Girl killed, troops wounded in Lebanon's Tripoli

TRIPOLI, Lebanon // A 12-year-old girl was killed and 11 people were injured in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli in violence linked to clashes on the Syrian border, a security source said Tuesday.

The casualties, including seven soldiers, were inflicted in exchanges of fire between Lebanese troops and armed men in the predominantly Sunni city.

The source said the violence was linked to fighting since Saturday between jihadists believed to be from Syria and Lebanese soldiers in the eastern Arsal region on the Syrian border.

Those clashes have killed 16 soldiers and left 22 of their colleagues missing, possibly taken hostage.

The violence in Tripoli broke out Monday night, when some 150 people gathered near a military post to protest the army’s role in Arsal, prompting soldiers to fire tear gas to disperse them.

Soldiers used gunfire, wounding two people, when four grenades were hurled at their post, the security source said.

Sporadic clashes continued through the night and the 12-year-old girl was killed and another two people were wounded early Tuesday as soldiers and gunmen exchanged fire, the source said.

And gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying military personnel, injuring the seven soldiers, the army said.

Violence has regularly broken out in Tripoli’s Bab el-Tebbaneh neighbourhood, where Sunni gunmen exchange fire with their neighbours in the Jabal Mohsen district, home to members of the Alawite community.

Bab el-Tebbaneh’s residents back the uprising in Syria, while Jabal Mohsen’s residents support President Bashar al-Assad, a fellow Alawite, against the Sunni-led revolt.

Tensions between the two districts dating back decades have been fanned by the Syrian conflict that began in March 2011.

Gunmen in Bab el-Tebbaneh also regularly target the army, which they accuse of protecting Jabal Mohsen over their neighbourhood.

* Agence France-Presse

The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.

The specs

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Sreesanth's India bowling career

Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40

ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55

T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12

Recipe: Spirulina Coconut Brothie

Ingredients
1 tbsp Spirulina powder
1 banana
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (full fat preferable)
1 tbsp fresh turmeric or turmeric powder
½ cup fresh spinach leaves
½ cup vegan broth
2 crushed ice cubes (optional)

Method
Blend all the ingredients together on high in a high-speed blender until smooth and creamy.

Analysis

Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more