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Beirut: Beirut’s Hippodrome has survived wars and relentless upheaval but the iconic racetrack, where rival fighters once gathered to bet on their days off, approaches its centenary facing an uncertain future.

The Hippodrome was built in 1916 by the Ottoman Turks. During the civil war it was used as a neutral site where enemy combattants could meet.

One of the city’s last remaining green spaces, it is now suffering financial difficulties and a dearth of investment.

Should the racecourse close for good, the land could fall into the hands of property developers who have already turned Beirut into a concrete jungle.

By Serene Assir

Beirut (AFP) - Workers began at the weekend removing tonnes of rubbish that have piled up around Lebanon's capital under a government plan to end an eight-month crisis that has sparked repeated protests.

Civil society activists and environmental experts once again lashed out at the plan, warning that it does nothing to allay the ecological concerns that took them to the streets in the first place.

Beirut's suburbs have been awash in trash for months following the closure in July of the country's largest landfill at Naameh, just south of the Lebanese capital.

english.ahram.org.eg

Famed Lebanese singer Majida El-Roumi is scheduled to give a concert 20 May at the Sound and Light Theatre of the Giza Pyramids to benefit victims of burn injuries.

The concert is organised by Ahl Masr Foundation and all ticket revenues will go towards the construction of Ahl Masr Burns Hospital, the first non-profit hospital across the Middle East and North Africa specialised in the treatment of burn injuries.

The hospital is planned on a total area of 12,200 square metres and will be located in New Cairo’s First District.

Piles of rubbish have become a common sight all over Beirut in recent months

Sanitation workers began removing mountains of trash from the suburbs of Beirut on Saturday in what residents hoped would mark the end of Lebanon's eight-month garbage crisis.

Early in the day, dozens of trucks started carrying trash to the Naameh landfill just south of the capital, one of three landfills opened as part of a temporary solution announced by the government a week ago. As garbage began piling up in Beirut last year, protesters formed the "You Stink" movement, demanding sweeping reform in Lebanon's government.