Egyptian authorities today sealed the last breach in the Gaza-Egypt border, ending more than 10 days of free back and forth movement across the sepration line.

But just a few days ago, it was a much different scene, photographed below by Jerusalem Bureau chief Kevin Flower.

-- By CNN's Schams Elwazer


Filming the March edition of Inside the Middle East in Amman, Jordan has definitely had its moments for Hala and me. Our jam session with a Jordanian brutal death metal band (it’s a sub genre of metal music) was definitely one of the more memorable moments.

Schams Elwazer and Hala Gorani with the three members of Tyrant Throne. Amman, Jordan, January 30th, 2008.

As you probably already know from our earlier posts (and photos) on this blog, we were caught in a freak snowstorm that blanketed most of the region and shut down the Jordanian capital.

Day One of the blizzard was when we had plans to film with the band “Tyrant Throne”.

Thanks to the tenacity and experience of our driver Saleh, who braved the snowstorm to pick up all three members of Tyrant Throne from all around the city, we eventually managed to reach our location: a makeshift self-financed studio in the basement of a villa in the upper-middle class neighbourhood of Abdoun in the suburbs of Amman.

The trio that comprise Tyrant Throne – vocalist and bass guitarist Mohannad (aka Phexataan), guitarist Zaher and drummer Hanna – treated us to a jam session that none of our crew are likely to forget.

The music was fast-paced and violent and the lyrics full of gruesome imagery (symbolic metaphors of the anger and angst that this genre of music expresses). These metalheads in their early 20s made our whole crew feel a little… old, I guess.

Maybe Hala and I don’t particularly “get” this kind of music… but according to a well-known online metal magazine Jorzine, Tyrant Throne seems to be the best-known Jordanian death metal band and has a small but respectable fan-base spanning a couple of continents.

After the jam session was over and our ears stopped ringing, a knock on the door reminded us that we were, after all, in the Middle East. In this region, even death-metalheads are very serious about hospitality towards guests… we were treated to a very un-metal-like but much-appreciated snack of freshly baked homemade cake with pink (yes, pink) frosting and orange juice.

This vignette will air in our March show along with Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson’s piece on popular Saudi metal band Wasted Land.

For those of you who want to hear what Jordanian brutal death metal music sounds like, check them out online: https://www.myspace.com/tyrantthrone or https://www.tyrantthrone.com/

I knew CNN Producer Schams Elwazer and I must have looked pathetic trekking out into the snow blizzard on the side of the road earlier today, when an ambulance slowed down and offered us a ride.

I have never seen a snowstorm so intense in the Middle East. Not even in the early nineties, when, in heavy snow, a car I was riding in in Northern Syria spun off the side of the highway and right into a ditch.

There is something magical about extreme weather. Strangers smile at other strangers; passers-by greet each other; cars offer rides to stranded pedestrians on snow-covered sidewalks. People seem to form a fleeting - but powerful - human bond. This is, after all, something exceptional and bigger than all of us.

At the hotel, employees are stranded as well. One of them told me he walked half an hour in the snow to work today. The morning breakfast staff couldn't make it in at all, so waiters from the dinner shift spent the night at the hotel and worked overtime to fill in.

Stranded tourists worriedly asked if there would be food tonight at the hotel.

"We can't guarantee that," said the concierge.

oh well. There's always the mini-bar.

-- Posted by Hala Gorani in Amman

January 24th, 2008

The top picture was taken in Davos, Switzerland during our coverage of the World Economic Forum. Below? A continent away in Amman, Jordan. We arrived in Jordan yesterday to film elements for the March edition of Inside the Middle East but the CNN team is snowed in and stuck in the hotel for the day.

January 30th, 2008