trees, an increasingly common practice amid the economic crisis.
Environment Minister Nasser Yassin also cried foul. “We can say that all these fires are of human origin,” he said on Monday afternoon.
“There is an intentional act and the Interior Ministry is working to determine who is responsible for this.”
Whether it was a natural disaster or something more malign, it is the state’s inability to respond that has angered people already battered by economic and political problems.
Divisive politics
Decades of grift have hollowed out the ability of the country’s Civil Defence and Army to respond to outbreaks of wildfires — for years three firefighting helicopters have sat grounded due to a lack of spare parts. In August, it was reported that the cash-strapped army was looking to sell them to raise funds.
“The environmental problems in Lebanon are political problems,” says Samer El Khoury, environmental spokesperson for Minteshreen, an opposition group born out of the country’s 2019 protests.
“We have equipment that is stuck at the port or in other storage places, and not distributed to the Civil Defence because the politicians don't know to which area they want to give them.
“The things they [Civil Defence] are asking for are very basic — they literally don't cost a lot. But you know how it goes; every bit of money that comes in for the aid of the country just stays in the politicians’ pockets.”
At the academy, Mr Youssef must continue with his day’s lessons. He is also preparing for a tournament in Kuwait in December.
“Who knows if they’ll even give us visas”, he says.
Nothing in Lebanon is straightforward, not even tennis.
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2A)
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The chef's advice
Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.
“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”
Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.
The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
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Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance: the specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 plus rear-mounted electric motor
Power: 843hp at N/A rpm
Torque: 1470Nm N/A rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.6L/100km
On sale: October to December
Price: From Dh875,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Fixture and table
UAE finals day: Friday, April 13 at Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
- 3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
- 6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership – final standings
- Dubai Exiles
- Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Jebel Ali Dragons
- Dubai Hurricanes
- Dubai Sports City Eagles
- Abu Dhabi Saracens
Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The specs: 2018 Renault Megane
Price, base / as tested Dh52,900 / Dh59,200
Engine 1.6L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission Continuously variable transmission
Power 115hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 156Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.6L / 100km
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