The voters of Beirut have had their chance to let the politicians know what they think of the months and months they’ve had to enjoy stinky rubbish piling up on the street. And in Beirut, a collection of disgruntled residents and opinion formers created a new political grouping “Beirut, My City”. I asked our Beirut correspondent, what was behind the rubbish dispute?
Political paralysis linked to the nature of the Lebanese system which is basically a sectarian power sharing system that allows a lot of room for disgruntled parties which form these establishments to simply veto anything they don’t like. And when they get together and finally agree, it’s usually simply to share a power in a way that doesn’t necessarily resolve the issues at hand. Basically it’s a very complex situation which led to the rubbish crisis. It has been partly resolved. The establishments were usually fighting each other about almost everything you can think of from regional politics to a power sharing within Lebanon. And obviously we are all waiting for the results of that.
What do we think the likely outcome is going to be?
Turnout was very low.
And the results of the election are expected later on Monday.
Archeologists have clashed at a conference in Egypt over a theory that secret chambers could be hidden behind the walls of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. The idea was first put forward last year by a British archeologist Nicholas Reeves who suggested the chambers could contain the remains of the ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti. Since then, the tomb has been extensively scanned by radar. Some experts have said the results strongly suggest the presence of open spaces with signs of mental and organic matter. But speaking at the conference on Sunday, the prominent Egyptologist and former Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass said the radars proved nothing.
No radar in the world can say there is organic material. It never happened. Therefore, what has been said about the discovery of Nefertiti inside the tomb of Tutankhamun is not correct.
For his part, Professor Reeves is continuing to defend his theory.
I was looking for the evidence that will tell me my initial reading was wrong. But I didn’t find any evidence to suggest that. I just found more and more and more indicators.
Egypt’s current Antiquities Minister has meanwhile said he won’t permit any excavation to find possible secret chambers until he is completely satisfied “they do exist”. He told the conference that more research was needed to convince him.