this article dpes not necessarily represent khazen.org opinion  by cnbc.com — Amid international uproar over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, some members of Saudi Arabia’s ruling family are agitating to prevent Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from becoming king, three sources close to the royal court said. Dozens of princes and cousins from powerful […]

by annahar.com — BEIRUT: In a night full of aspiration and inspiration, Casino du Liban hosted Thursday the seventh edition of the Brilliant Lebanese Awards organized by BLC Bank. The stage was awash Technicolor light, as the dazzling singer Nawal Zoghbi made her appearance. Diners at the Brilliant Lebanese Awards sat rapt attention as Zoghbi […]

BEIRUT, (Xinhua) — A Lebanese economist said Thursday that Israeli geopolitical instability stands behind Lebanese financial crises. “Any Israeli political instability will automatically affect the Lebanese financial market within seven months,” Layal Mansour, a researcher at the American University of Beirut, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. “Israel becomes an economic external variable in triggering […]

by aawsat.com — Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri accused on Tuesday Hezbollah of hindering the formation of a new government after months of political wrangling. “It’s very regrettable that Hezbollah has put itself in the position of bearing responsibility for hindering the government,” Hariri told at a news conference. “I’ve done my job and the […]

by Michael Karam — Executive –– Lebanese wine is at a turning point in its long and proud history—and it is a positive turning point too. But first, a little context: For those who do not know, Lebanon, or what is now Lebanon, has been making wine for thousands of years. Only the people of the Caucasus have been making wine for longer. But even if they made it first, it was our ancestors the Phoenicians who, courtesy of their vast trading fleet, gave wine to the rest of the world, and at one point—in the height of Phoenician commercial dominance between 900 and 330 BC—wine from Byblos was among the most sought-after wines in the then-known world. It was the Pétrus of its day. But it was the Jesuits at what is now Château Ksara, making a modern, dry wine in the Bekaa Valley in the mid-19th century, who upped our game, while the subsequent arrival of the French after World War I ensured that a wine culture endured. If Lebanon had been run by the British, I would not be writing this article. The local wine industry, as we know it today, really began in the early 1990s, after the civil war, when five wineries, Château Kefraya, Château Ksara, Château Musar, Château Nakad, and Domaine des Tourelles, dusted themselves off after 15 years of fighting and looked toward a bright future. They were joined by half a dozen exciting new producers and, by the mid-90s, we had around 14 wineries. Today, we are nudging at 60, with Lebanon firmly on the world wine map. But there is much work to do. At home, we need to protect our industry, not necessarily by taxing the hell out of imported foreign wines, but by encouraging everyone to “Buy Lebanese” and convincing them that home-made bottles can be as good, if not better, than one of the very ordinary—not to mention overpriced—Bordeauxs on the local market.

We also need to admit that we are too dysfunctional to ever activate the National Wine Institute, the so-called public-private body created to run the sector, which has been gestating for nearly 15 years and does not look likely to be born anytime soon. We should leave the running of the industry to the Union Vinicole du Liban, Lebanon’s official association of wine producers, which has done more than any other body to build and promote the sector in the last three decades. Selling our wares But abroad is where our fortunes lie. We make roughly 10 million bottles each year, but we still only drink a shade over 1 liter per capita, compared to 45 liters in France and Italy, 36 in Germany and 24 in the UK. The few tourists we do attract do not knock back wine in the quantities we would like—certainly not enough to ensure we drink all of our output at home. So how do we move forward in the international market? We need to be different. We need to highlight indigenous white grapes like the white Obeideh and Merwah, and what I call the red “heritage” grapes, such as Cinsault, Grenache, and Carignan. If you give the international market something it has never seen, the wine will fly off the shelf. You do not believe me? Just ask Château Ksara, whose hugely daring Merwah varietal is now selling out wherever it goes, likewise for Domaine des Tourelles with its Vieille Vigne Cinsault. Vertical 33, a boutique winery, is doing great things with Obeideh, as are Château St. Thomas, Domaine Wardy, Château Kefraya (in limited quantities), and Coteaux du Liban. And get this: Latourba and Batroun Mountains have made Lebanon’s first sparkling wines, released in 2018 and 2016 respectively. Innovation, enthusiasm, and adventure are essential in our business.

by Dana Halawi BEIRUT (Xinhua) — As Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is expected to hold a news conference Tuesday, political analysts and officials are having mixed opinions about the destiny of the long-running formation of the national unity government. Hariri is expected to hold a news conference at his residence in downtown Beirut at 1:30 […]

BEIRUT — (Xinhua) — A representative of the Lebanese economic sector said on Sunday that about 2,200 companies have closed down in Lebanon since the start of this year because of economic slowdown. “We are on the verge of an economic breakdown,” Mohamad Choucair, head of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, said in […]

BEIRUT (Reuters) – The leader of the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah insisted that one of its Sunni allies be given a portfolio in a new Lebanese cabinet, and indicated it would be ready to go back to square one in negotiating a government if necessary. In a televised speech on Saturday, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah also warned […]

By Heba Kanso BEIRUT (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The hashtag #ShameOnWho? is being deployed as part of a new street art campaign in Lebanon to try to change attitudes to rape in a country where victim shaming remains common. The group behind the campaign, which launched this week, said it wanted to “shake” Lebanese society out […]

Beirut (AsiaNews) –by Fady Noun —  A catastrophic picture has been painted of the internal situation in Lebanon yesterday in some passages of the final communiqué of the Assembly of the Maronite bishops at the end of their monthly meeting. The prelates, led by the Patriarch launched the alarm for an “internal war” that brings […]