LEBANON: Beirut nightlife again starts to sizzle

Beirut will be back on the world map and, this time, it will be for good reasons. That was the message behind the relaunching party of Time Out magazine’s Beirut edition, after a two-year hiatus, at the Riviera Beach Lounge along the capital's seafront.

With fireworks and champagne bottles in sparkling boxes, the party was designed to mirror the reemerging face of Beirut: a city of glitz and glamour boasting many trendy open-air rooftop nightspots, underground nightclubs and funky bars.

SAUDI ARABIA: Labor minister teaches a lesson in work ethics

The dude serving hamburgers at a fast-food restaurant in Jeddah recently was neither a Filipino nor a Pakistani but, for once, a Saudi.

And not just any Saudi; It was the labor minister himself. Ghazi Alghosaibi acted as a waiter for three hours at a fast-food restaurant last week to encourage all Saudi young men and women to accept jobs generally regarded by locals as low-level or demeaning, according to the Saudi Gazette.

Saudi Arabia relies heavily on foreign labor in the service sector and for construction work. For the last few years, however, Saudi authorities have adopted a national policy known as Saudization to encourage their nationals to participate more actively in a private sector dominated by guest workers from South and Southeast Asia.

But observers say that the policy has not been very successful.

The minister's symbolic stunt was meant to reach out to Saudi youths. According to Persian Gulf media reports, Alghosaibi drew attention to many successful businessmen and politicians who did small jobs before becoming prominent in their fields:

We should see enjoyment in all types of jobs. Hard work, endurance and enthusiasm are important factors to be developed by young Saudi job-seekers. ... They were simple men who rose to heights of fame and popularity through steady effort and hard work. Some of them worked even in restaurants while studying abroad.

Algosaibi asked for tips jokingly and kissed another waiter on the head in a gesture of appreciation.

-- Raed Rafei in Beirut

Photo: Saudi labor Minister Ghazi Alghosaibi, left, serves fast food at a restaurant in Jeddah. Credit: Saudi Gazette

LEBANON: Burger, fries and grenades on the side

With sounds of helicopters hovering overhead, Samir hunched over behind a pile of sandbags and sank his teeth into a hamburger.

The thirtysomething Beirut resident was not a warrior taking a moment of rest in the battlefield. He was a regular customer dining with his black-veiled wife and little son at Buns and Guns, a new war-themed restaurant where every detail, from the menu and decor to the names of sandwiches, is inspired by the military world.

The eatery, which looks like a military outpost, was designed to be an unconventional hangout but it also resonates because of recent armed clashes in Beirut and the many tanks and military troops deployed here in the capital. The restaurant is located in a crowded street of Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburb and a Hezbollah stronghold that was the scene of heavy airstrikes during the militant group’s 2006 war with Israel.

“We wanted to create a new attractive idea inspired from the events that our country went through,” said Yussef Ibrahim, the restaurant’s general manager. “People from all backgrounds come here and find the place amusing.”

IRAQ: U.S. military makes fresh water for Baghdad

Fuel shortages and power outages may soon be joined by yet another problem in Iraq – water shortages.

Deteriorating water systems compounded by a nationwide drought are threatening service breakdowns in some Baghdad neighborhoods, raising the possibility of cholera epidemics.

The drought had already curtailed last year’s grain crops when the government ordered farmers to plant less. (See Thursday's story, "First violence, now drought threatens Iraq farmers.")

Although there’s not a crisis yet in Baghdad, the U.S. military is working with the Iraqi government on quick fixes to prevent one while the large systems are being rebuilt.

The U.S. military spent $3.5 million in Baghdad alone last year on the water problem, partly by trucking water into the neighborhoods.

This year the military is taking a new approach by setting up temporary water purification units at three locations in eastern Baghdad at a cost of about $500,000.

EGYPT: No more liquor at my hotel!

In a stunning display of religious rigidity, the Saudi owner of a five-star hotel in Cairo recently banned the serving of liquor by reportedly dumping more than $1 million of beer, wine and whiskey into the Nile River.

Sheikh Abdel Aziz Ibrahim, a relative of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, has ordered that no more cocktails will be mixed or stirred at his Grand Hyatt Cairo. Goodbye, martini; hello, fruit punch. The move is a gesture to bring his business into conformity with Islamic standards. That may be so, but the Egyptian Hotel Assn. has its own rules.

The organization has given Ibrahim an ultimatum: Either put the liquor back by July 2 or have his hotel demoted from five to two stars, according to Agence France-Presse. Although alcohol is forbidden in Islam, Egyptian law allows the consumption of booze in hotels and other tourist haunts. Tourism is one of this nation's biggest industries, and Cairo doesn't want to give the impression that conservative Islam is spreading.

"If he doesn't want to serve alcohol, it's his choice. If that doesn't comply with our regulations, he has to bear the consequences," Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah said.

