By LYNN TEHINI AND HAMZA MAKRAOUI — arabnews.com — The French-Lebanese production was born from a distant, but still vivid, memories of the Lebanese filmmaker. “Memory Box” deals with the separation of two young Lebanese women — one in Paris and the other in Beirut — who write and send each other recordings every day for six years. The two friends meet again in 2013 at an exhibition and discuss the notebooks and tapes that they gathered every day from 1982 to 1988. Joana, who lives in Paris, retrieves her letters and tapes, which arouses the curiosity of her daughter Alia. Thanks to these letters and recordings, the latter discovers what her mother thought and said when she was her age. For Hadjithomas, “conveying” is the keyword of this cinematographic adventure. ‘Khalil (Joreige) and I are artists; we worked a lot on the image and character of this film, paying attention to both its sound and pictorial dimension.’ Joana Hadjithomas, Lebanese filmmaker “I wanted to tell a story of women and that of three generations of women,” the filmmaker told Arab News. “I wanted to show another relationship to the war, away from the trauma, as seen in the eyes of the youth of the 1980s, driven by this crazy desire to live that was ours,” she said.

The film is a story of women, but, above all, a story of generations amid the disastrous civil war in Lebanon. “When I received an invitation for the film, I did not hesitate. I said to myself: ‘I want to meet this generation’,” Hadjithomas said. “Khalil (Joreige) and I are artists; we worked a lot on the image and character of this film, paying attention to both its sound and pictorial dimension. So we were keen to talk about the development of the film, to convey something of this experience,” Hadjithomas said. Her eyes shine as she recalls how the film was received by the different audiences who had the opportunity to watch it. “I feel overwhelmed every time,” she said. “Whatever their nationalities or background, people understood the movie.” Hadjithomas added: “Maybe it is because the film sheds light on a myriad of experiences and a lot of details that I have taken from my notebooks; maybe also because we see my real notebooks in this film and there is a transition between fiction and reality. Maybe, finally, because it is a story of women and the actresses have put a lot of themselves into it.” She added: “It is also a story of encounters. With Khalil, we met the actresses, we saw them, they inspired us.”

انا اعترف … قال رئيس الجمهورية العماد ميشال عون عشيَّة الميلاد، في لقائه الـمُفعَم بالروحانيات والمعاني الجميلة، إنَّ وصايا السيد المسيح في العهد الجديد تحمل الصيغة الإيجابية، وأعطى مثالًا على قوله الآيةَ التالية: “قيل لكم: لا تحلفوا باسم الله بالباطل. أما أنا فأقول لكم: لا تحلفوا باسم الله البتة”. وأردف الرئيس عون قائلًا: “إن تَبِعة […]

by aawsat.com — Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Beshara Al-Rai, stressed the importance of the country holding legislative elections next year as he delivered his Christmas sermon on Saturday. Al-Rai also called for the government to convene, saying that failing to do so sets a precedent that may hinder the function of future governments. Lebanon’s cabinet, which is focused on restarting talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unlock much-needed foreign aid, has not met since Oct. 12, due to a dispute over a probe into last year’s deadly Beirut port blast. “We support your commitment to holding the legislative elections,” said Al-Rai, directing his speech to President Michel Aoun who was attending the sermon. “The elections are the guarantee that presidential elections will be held on time and it is an opportunity for change.”

Parliament had voted for the legislative election to take place on March 27 but Aoun has said he would only sign a decree for them to take place in May. Al-Rai also offered his condolences to the families of the victims of the port blast which killed more than 200 people in August last year. “Our thoughts today are with the families of the port blast victims who are in pain because the judiciary is hindered and the fate of investigation is uncertain,” he said. The explosion was caused by a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely for years with the knowledge of top officials, but more than a year on, no one has been held accountable. Hezbollah and its allies have pushed to remove the lead investigator of the explosion, accusing him of political bias.

by theguardian.com — In Lebanon’s year of loss and deprivation, simple pleasures have steadily drained away along with its fortunes. But amid a crisis renowned for breaking new ground, few Lebanese had thought their ability to stay in touch was at risk – until a pre-Christmas warning sent shudders through the country. The telecommunications minister, Johnny Corm, warned this week that a lack of funds and fuel could soon see Lebanon’s already struggling internet grind to a halt, making festive calls and messages even trickier than usual – and a financial and social disintegration like no other even more acute. As weary Lebanese approached another lacklustre Christmas, the warnings appeared to be bearing out. The internet was barely functioning in Tripoli on Tuesday. By the day after, Beirutis could barely communicate or open websites. Things were forecast to get worse in time for Christmas Day.

Where is Christmas? It should be full of lighting and life. We were praying for the end of 2020, but this year is worse for sure Miriam Sarhan, 31, who left Lebanon for Canada in July after losing faith in her homeland, says calling her family on messaging apps had helped settle her in and reassure her family back home. “I was speaking to them by video in November,” she says. “Now we can’t even manage a voice call. What else will my country take from me?” The crisis affecting the telecom sector mirrors that faced by all arms of government; bills to overseas providers need to be paid in US dollars and the cost of doing so has increased up to twentyfold since the country’s plunging currency lost parity in late 2020. Since then, the value of the lira has been in freefall, while costs of goods and services have skyrocketed. Through it all, staying in touch had been at least one salvation; as had a hope that somehow, someday, things would get better. But as a cruel winter sets in, after an arduous year, there is little sign of a brighter horizon. Resilience, once a buzzword used to describe the Lebanese, is now parodied by citizens themselves. “How much more can we be humiliated?” asks Mustafa Alloush, an expatriate living in London. “It seems something that outsiders wish upon us to make themselves feel better about our situation.”

