Here’s BBC Pop Up latest video from Lebanon. In this one, Benjamin Zand basically explores our red light districts. And just like he did with his video about drugs in Lebanon, he met with some local pimp who explained all about his “business” including lawfully locking up the women who work for him… and he interviewed some Syrian refugees who unfortunately had to turn to prostitution to survive.
Remember when I told you that the BBC Pop Up team are in Lebanon for this month? Well, they published their first video and it’s about homosexuals in the country.
Over the last few years, some judges issued rulings in favor of gay people due to the fact that you simply cannot define what sexual acts really contradict “the laws of nature”, so the report discusses if this is going to offer a better future for the LGBT community in Lebanon.
P.S: The video contains some sexual content.
Following MTV’s report about the suggested increase on tax for alcoholic products, people are for some reason believing that bottle prices are going to increase by 5 times, whereas if you listen well to the reporter then you will notice that it is actually the tax per 1 liter that is going to quintuple.
Take a 15,000L.L wine bottle (750ml) for example, once the decision takes effect it should cost 15,600L.L. Therefore, unless restaurants and bars want to take this as an excuse to tremendously increase their prices, your bill should not be impacted much especially if you are ordering by the glass.
BBC Pop Up is BBC’s mobile bureau, it’s a small team that travels to different cities one month at a time to make documentaries.
They have previously been to several places like Russia and India and made some pretty interesting videos. The way they get inspired to make their stories however is different than other show, instead of deciding by themselves what to report on, they rely on suggestions submitted by the inhabitants of the place they’re visiting or other people who simply want to know more about a certain topic related the country they’re in.
You can submit your ideas to BBC Pop Up through their website or write to them on bbcpopup@bbc.co.uk.
MTV Lebanon aired a spot on report by Nawal Berri yesterday showing a series of accidents recorded by the traffic monitoring center that happened due to drivers and pedestrians violating the traffic law.
As disturbing as this video is, it is a much needed wake up call to everybody outsmarting others on the road.
So I finally managed to watch Parts Unknown season five finale on Beirut (via torrent download) and was quite disappointed.
The show is actually about food and travel, so I was expecting Bourdain to explore some of Beirut’s hidden gems but instead he went to Burj Al Barajneh refugee camp in the first part of the episode to learn more about the Palestinians living conditions here in the country. He then made several people speak about religious diversity and how the different sects coexist happily in Lebanon (especially Sunni and Shia these days!), and he later visited some Hezbollah supporter in Dahieh all while portraying the party as a mighty beast.
Moreover, he never failed during the episode to stress about the threat coming from the east, that is the Islamic state. So it was basically more about politics than anything else. I believe he could have simply aired some recent report about the political situation in Lebanon and spared himself a trip here.
Anthony Bourdain is back once again in Beirut to uncover more of the less known destinations in the city on CNN’s Parts Unknown.
The available photos show him at military the military themed bar Abu Elie, interviewing Michael Elefteriades and exploring Music Hall, as well as going on a tour with a group of motorcycle riders on the corniche.
The first time Anthony Bourdain came to Beirut was in 2006 and he was not able to finish his episode due to the 33-day Israeli war that broke out in July, so he later came back in 2010 and filmed it again. Back then he featured places like Pierre and Friends, Souk El Tayeb, Le Chef, Onno, Chez Maguy, and Falafel Sahyoun. I hope this episode features more places of the unbeaten path.
PArts Unknown airs very late at night our time by the way so you can catch the episode tomorrow morning on CNN’s website.
However, when it came to Al Jadeed, they introduced Bahaa El Dine in the most unprofessional way. While the man is a known billionaire and owns a property development and investment group, Al Jadeed decided that he’s instead known for a silly statement he made during his most vulnerable moment, the funeral of his assassinated father!
I totally understand the TV station might be in disagreement with the Hariri’s, but that was quite low of them…
This guy made it to the news today for living like a king behind the bars in Roumieh prison! It seems like he has his own room inside the prison and manages to get really good food delivered to him almost everyday!
Make sure to read Habib Battah’s story on how he got physically assaulted yesterday for trying to take photos of the ruins at District S construction site in Beirut downtown.
My chest and wrists still hurt from the arms of the men who tackled me, twisted my hands behind my back, and tried to rip my phone out of my hands this afternoon.
They were enraged because I refused to delete a photo of ancient ruins I shot on their construction site.
“Lock the door,” one of the foreman said earlier today, and moments later the giant doors of the site were sealed. I was surrounded by 5 to 6 men looking at me menacingly–prepared it seemed–to do anything to shut me up.
Unfortunately he was told to just forget about it when he tried to report the incident to the police station, so I hope his post reaches some good people who can take action about it!
