Issue 1430

Hanging by a thread
Lebanon’s economy has gone into freefall, prompting attempts to revive rural crafts such as weaving amid predictions people will move back from the cities into villages. And crucial to it all is the floppy-eared, nomadic Awassi sheep, reports Youmna Abdallah.

Spring walks
Spectacular views of the Lake District, a Roman town, carpets of bluebells, a Baptist burial ground and, of course, sheep. Roger Ratcliffe rambles on.

Strong and silent
For his compelling performance in the survival thriller Europa, Adam Ali could draw heavily on his experiences as a refugee fleeing Libya, separated from family and struggling to communicate. Now he’s able to communicate clearly his pride in being a gay Mancunian Muslim – with a career that’s taking off. By Christian Lisseman.

Plus a new arts exhibition in Liverpool invites us to look at the natural landscape in a different way, poet and novelist Ben Okri writes to his younger self, reviews, news and much more.