Your Horoscope signs for the year 2022 and 2023 

BY SOPHIE SAINT THOMAS – Allure.com —

Aries (March 21 – April 19)

You’re the first sign of the zodiac and love to get your way. Unfortunately, you experience financial frustrations early in the year when Venus is retrograde. You want to level up in life but feel stuck. Thankfully, when Venus, the planet of abundance, enters your sign in May, you’re ready to make bank. Plus, the lucky planet Jupiter enters your sign, Aries, bringing blessings to your love life and career. 2022 is a great year to go first. Read your full 2022 horoscope here.

Taurus (April 20 – May 20)

Sure, darling Taurus, your ruling planet Venus is retrograde when 2022 begins, but don’t let that get you down. Frankly, it would be best to focus on the eclipses that occur on the Taurus/Scorpio axis throughout the year. These will be times of significant change, but it’s all pushing you towards your destiny. When the independent planet Uranus conjuncts the North Node in your sign, Taurus, you receive a major push from the universe to transform into a more evolved version of yourself. Read your full 2022 horoscope here. For 2023 & 2024 horoscope please click here

Opinions are my own – For my predictions for the previous year 2021 please click here

For the year of 2022 – 2023:

1-      Deep Learning models training will be king in 2022 in Machine Learning. The goal is to generate human-like semantic new data (Texts, Images and Code). In 2021 we have trained large ML models with billions of parameters (OpenAI GPT-3, Turing, codex etc). In 2022 we will continue training models with more parameters, but the difference now will be to reduce the bias/stereotypes in the new content that is created.

a.       One key trend is to allow users to fine tune their models, tailor to their specific domain this will lead higher quality outputs

b.       Another trend is the increase of data annotation/labeling tools and vendors to tag data with more inclusive labels.

c.       Finally, there will be much focus on digital signature to certify the new data that is being generated by the publisher to reduce propaganda

NNA —  Minister of Public Works and Transportation, Dr. Ali Hamieh, on Thursday confirmed in a statement that the path to activate Lebanese facilities, including Rafic Hariri International Airport, was on the right track. “The number of arrivals to-date has reached 521,660 and is expected to reach 600,000 and above by the end of 2021,” […]

by reuters — Lebanon’s foreign ministry said on Thursday it “regrets” an incident of reported violence against the Finnish battalion that is part of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and is awaiting results of an inquiry into the matter. “The ministry affirms that any form of assault on the UNIFIL forces is unacceptable,” the ministry said in a statement.

Following the incident on Wednesday, UNIFIL said that “depriving UNIFIL of freedom of movement and attacking those who serve the cause of peace is unacceptable” and violated a peacekeeping agreement between Lebanon and the UN. It urged Lebanese authorities to hold those responsible accountable. The peacekeepers, now numbering around 10,000, have been stationed in southern Lebanon since 1978, when they arrived following an Israeli invasion during the 1975-1990 civil war. While Palestinian rebel groups were active there at the time, Iran-backed Hezbollah now operates in the area. The group fought a brutal 34-day war with Israel in 2006 that left around 1,200 Lebanese – most of them civilians – and more than 150 Israelis – mostly soldiers – dead.

by thenationalnews.com — The Lebanese judge leading investigations into last year’s Beirut port blast was forced to stop work on Thursday over a lawsuit filed by former ministers he had summoned for interrogation, an official said. The suspension is the fourth since Tarek Bitar was chosen to lead investigations in February. It comes two weeks […]

By Hugh Grant — techbullion.com — Marwan Kheireddine has brought an immeasurable amount of wealth and growth to Lebanon. In 2001, he opened a Virgin Megastore in Lebanon and received some priceless advice from a fellow billionaire, Sir Richard Branson. “I saw how Richard runs his business. He runs a multibillion-dollar corporation, but he knows everything about every company every day because it’s a flat structure,” Marwan Kheireddine said. “So when I met him for the first time in his office, I was very surprised that he was in a large office with no windows, no walls — it was completely open.” Kheireddine found it intriguing that anyone could walk up to him and talk to him. “His assistant would sit next to him, and there were no walls, and no red tape,” Marwan Kheireddine said. “And I did exactly that. If you come to my office today, unfortunately, we have walls because that’s the way it is in banking. However, when I don’t have people in my office, my door is open. Anyone can come in from the lowest level analyst to the highest C-suite executive. They can come in. It’s an open-door policy.”

Marwan Kheireddine had a life-changing meeting with Richard Branson

When Marwan Kheireddine met with Branson at his London offices in 2000, he assured the British business tycoon the launch would have to unfold grandly. “I said, ‘Richard, if you want to launch Virgin in the Middle East, it cannot be done in a shy way,’” Marwan Kheireddine advised. “It needs to be done very professionally and with a huge impact.” The Virgin Megastore opened in Lebanon in 2001, and it quickly became a cultural hub in the heart of Beirut. Branson attended the opening perched on a black couch that had been loaded onto a red bulldozer’s forklift bearing Virgin’s iconic logo. An elaborate fireworks display followed. Lebanon’s late Prime Minister Rafic Hariri described the store as a testimony of Beirut’s revival, according to albawaba.com. And then, a Virgin Megastore opened in Saudi Arabia in 2008. “Again, Richard went there, and we launched Virgin in the Middle East, but we didn’t stop at Virgin Megastores,” Marwan Kheireddine said. “Virgin Megastores then had a radio station, and Virgin Radio opened up in Lebanon.”