by Naharnet — Saad Hariri was officially tasked Thursday with forming a new government after he garnered 111 votes in the binding parliamentary consultations, the Presidency said. The consultations were held at the Baabda Palace from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. Hariri was first to arrive at the Presidential Palace where he met President Michel Aoun […]

by businessinsider.com — John Haltiwanger — The White House on Thursday cancelled the highly anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In a letter to Kim, President Donald Trump wrote, “I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.” Trump said he’d been looking forward to the summit, but the “tremendous […]

by Bryant Harris – Al-Monitor —Mike Pompeo used his first official appearance before Congress as secretary of state to call for a review of US military assistance for Lebanon following Hezbollah’s gains in this month’s elections. Washington has long relied on the Lebanese Armed Forces as a bulwark against the Iran-backed Shiite paramilitary group’s influence in the divided country. But critics of the army’s unwillingness to confront the group, which plays a dominant role in Lebanese politics, are gaining traction as the Donald Trump administration pursues a more aggressive stance against Tehran. “We need a review … to make sure that we’re using American tax dollars right in supporting the groups that can most likely achieve our outcome there,” Pompeo testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee today as the Trump administration weighed in on a simmering debate about Lebanon. “That’s the first time the administration openly mentioned some things related to a review of the use of the LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces] aid,” Joseph Gebeily, the president of the Lebanese Information Center, a think tank critical of Hezbollah, told Al-Monitor. “The Lebanese Armed Forces have been a very useful partner to the US military. They’ve built a good relationship.”

Some Hezbollah hawks in Congress have long called for curtailing US support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, saying the Hezbollah paramilitary group exerts undue influence on the Lebanese military. “I’ve long been concerned over reports of the LAF-Hezbollah cooperation and US commitment to the LAF,” Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the chairwoman of the House panel on Middle East policy, said earlier this week at a hearing reviewing Hezbollah’s electoral gains. “US law stipulates that no assistance may be made available to the LAF or Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces if they are controlled by a US-designated foreign terrorist organization. Hezbollah certainly [qualifies].” “I hope that this administration, unlike previous administrations from both parties, takes a clear-eyed approach to the LAF [and] reassesses our security assistance to Lebanon,” she added.

naharnet.com — Speaker Nabih Berri has been re-elected for a sixth consecutive term on Wednesday with an overwhelming majority of 98 votes out of the parliament’s 128-seat assembly. Berri, who ran unchallenged, won 98 votes with 29 blank ballots and one that was annulled. The newly elected parliament convened for the first time after the May 6 nationwide balloting. Veteran politician, Elie al-Ferzli was also elected as deputy parliament speaker after winning 80 MP votes. In accordance with the protocol, the Parliament convened under the most senior MP, Michel Murr, who was accompanied to the parliament by caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The country’s first parliamentary elections in nine years ended years of political stalemate over a new election law and repeated extension of the parliament’s terms. The re-election of Berri, an ally of Hizbullah who has held the post since 1992, reflects Lebanon’s entrenched sectarian-based political system which has held despite rising discontent. Together, the two parties hold all but one of the 26 Shiite-allocated seats in Lebanon’s parliament. Outgoing PM Hariri called him a “national symbol.” Michel Murr meanwhile commended Berri for successfully managing the country’s sectarian politics over the years, preventing conflict.

After his election, Berri addressed legislators by saying “thank you” six times, in reference to his sixth term. He pledged bills on major legislative issues, notably on potential maritime oil and gas reserves. Lebanon in February signed its first deal to drill in a pair of offshore zones, including one that is disputed between Lebanon and Israel. “Parliament will be a bulwark for the country’s sovereign land and maritime borders — a national response by the state, army, people, and resistance to Israel’s aggressions and violations,” Berri said. Celebratory gunfire and firecrackers erupted across Beirut and its southern suburbs after Berri was approved. Lebanon’s confessional political system divides seats in parliament equally among Muslims and Christians, then further splits them among the various sects. The position of speaker is reserved for a Shiite Muslim, while the other two top positions of prime minister and president go to a Sunni Muslim and a Maronite Christian, respectively. Born in 1938, Berri is a veteran of Lebanon’s complex political scene. He rose to power as AMAL Movement leader in the civil war (1957-1990) before transitioning to politics when it ended. He was simultaneously elected member and speaker of parliament in 1992. In his official role he calls and runs Lebanon’s parliamentary sessions.