However, Ibrahim has found support for his decision. In an online forum hosted by the popular Islam Online Website (a Qatari-funded and Cairo-based Islamic website that covers religion, news, society and culture), some visitors hailed the move as "great news."

"Thank you Grand Hyatt, this is a great step and I hope that all hotels in Egypt and Muslim countries do the same," wrote a visitor of the same forum.

— Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

Photo: Grant Hyatt Cairo. Credit: Cris Bouroncle  AFP/Getty Images

IRAQ: First violence, now inflation

By Usama Redha in Baghdad

When I feel bad or uneasy, the only thing that relaxes me is to go shopping in my neighborhood bazaar.

The busiest time is about 5 p.m. Lots of people come to buy groceries, glasses of fruit juice and snacks to enjoy as the heat of the day begins to ebb. But the last time I went, the bazaar wasn't nearly as crowded as it should have been. The vendors had piled up their fruit and vegetables in neat rows and were polishing them to make them shine. But few people were buying.

I always look around first to see who has the best stuff. But this time I was stunned by the prices, which are supposed to be cheap this time of the year. Most fruits and vegetables had gone up 30% or 40%. So my search was for the cheapest price, not the best quality.

ISRAEL: Passover "sitting around and eating"

Jewish families around the world are celebrating today's start of the Passover holiday with lavish communal meals. Observant Jews in Israel throw out or burn leavened food products, known as hametz; others just temporarily "sign away" ownership of their hametz to a non-Jew.

Celebrating the liberation of the Jews in Egypt from slavery, the week-long holiday is intensely family-oriented. One Jewish blogger in the U.S. pronounced it "one of my favorite holidays. Why?  Because you don't have to go to the synagogue and it's mainly about sitting around and eating."

For those who aren't near their families, Chabad Jewish outreach centers around the world are hosting mass Seder meals. The world's largest annual Seder seems to take place in Nepal, a favored spot for thousands of young Israeli backpackers. 

In Israel, Passover was preceded by several weeks of debate over a court ruling permitting the display of leavened products in restaurants and bars. Vocal protests and possible physical attacks from angry ultra-orthodox Jews are feared by some restaurant owners. Others have fretted about whether or not cigarettes are hametz.

Israeli security typically shifts into high alert during Passover. The army sealed off crossings from the West Bank on Friday. After Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip launched a massive attack on a border  crossing early Saturday morning, an Israeli army spokeswoman said the attack may have been timed to disrupt Passover celebrations.

—Ashraf Khalil in Jerusalem

Caption: Hope you're hungry. Credit: Public Domain

IRAQ: Booze for Basra

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki ordered his forces to take the city of Basra back from militias and criminal gangs last month. Some say Maliki has proven his mettle while others called the fight a political battle among rival Shiite parties. The verdict is still out, but Basra has once more showed small signs of life.

The southern port, once known as a liberal redoubt, has liquor vendors back on the streetshawking libations after going underground in recent years amid fears of attack by religious extremists.  People, who were afraid to play pop songs, are once more blaring ear candy in the city.

IRAQ: KFC in Baghdad?

Chickens have not fared well in Iraq's war, and neither has the country's once-thriving poultry industry. Chicken coops and pens were occupied by insurgents who used them as hideouts and as convenient spots to stash weapons and explosives, according to the U.S. military.

Farmers who defied insurgents' orders to shut down their businesses found that the equipment needed to sustain poultry farms was looted. Chicken processing plants fell into disrepair as their generators, water pumps and other equipment was destroyed in the war, stolen, or just left unused for years.

Now, U.S. forces are taking advantage of the lull in violence in some parts of the country to try to restore the chicken industry, according to a recent statement from the military. One area where the plan is underway is south of Baghdad, which U.S. Army Capt. Michael Lenart says used to be the country's largest chicken-producing region.

So far, 10,000 chicks have have been purchased, using U.S. funds, to restart chicken factories in Adwaniyah. Ghassan Mohammed Ali is hoping to revive his once-thriving chicken processing plant in Arab Jabour, which could mean jobs for 95 people. An additional 5,000 chicks are due to be delivered to Adwaniyah in the coming weeks.

This should be welcome news to Baghdad residents, the main purchasers of chickens, which roast on rotisserie sticks and are devoured on kebabs across the capital. The thousands of chicks destined for poultry farms may not be so happy.

— Tina Susman in Baghdad

Photo: Baby chicks sit in warming shelves at an Iraqi poultry plant. Courtesy of U.S. military.

ISRAEL: Put down that croissant!

In what's becoming a semiannual event, modern and traditional interpretations of religious law are clashing when it comes to everyday Israeli life.

The latest battlefield is the upcoming Passover holiday, when observant Jews refrain from eating any leavened bread products, known as hametz.

Israeli law forbids the public display of such goods for the duration of the holiday, which runs for one week starting April 20. But a Jerusalem Municipal affairs judge has ruled that restaurants, cafés and grocery stores are not considered public places, and can operate normally.