by Zlatan Hrvacevic — The Port of Beirut has historically played a vital role in Lebanon’s economy, as a major cargo and transit hub. However, due to the civil war and political instability, this key position has weakened over time. The situation was compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and a major explosion in 2020. As […]

By Liza Ayach — Thenationalnews.com — I have been following Luai Ahmad Alkilani on social media for some time now. A big reason why he’s captured my admiration is because, despite being Kuwaiti, he showcases life in Lebanon more fervently than the Lebanese themselves, especially the cuisine. When I reach out to the businessman-turned-blogger, he tells me his love affair with the country began in his childhood when his parents used to whisk him away to the scenic hills of Bhamdoun, Falougha and Hammana for summer getaways. Now 56, Alkilani has woven a bond with the country that transcends both time and nationality. While his first wife is Kuwaiti, Alkilani’s second wife is Lebanese, solidifying his deep-rooted attachment to the country. “Kuwait is where I primarily reside, but I often travel to Lebanon and typically dedicate my entire summer to being there,” says Alkilani. “My family, children and friends also cherish the country due to my frequent visits and extensive explorations.

In Lebanon, you can swim by the shore and dine in the mountains within a 45-minute drive. A self-professed “food enthusiast”, Alkilani says his adoration for Lebanese dishes sparked his mission to advocate cross-cultural gastronomy. “I adore Lebanese food in all its varieties,” he says, with his favourites spanning street food classics such as mankoushe and falafel to delicacies served at fine-dining restaurants. “I often contemplate crafting fusion dishes that combine Kuwaiti and Lebanese flavours, to satisfy people from both nations,” he adds. “These creations would blend Levantine-spiced rice with signature Gulf sauces, for a culinary blend that could yield exquisite, innovative dishes for dining tables across the region.”

by Raghida Dergham — the nationalnews — Almost a year after Amos Hochstein helped broker a historic agreement between Lebanon and Israel to demarcate their maritime border, the US energy envoy landed in Beirut on Wednesday to assist the neighbours in their attempt to resolve their outstanding land border disputes. Success in this regard could provide US President Joe Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign a considerable boost. This isn’t a move simply to resolve the fate of a few square metres of disputed territory, or about carrying out land swaps. We are talking about a potential end to the Lebanon-Israel conflict, achieved by securing Beirut’s independence from the path of negotiations that involved Syria.

A deal could benefit Tehran, given Trump’s possible return would be a source of concern for the regime It is worth noting that previously Damascus imposed what it termed “twin-track” negotiations on Lebanon for decades, which impeded Beirut’s attempts to end its complex conflict with Israel at a time when Syria’s own issues with Israel remained unresolved. This was intended to ensure that Lebanon remained a bargaining chip for Syria. However, today’s circumstances have shifted to a “first come, first served” approach, due in large part to the Syrian government’s diminished regional influence, its struggles to maintain control over its own territory, and the fact that the primary Arab player in regional and international affairs today is not Syria but Saudi Arabia. The Biden administration is now actively engaging with Saudi Arabia, marking a shift in strategy as Washington views this as the most viable way to engage with the region.

Mr Hochstein’s Lebanon visit might seem insignificant in the context of US-China and US-Russia relations, Nato’s expansion, and the creation of alliances around the world. But it is of strategic importance to Washington – and one that goes beyond the extraction of oil and gas necessary for Europe in a time of scarcity imposed by the Ukrainian war. The primary message Mr Hochstein conveyed to those he met in Lebanon, including officials and non-governmental figures, is that the Biden administration is concerned about long-term stability and peace and is prepared to work towards rectifying the irregularities on the Blue Line, which covers the Lebanon-Israel boundary. Mr Hochstein also emphasised conflict resolution by way of partnering with regional countries, rather than by imposing an agenda, as was sometimes the US approach in the past.

