(MENAFN) The value of Middle East investments in real estate outside the region soared 64 percent to USD11.5 billion in the January-June period, based on a CBRE report, which is a US-American commercial real estate company. Sovereign wealth funds accounted for USD8.3 billion of the spending in the first six months of this year, almost […]

By Dana Balloutt BEIRUT—Anti government activists in Lebanon were reviewing Thursday a plan by authorities to end a long-running trash-collection crisis that has galvanized public anger over the government’s chronic inability to deliver social services.

Under a plan endorsed by an emergency cabinet meeting late Wednesday, responsibility for trash pickup and disposal will be transferred from the central government to local municipalities, closed landfills will temporarily reopened and new landfills will be opened in rural Lebanon.

 By Rouba El Husseini – Beirut (AFP) – Organisers of mass protests in Lebanon over trash festering in the streets said Thursday the government’s long-awaited plan to deal with the crisis is too vague and does not meet their demands. Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Beirut in recent weeks to demand an end to long-standing political divisions that have affected even basic public services.

Vicky Karantzavelou

HONG KONG – Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has announced that it will manage a new luxury hotel and branded residences currently under development in Beirut. Scheduled to open in 2018, the project provides the Group with a unique opportunity to further extend its reach in the important Middle East market.
The overall development comprises two adjacent buildings located in Beirut’s Central District at the heart of Lebanon’s capital. Mandarin Oriental, Beirut will be situated in the south tower, with 280 well-appointed rooms and suites and 25 serviced apartments. All will be designed in a contemporary style, with exacting attention to detail that is reflective of the Group’s oriental heritage. The north tower will house 103 Residences at Mandarin Oriental, that will provide the most luxurious and desirable living in central Beirut.

Reuters,

Russian forces have begun participating in military operations in Syria in support of government troops, three Lebanese sources familiar with the political and military situation there said on Wednesday.

The sources, speaking to Reuters on condition they not be identified, gave the most forthright account yet from the region of what the United States fears is a deepening Russian military role in Syria’s civil war, though one of the Lebanese sources said the number of Russians involved so far was small.

John Owens

Lebanon’s Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil (2nd L) stands near Head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc Mohamed Raad (3rdL) and leader of the Marada movement Suleiman Franjieh (2nd R)

Several thousand demonstrators returned to the streets of Beirut on Wednesday, September 9, for the latest “You Stink” protest against an ongoing trash crisis in the Lebanese capital as politicians assembled to discuss the situation. The protest movement was triggered by the government’s inaction in the face of a mounting garbage collection crisis, which demonstrators say is emblematic of endemic corruption and poor public services in the nation.

Lebanese women have their photograph taken in front barbed wire near the main Lebanese government building, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015. Lebanon’s prime minister says he hopes that political talks between senior politicians will help end government paralysis that has sparked angry street protests. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Lebanese political leaders, stand around a round table as they listen to the Lebanese national anthem, during the opening session of the National Dialogue, in the Parliament building, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015. Lebanon’s prime minister Tammam Salam says he hopes that political talks between senior politicians will help end government paralysis that has sparked angry street protests. Salam also called for a Cabinet meeting later Wednesday to discuss the issue of garbage collection. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese Minister of the Environment Mohammad Machnouk speaks to the media upon his arrival at the government palace to attend an emergency cabinet session in downtown Beirut, Lebanon September 9, 2015. Lebanese security services locked down central Beirut on Wednesday as ministers and MPs met to discuss ways out of a political crisis that has paralysed government and fueled a wave of street protests. Ministers, but not a full cabinet, then headed for the government headquarters nearby, the state news agency said, for an emergency cabinet session Prime Minister Tammam Salam had called for earlier in the day. REUTERS/Mohamed Azaki

Lebanese anti-government protesters shout slogans as they hold their national flags, during a protest against the on-going trash crisis and government corruption, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015. Lebanon’s prime minister says he hopes that political talks between senior politicians will help end government paralysis that has sparked angry street protests. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

By John Davison

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon‘s government agreed a plan to resolve a waste disposal crisis late on Wednesday, ending a dispute that has caused piles of rubbish to fester on Beirut’s streets and triggered a wave of popular protests.

The long-term plan, agreed on during an emergency cabinet meeting gives municipalities a main role in treating local wastewith expert help and supervision, and also assigns two landfills in Akkar and in Masnaa area near the border with Syria. "We see that this plan meets the conditions.. Tonight the cabinet agreed on an environmental solution path that is sustainable and safe," Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayeb, who led the team to draft the plan, told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

Al Jazeera –

Despite a deadly sandstorm blanketing the country, thousands of people are planning to protest in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, the latest demonstration in a campaign against government’s failure to provide basic services like rubbish collection. 

The protests on Wednesday will coincide with a dialogue session by political leaders to tackle the issues that have led to months of political deadlock.

In an attempt by authorities to prevent clashes with the protesters, Beirut’s centre was completely blocked off with barbed wire and metal barriers on Wednesday morning.

Beirut (AFP) – Protesters angry over a lack of basic services and Lebanon’s political paralysis returned to Beirut’s streets on Wednesday as party leaders met seeking to end months of gridlock.

A protest movement across Lebanon’s sectarian fault lines has sprung up, initially motivated by a trash collection crisis but increasingly focused on the country’s stagnant political class.

On Wednesday, as politicians arrived downtown, the first batch of protesters threw eggs at their convoys, chanting: "Thieves, thieves, get out!"

Authorities beefed up security measures, erecting large metal barricades preventing access to parliament where political figures were meeting.