Thousands of people on Sunday turned out for a street fair in downtown Beirut's Nejmeh Square, an event that business owners hope will mark a turning point for the area's largely deserted district.
Though rebuilt to great fanfare in the 1990s after the civil war left it in ruins, political instability and security restrictions in the last decade turned Beirut’s downtown business district into a near-ghost town.
But in a move last month set to bring the abandoned quarter back to life, speaker of parliament Nabih Berri ordered that security restrictions be eased.
The fair follows a New Year’s eve celebration attended by prime minister Saad Hariri and thousands of revelers.
“The prime minister pushed the button on New Year’s eve to revive Nejmeh Square,” said Beirut mayor Jamal Itani as he greeted people in front of the square’s iconic clock tower on Sunday. “It has been dead for 10 years.”
The municipality is planning to offer financial incentives to encourage businesses to return to the area. Nejmeh Square sits in front of the parliament building, where entry to vehicle and pedestrians has been greatly restricted for years. As a result many businesses were forced to shut their doors.
The situation took a turn for the worst after protests in 2015 over the government’s inability to dispose of garbage turned violent.
Hussein Nasrallah, the owner of Café Supreme, a small restaurant near the square, said it had been five years since he last had so many customers.
“We stayed open because we didn’t want to close,” Mr Nasrallah said, noting that many nearby businesses hadn’t survived. “We did our best, but we lost money.”
“We’re glad the municipality is trying to revive downtown,” he added.
Souk El Akel, a travelling street food market set up 35 booths on Sunday selling everything from traditional Lebanese to international fare.
“We are planning to do this each week,” said Andre Abdullah, a partner in Souk El Akel.
Founded a little over two years ago, the souk itself has been a success story.
“In Lebanon, people have many differences,” Mr Abdullah said. “But food is one thing we never fight over. It unites us.”
The event also featured bands and a thousand free bikes provided by the municipality for citizens to borrow.
Greta Chamoun, a resident of Kesrouane, about 20 kilometres from Beirut, brought her two young children to the event to take advantage of the outdoor activities. But Ms Chamoun said she wasn’t convinced that this was the start of better times for Lebanon.
A stone's throw away, a group of protesters in Riad El Solh Square called on the government to make Islamist prisoners part of a proposed general amnesty that is expected take place before parliamentary elections in May.
But even the demonstration and Lebanon's tense political arena did little to dampen the festive mood.
“The political and economic situation is still bad, and it could get worse,” said Ms Chamoun. “But we have to enjoy what we have right now.”
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
Semi-final fixtures
Portugal v Chile, 7pm, today
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- 600-seat auditorium
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- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
