Hong Kong has closed more than a dozen beaches after a palm oil spill washed foul-smelling, Styrofoam-like clumps ashore, the latest major environmental disaster to blight the territory's waters. The Chinese-controlled city closed two more beaches in the south of Hong Kong island on Tuesday,...

( Eqtsad )- Abu Hassan, a janitor in the city of Douma northeast of the capital, was unable to escape the job opportunity he had found in the local council's municipal services office a year ago.  “Due to the blockade enforced by regime on Douma and the difficult economic...

On the terrace of the Baron Hotel in Aleppo, the owner's widow, Roubina Tashjian, sorted through old photographs of its happier past in a more peaceful Syria. Founded by an Armenian family in 1911, the Baron played host to adventurers, writers, kings, aviators, Bedouin chiefs and presidents...

(Eqtsad) The harsh weather conditions, the consecutive years of drought and the repeated attacks on water resources in Daraa Governorate have led to the drying up of some dams and water sources. The loss of these water resources have contributed to the decline in agricultural areas and...