Confronting the Gas Revolution

Prepare for the Shale gas boom. Today the phrase is plastered across the world’s leading newspapers with much dramatic effect. They are not alone: seasoned energy experts are predicting the triumph of unconventional gas producers over the energy sector’s old guard by the end of this decade. When it comes to gas, we are told, Doha and Moscow are on their way out and DC and Canberra are in. Most gas in the Middle East is in conventional sandstone rock formations, which are relatively si...

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Chipping Away at the Copts

A large, rolled-up Arabic rug lies hazardously across the front entrance of St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox church in Kensington, London. Ahead, smiling and embracing, groups of men and women trickle out of a community room as various people tidy away plates in the narrow galley kitchen inside. Squeezing through the kitchen, one can reach a small but crowded wood-paneled office at the back of the church, and a small side-door leads into the congregation area. Father Antonious Thabet is deep in conv...

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