Curfews in Lebanon are normally bad news.
They have been brought in several times over the years - during the 15-year civil war and when there have been major security crises since.
More recently, some municipalities used them to limit the movement of Syrian refugees.
But as countries around the world shut down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Lebanon has entered a lockdown.
The streets are quiet and I headed out to meet with an army patrol enforcing the nightly curfew.
While the number of deaths in Lebanon - currently 17 as of April 3 - is low compared to other countries, many fear that Lebanon’s health system will be unable to cope if large numbers become infected because of years of underfunding and a major financial crisis that hit the country late last year.
Seconds after I opened my building’s front door to my quiet street, two men hurried past me. We eyed each other. Like me, they probably wondered what others were doing out. I had a permit from the army and my press card, so I felt safe.
"How many people have died in France?" security asked me ... Normally, people ask me how to get a visa to Europe.
My problem was that the army’s public relations department did not know the military patrol hours and could only give me vague indications about where they would be active. I set off on foot to find them.
Except for a few loud voices coming from a second-floor apartment, everything was eerily quiet. I walked past cats playing in the empty streets.
At around 7.39pm, as I reached Charles Malek, one of Beirut’s main arteries, a car screeched past me before abruptly stopping at a police checkpoint. A few seconds later, it drove off.
Two policemen stared at me as I walked up to them. I was the only pedestrian around. “We are just giving them a warning,” one said. “Tomorrow, we’ll start giving fines.”
How much? He did not know. The government has never announced precise amounts and when I asked a police spokesperson, he said a judge would decide after the fine was issued.
A few minutes later, I heard loud voices and banging. A seven-floor residential building was getting ready to salute Lebanon’s medical workers with horns and pots and pans. Women were shouting from their balconies at an Al Arabiya TV crew waiting to film them, asking them for how long they should make noise.
Wearing a mask, a man wearing a jacket that said “State Security” stood nearby. “How many people have died in France?” he asked, immediately after asking me where I was from.
Embarrassed, I realised that I didn’t know. After checking the news on my phone, I told him that the virus had killed 2,606 people in France at the time. He rolled his eyes. “We are safer here,” he said. For once, roles were reversed. Normally, people ask me how to get a visa to Europe.
Security forces did not seem keen to punish people, which would only increase social unrest.
Last week, a taxi driver torched his car and one man tried to self-immolate after they were fined for breaking confinement measures. “I could technically fine people too, but I prefer not to. I look the other way,” said the state security employee.
I arrived at Martyr’s Square just in time to witness the call to prayer at the majestic Al Amine Mosque. The area had been cleared of protesters two days earlier, and nothing was left of their tents. The only remnants of five months of protests were the graffiti on the walls, broken glass windows, a giant clenched fist and a huge phoenix made from tent poles that were broken by thugs last November.
A security guard, who was watching the square’s empty parking lot, pointed at his tiny shelter. “There’s a homeless man in there. He was with protesters. Can you help?” he asked.
I put him in contact with an activist I had interviewed a few hours before. Before I left, he asked me for money to buy food for the man.
At 8.47pm, I walked past two policemen half asleep in their car on Martyr’s Square. Their colleagues, standing a few metres further along the square, were more keen. “There’s a curfew!” one of them told me, before nodding me on when I said I was a journalist. I made it to the sea front, where a soldier watched me from behind the walls of a military base.
Still no sign of a military patrol. On my right, there was a dark, vacant lot. The silence was unsettling, so I decided to head to another more familiar neighbourhood where an army patrol was supposed to be present.
On my way, I saw more policemen stopping cars. One of them said that starting on Monday, they would be fined 500.000 Lebanese pounds (US$333), a hefty sum in the cash-strapped country.
At 9.42pm, two young men smoking cigarettes at their balcony waved at me and said hello. A few minutes before, I saw the third and last person that night walking in the street. He was wearing what looked like red pyjamas, and studiously avoided eye contact.
“Please, go home!” yelled an employee of Beirut’s municipality as he refuelled his car and pumped sanitising gel on his gloved hands. I obeyed. After two weeks of confinement, walking for over two hours felt long. I never found the army patrol.
After a difficult six months marked by the first default in Lebanon’s history, soaring unemployment, cash shortages, mass protests and a change of government, the small country has surprised itself by its ability to contain Covid-19 up to now.
Though urging caution, Firass al Abiyad, the head of Rafic Hariri hospital, where most patients are treated, tweeted recently that Lebanon is “doing better than expected.”
Boasting about this would be untimely, but Lebanon has achieved what more prosperous nations have not by adopting confinement measures early despite a highly challenging environment. The good news, for once, should be recognised.
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
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Company%C2%A0profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
Company Profile
Company name: Big Farm Brothers
Started: September 2020
Founders: Vishal Mahajan and Navneet Kaur
Based: Dubai Investment Park 1
Industry: food and agriculture
Initial investment: $205,000
Current staff: eight to 10
Future plan: to expand to other GCC markets
SCHEDULE
Saturday, April 20: 11am to 7pm - Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Festival and Para jiu-jitsu.
Sunday, April 21: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (female) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Monday, April 22: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (male) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Tuesday, April 23: 11am-6pm Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Wednesday, April 24: 11am-6pm Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Thursday, April 25: 11am-5pm Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Friday, April 26: 3pm to 6pm Finals of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Saturday, April 27: 4pm and 8pm awards ceremony.
PULITZER PRIZE 2020 WINNERS
JOURNALISM
Public Service
Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with ProPublica
Breaking News Reporting
Staff of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
Investigative Reporting
Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times
Explanatory Reporting
Staff of The Washington Post
Local Reporting
Staff of The Baltimore Sun
National Reporting
T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi of ProPublica
and
Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times
International Reporting
Staff of The New York Times
Feature Writing
Ben Taub of The New Yorker
Commentary
Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times
Criticism
Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times
Editorial Writing
Jeffery Gerritt of the Palestine (Tx.) Herald-Press
Editorial Cartooning
Barry Blitt, contributor, The New Yorker
Breaking News Photography
Photography Staff of Reuters
Feature Photography
Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin of the Associated Press
Audio Reporting
Staff of This American Life with Molly O’Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News for “The Out Crowd”
LETTERS AND DRAMA
Fiction
"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)
Drama
"A Strange Loop" by Michael R. Jackson
History
"Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" by W. Caleb McDaniel (Oxford University Press)
Biography
"Sontag: Her Life and Work" by Benjamin Moser (Ecco/HarperCollins)
Poetry
"The Tradition" by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
General Nonfiction
"The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care" by Anne Boyer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
and
"The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America" by Greg Grandin (Metropolitan Books)
Music
"The Central Park Five" by Anthony Davis, premiered by Long Beach Opera on June 15, 2019
Special Citation
Ida B. Wells
More coverage from the Future Forum
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Scorebox
Dubai Sports City Eagles 7 Bahrain 88
Eagles
Try: Penalty
Bahrain
Tries: Gibson 2, Morete 2, Bishop 2, Bell 2, Behan, Fameitau, Sanson, Roberts, Bennett, Radley
Cons: Radley 4, Whittingham 5
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE tour of Zimbabwe
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Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
Esperance de Tunis 0
Al Ain 3 (Ahmed 02’, El Shahat 17’, Al Ahbabi 60’)
Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