The long delay preceding this month’s parliamentary elections was blamed on political divisions, the war in neighboring Syria and an unsatisfactory voting law. President Michel Aoun will on Thursday consult the newly-elected body to name the country’s next prime minister. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader, caretaker PM Hariri, is expected to return for another term in that role, his third time as premier. Source

Binding parliamentary consultations to choose a new premier will kick off on Thursday, Speaker Nabih Berri said.

George Nader poses backstage with President Donald Trump at a Republican fundraiser in Dallas, Texas, October 25, 2017

This is an opinion article and does not necessarily represents khazen.org 

WASHINGTON (AP) by Desmond Butler, Tom LoBianco  — After a year spent carefully cultivating two princes from the Arabian Peninsula, Elliott Broidy, a top fundraiser for President Donald Trump, thought he was finally close to nailing more than $1 billion in business. He had ingratiated himself with crown princes from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who were seeking to alter US foreign policy and punish Qatar, an archrival in the Gulf that he dubbed “the snake.” To do that, the California businessman had helped spearhead a secret campaign to influence the White House and Congress, flooding Washington with political donations. Broidy and his business partner, Lebanese-American George Nader, pitched themselves to the crown princes as a backchannel to the White House, passing the princes’ praise — and messaging — straight to the president’s ears. Now, in December 2017, Broidy was ready to be rewarded for all his hard work. It was time to cash in. In return for pushing anti-Qatar policies at the highest levels of America’s government, Broidy and Nader expected huge consulting contracts from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, according to an Associated Press investigation based on interviews with more than two dozen people and hundreds of pages of leaked emails between the two men. The emails reviewed by the AP included work summaries and contracting documents and proposals.

The AP has previously reported that Broidy and Nader sought to get an anti-Qatar bill through Congress while obscuring the source of the money behind their influence campaign. A new cache of emails obtained by the AP reveals an ambitious, secretive lobbying effort to isolate Qatar and undermine the Pentagon’s longstanding relationship with the Gulf country. A lawyer for Broidy, Chris Clark, contended the AP’s reporting “is based on fraudulent and fabricated documents obtained from entities with a known agenda to harm Mr. Broidy.” “To be clear, Mr. Nader is a US citizen, and there is no evidence suggesting that he directed Mr. Broidy’s actions, let alone that he did so on behalf of a foreign entity,” Clark said. The AP conducted an exhaustive review of the emails and documents, checking their content with dozens of sources, and determined that they tracked closely with real events, including efforts to cultivate the princes and lobby Congress and the White House. The cache also reveals a previously unreported meeting with the president and provides the most detailed account yet of the work of two Washington insiders who have been entangled in the turmoil surrounding the two criminal investigations closest to Trump. Lobbying in pursuit of personal gain is nothing new in Washington — Trump himself, in fact, turned the incestuous culture into a rallying cry when he promised to “drain the swamp.” “I will Make Our Government Honest Again — believe me,” Trump tweeted before the election. “But first, I’m going to have to #DrainTheSwamp in DC.” Broidy’s campaign to alter US policy in the Middle East and reap a fortune for himself shows that one of the president’s top money men found the swamp as navigable as ever with Trump in office.

by albawaba.com — Observers have raised several questions regarding Hezbollah’s change of policy in light of regional and international developments. Hezbollah opponents link this change to rising sanctions against the party and its leaders, while supporters say the party’s decision is merely internal and linked to the fight against widespread corruption in all state institutions. The […]

by broadwayworld.com – Noor Gharzeddine’s debut feature is a must see, exploring gender roles and domestic violence through a cultural lens. This gripping and tender feature was written by Samuel Cyrenius Anderson. A month into its festival run, Are You Glad I’m Here has already shown at ATLANTA Film Festival, Riverrun International Film Festival and is […]

by Business Insider – Jake Kanter– The Cambridge Analytica data debacle was billed as Facebook’s biggest crisis, but it looks like it didn’t even leave a scratch on the company. Facebook weathered the worst of the storm and usage actually increased, according to a client note from Goldman Sachs, citing ComScore figures. In other words, the […]

by lebaneseexaminer.com – Lebanese American University students sailed a ‘Phoenician ship’ from Byblos to the Beirut port — and it was all made out of plastic bottles, the National News Agency reported. Students worked with the ‘Chreek’ environmental nonprofit to collect more than 50,000 plastic bottles to build the ship. More than 25,000 were used […]

Nadine Labaki’s ‘Capernaum’ wins Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival – Many viewers took to social media following the “Capernaum” premiere to praise Labaki for her new film, which has already racked up a string of distribution deals – by AFP — The Lebanese director became only the second woman ever to win the top […]