Tag: liban
The Rachid Karameh International Fair of Tripoli (Lebanon) inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List
The World Heritage Committee meeting in an extraordinary session decided on Thursday to inscribe the Rachid Karameh International Fair of Tripoli (Lebanon) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Located in northern Lebanon, the Rachid Karameh International Fair of Tripoli was designed in 1962 by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer on a 70-hectare site located between the historic centre of Tripoli and the Al Mina port. The main building of the fair consists of a huge covered hall in the shape of a boomerang of 750 metres by 70 metres, a flexible space for countries to install exhibitions.
The fair was the flagship project of Lebanon’s modernization policy in the 1960s. The close collaboration between Oscar Niemeyer, the architect of the project, and Lebanese engineers gave rise to a remarkable example of exchange between different continents. In terms of scale and wealth of formal expression, it is one of the major representative works of 20th century modern architecture in the Arab Near East.
The World Heritage Committee used an emergency procedure to inscribe the site, due to its alarming state of conservation, the lack of financial resources for its maintenance, and the latent risk of development proposals that could affect the integrity of the complex.
The site was therefore inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, which opens access to enhanced international assistance both technical and financial.
Emirates offers Lebanon passengers extra baggage allowance for ‘goods and medicines
Dubai’s Emirates airline will provide extra baggage allowance to passengers traveling to crisis-hit Lebanon until September 30, Emirates announced in a press statement on Wednesday.
Travelers will be able to check in an extra ten kilograms as “Lebanon [is] experiencing a severe shortage of essential goods and medicines,” the statement said.Passengers booking tickets from the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Australia will be offered the extra baggage allowance.
An economic crash in October 2019, exacerbated by a massive explosion in Beirut’s port and the COVID-19 crisis, has led to electricity, food, and medical supply shortages in the Mediterranean nation.
Blackouts have swept Lebanon as the fuel oil used to generate electricity has disappeared from the market.
The US is working with the World Bank and the governments of Egypt and Jordan to meet Lebanon’s fuel and energy needs, Washington’s ambassador to Beirut revealed in an interview with Al Arabiya English on Thursday.
Many say living conditions are worse than during the 1975-90 civil war.
Emirates set up a “humanitarian airbridge” with Lebanon following the port explosion in August 2020, which it says helped to deliver 160 tons of medical supplies, food, PPE, and other items.
Lebanon has a large diaspora in the Arabian Gulf and further afield.