US Embassy in Lebanon

 by the arabamericannews.com — Arab American community activists are urging the Department of Homeland Security to declare Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Lebanese nationals in the U.S.. It would grant temporary immigration status for people to live and work in the U.S. due to challenges in their home country. Adam Beddawi, policy manager for the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), says more than 12,000 people are impacted by TPS in the United States, including many families in Metro Detroit. “There are certain people who currently reside in this country… if they were to go back to Lebanon, they would not be able to make ends meet,” Beddawi said. “And in fact, they may even be subject to violent horror.” As the home of the largest Arab American population per capita in the country, Dearborn also houses one of the biggest concentrations of Lebanese communities. Beddawi said Lebanese nationals face unique challenges, especially after the pandemic and political crisis in the country. Lebanese citizens are in the fourth year of economic turmoil and lack many basic necessities.

The Beirut explosion of 2020 added fuel to the fire.

Dearborn is home to one of the largest Lebanese communities in the United States. “The most recent event that I think should have forced action by the Department of Homeland Security went without a response, and the conditions have only worsened over time,” Beddawi said. In April, Michigan U.S. Reps Rashida Tlaib and Debbie Dingell introduced the Lebanon TPS Act of 2023. If passed, Congress can request the Department of Homeland Security to declare Temporary Protected Status for Lebanese nationals for 18 months.

By Rob Sacks, Editor at LinkedIn News — ChatGPT is forcing higher education to consider the potential consequences of artificial intelligence on the admissions essay, writes The New York Times. The technology could lead to plagiarism or create doubt about whether the students’ writing is an accurate reflection of their true selves. But, AI could […]

UNITED NATIONS, Reporting by Michelle Nichols (Reuters) – The United Nations Security Council voted on Thursday to extend a long-running peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for another year after a compromise was reached between France and the United States on language about the freedom of movement of U.N. troops. The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) – established in 1978 – patrols Lebanon’s southern border with Israel. The mandate for the operation is renewed annually, and its current authorization was due to expire on Thursday. The French-drafted text was adopted with 13 votes in favor and abstentions by Russia and China. A planned Wednesday vote was delayed as France, the United States and the United Arab Emirates argued over language on U.N. freedom of movement. France kept language in the resolution that spells out that peacekeepers should coordinate with the Lebanese government.

But in a compromise with the U.S. and the UAE, France added back in text from last year’s council resolution – which it had deleted – that demands all parties allow “announced and unannounced patrols” by U.N. troops. “The ability of the UNIFIL personnel to carry out their responsibilities, independent of any restrictions, is essential,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the council. “And we’ve had long-standing concerns regarding the actions by some actors to obstruct the mission’s freedom of movement,” she said. “The resolution adopted today includes language strongly reaffirming UNIFIL’s full freedom of movement.”

By Alessandra Riemer, Editor at LinkedIn News — Home prices have risen for a fifth consecutive month amid an increasingly tight housing market, driven by low inventory. The cost of buying a home in June was up 0.7% from the month prior, according to new data out from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller. While the the average […]

by Matt Asay — infoworld — By now you’ve used a generative AI (GenAI) tool like ChatGPT to build an application, author a grant proposal, or write all those employee reviews you’d been putting off. If you’ve done any of these things or simply played around with asking a large language model (LLM) questions, you’ve no doubt been impressed by just how well GenAI tools can mimic human output. You’ve also no doubt recognized that they’re not perfect. Indeed, for all their promise, GenAI tools such as ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot still need experienced human input to create the prompts that guide them, as well as to review their results. This won’t change anytime soon. In fact, generative AI is big not so much for all the exam papers, legal briefs, or software applications it may write, but because it has heightened the importance of AI more generally. Once all the hype around GenAI fades—and it will—we’ll be left with increased investments in deep learning and machine learning, which may be GenAI’s biggest contribution to AI.

