clockwise around the Mediterranean
- World Report 2024: Lebanon (hrw.org)
Lebanon continued to grapple with an acute economic and financial crisis that has impoverished most of the population since 2019. Human rights conditions in the country deteriorated in 2023, with a noticeable uptick in prosecutions for critical speech, growing restrictions against refugees and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, and continued impunity for previous abuses.
- Seattle (allthetropes.org)
A city situated on the eastern bank of Puget Sound in the state of Washington, and its surrounding metro area. Named for a 19th century Duwamish tribal chief from the region, who did not give an environmental speech often attributed to him. Home base of (or at least origin-point for) Microsoft, Nintendo of America, Starbucks, Boeing, Amazon and several other companies of note, and the birthplace of Grunge music (Nirvana in particular, despite not being from here). Its landmarks include Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square (which pre-gentrification was the original Skid Row), The Experience Music Project, a half-mile Monorail constructed for the 1962 World’s Fair which exemplifies Zeerust to a tee, the Seattle Underground which was a partial inspiration for Ankh-Morpork, and the Space Needle, also constructed for the World’s Fair.
- Lebanon (Wikipedia)
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, by Israel to the south, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the west; Cyprus lies a short distance away from the country’s coastline. Lebanon’s location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterlands has contributed to the country’s rich history and shaped a unique cultural identity denoted by religious diversity. Located in the Levant region of the Eastern Mediterranean, the country has a population of more than five million people and covers an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi). Lebanon’s capital and largest city is Beirut, followed by Tripoli and Jounieh. While Arabic is the official language, French is also recognized in a formal capacity; Lebanese Arabic is the country’s vernacular, though French and English play a relatively significant role in everyday life, with Modern Standard Arabic being limited to news and government matters.