To the person with a GenAI hammer

It’s hard not to get excited about generative AI. On the software developer side, it promises to remove all sorts of drudgery from our work while enabling us to focus on higher-value coding. Most developers are still just lightly experimenting with GenAI coding tools like AWS CodeWhisperer, but others like Datasette founder Simon Willison have gone deep and discovered “enormous leaps ahead in productivity and in the ambition of the kinds of projects that you take on.” One reason Willison is able to gain so much from GenAI is his experience: He can use tools like GitHub Copilot to generate 80% of what he needs, and he is savvy enough to know where the tool’s output is usable and where he needs to write the remaining 20%. Most lack his level of experience and expertise and may need to be less ambitious with their use of GenAI. We go through a similar hype cycle for each wave of AI, and each time we have to learn to sift realistic hope from overreaching hype. Take machine learning, for example. When machine learning first arrived, data scientists applied it to everything, even when there were far simpler tools. As data scientist Noah Lorang once argued, “There is a very small subset of business problems that are best solved by machine learning; most of them just need good data and an understanding of what it means.” In other words, however cool it might make you look to develop algorithms to find patterns in petabytes of data, simple math or SQL queries are often a smarter approach.

By: Lyle Daly   — fool.com/the-ascent — The top 10% of household incomes starts at $191,406, the top 5% at $290,406, and the top 1% at $867,436. Those are the nationwide numbers, but they also vary considerably if you account for other factors, such as age or location. Income is a key part of personal finance, but it’s not all that matters. Incomes vary quite a bit throughout the United States. The median income was $69,717 in 2021, but households in the top 10% and above make significantly more. It’s interesting to see how much money these households make — and how your own income compares. Of Dollars and Data released income research earlier this year with the thresholds for the top 10%, 5%, and 1% of household incomes, based on data from the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances.

The 2019 survey is the most recent that’s currently available. Although it’s a few years old, the median inflation-adjusted income of the top 25% of households increased by just 2% from 2019 to 2022. So, the income data still provides a fairly accurate idea of how much the richest households make.

Incomes of the top 10%, 5%, and 1%

Here are the household income thresholds for the top 10%, 5%, and 1%:

Top 10%: $191,406

Top 5%: $290,164

Top 1%: $867,436

As you can see, you need an income nearly three times the national median to crack the top 10%. It takes another $100,000 on top of that to make the top 5%. And the 1% is making beaucoup bucks.

By Nadim El Kak — Al Jazeera — Beirut, Lebanon – It’s August 2022 and Lebanon are two points up on the Philippines with 18 seconds left in the game at a packed Nouhad Naufal Stadium in a Beirut suburb, when the ball spills out to Wael Arakji on the left – giving him the chance to sink a game-sealing three-pointer. If the shot goes in, it will not only guarantee the win but will also help secure Lebanon’s ticket to the 2023 FIBA World Cup taking place this August and September. Unfazed by the pressure of 8,000 roaring fans and an onrushing Jordan Clarkson looking to block, the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup Most Valuable Player (MVP) makes the shot – effectively guaranteeing the small Arab country its place in the World Cup for the fourth time in its history. Their qualification was confirmed after an easy win against India a few days later. Fans took to social media after the Philippines game to express their elation. “I was watching the game while at the office and couldn’t control my screams at every play,” Abed wrote in a Facebook group of 45,000 Lebanese basketball fans. “A lot of coworkers were confused and asked me what I get from all of this. There’s really no explaining our relationship with this sport.” Responding to Abed’s words, Sleiman takes a stab at the coworkers’ question in the comments: “What do we get from it? Thanks to this game we can experience pride in something called Lebanon rather than in parties, sects or politics.”

Being first isn’t everything in the NBA draft Indeed, basketball has brought back much-needed joy, solidarity and hope to a country still ailing from the aftermath of a foiled uprising, the catastrophic Beirut port explosion, and a continuing financial collapse. A few months before that, Lebanon lifted the 2022 Arab Championship trophy in front of a mostly Lebanese crowd in Dubai, mounting a spectacular fourth-quarter comeback to defeat reigning African champions Tunisia in the final. Experts say these successes have a profound effect on Lebanese society. “Sports are incredibly powerful because they’re a product that’s full of emotions – it’s a form of entertainment that meshes national identity with personal dreams and passions, regardless of political context,” Nadim Nassif, a scholar of sports history and governance based at Notre Dame University in Lebanon, told Al Jazeera. “Basketball appeals to the Lebanese because the country is internationally competitive in [one of the] most popular sports in the world.”