by swissinfo.ch — Alain Berset began a two-day visit to Lebanon on Monday by meeting with political representatives and calling for patience when it comes to the return of the 1.3 million Syrian refugees currently in the state. “The situation has evolved; but I don’t know if we can say that the war in Syria […]

by france24.com — Lebanese people outside Beirut spend 18 hours a day without electricity. To solve the energy crisis, the government hires Turkish fuel-burning barges at a heavy environmental cost. Lebanon’s government has moored a second power-generating barge at the coastal town of Zouk Mikael, sparking outrage among residents already concerned about high pollution levels from the local power plant. “When there is a wind, we cannot work. We cannot walk. We cannot breathe,” local doctor Michel Aziz, who serves on the municipality’s Health and Environment Committee, told FRANCE 24. “It’s very, very, very dangerous. Even more than before.” The fuel-burning barge provides electricity to supplement that created by Zouk Mikael’s power plant, installed in the 1960s. Due to a longstanding monopoly, only the government-owned Electricité du Liban is licensed to produce power in the country. But since the end of the Lebanese civil war almost thirty years ago, it hasn’t been able to keep up.

30 years of electricity shortage The barges are supposed to tackle Lebanon’s resulting chronic power shortages, which see residents outside the capital Beirut face outages of up to 18 hours a day. The situation worsens in the summer, exacerbated by the use of fans and air conditioners. For those who want to keep the lights on, the only option is extremely costly generators, run by local gangs. Zouk Mikael already hosts one Turkish power barge, the Fatmagul Sultan, which arrived in 2013 and boosted government-supplied power from six to between 14 and 18 hours daily. The arrival of the Esra Sultan, which has now been up and running for four weeks, is intended to provide round-the-clock power for Zouk and the surrounding areas. Along with two others already in place along the coast, the barges now account for a quarter of the country’s power generation capacity.

The barges are supplied by Turkish company Karadeniz and are known as power ships. The Lebanese government supplies heavy fuel oil and diesel and pays the company at a per kilowatt hour rate for the conversion into electricity. “We accepted it here because they told us it will give us 24-hour power,” says Zouk Mikael Mayor Elias Baino. “It’s been successful, but with more pollution.” Residents are delighted at the power increase, but furious that the government ignored their long-standing complaints about the environmental damage from the existing plant and barge, and installed another. Some locals say they haven’t even seen the benefits from the second barge, thanks to zoning. “I live 2.5km from [the barge] and I barely have power,” says Marcos Brundy who lives in the neighbouring district of Zouk Mosbeh. “You know how frustrating this is, that I’m getting all the toxic air and not getting anything in return?” ‘It’s hard to breathe when you reach the Zouk area’

by cnn.com — Analysis by Stephen Collinson — John McCain and President Donald Trump are not done with one another yet.

Days of mourning for the Arizona senator, including a lying-in-state in the Capitol Rotunda and the pomp of a service in Washington’s National Cathedral, are certain to become about more than simply honoring a singular political leader and national hero. In Washington, even death is political — a fact McCain well understood as a sought-after eulogizer himself, and by planning his funeral rites to exclude the President, he will be making an unmistakable posthumous statement directed at the White House. Tributes for McCain and the lauding of his courage, honor, decency, character, and readiness to reexamine his own mistakes will unfold at a time when Trump is facing an unflattering public debate about his own personality and behavior. The guilty plea by the President’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and conviction of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort last week deepened the political and legal storm raging around the White House — but still did not push most Republican leaders to criticize Trump. In that context, the ceremonies marking McCain’s passing seem sure to become more than a lament for a departed political giant. They are likely to become a debate about political morality and the comportment and principles expected of public figures in an already polarized political age that has been further roiled by Trump’s disruptive influence. After two losing presidential campaigns, McCain never made it to the Oval Office — yet he is getting an emotional sendoff and assessment that might befit one of the men who did become President.

CNN has reported that McCain chose Barack Obama and George W. Bush — the two men who kept him from the White House — to eulogize him and didn’t want the President to attend his funeral. If those plans hold, McCain will be sending a clear final message to Trump, after making clear when he was alive that he saw the President’s demeanor, populist style and global outlook as antithetical to America’s founding values and global role. The antipathy between the Arizona senator and the President has not been stilled by his death on Saturday from brain cancer.

What the President says and doesn’t say

In normal circumstances, a President could be expected to issue a fulsome written statement to mark the passing of such an important political figure. Trump simply wrote a tweet, and while members of his immediate family praised McCain’s character and contribution, he did not. The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Trump decided against issuing a statement praising McCain’s Senate career and military service as a Vietnam prisoner of war. The paper said that press secretary Sarah Sanders and White House chief of staff John Kelly advocated calling the Arizona senator a “hero.” “My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

by finance.yahoo.com — It’s no surprise that Steve Jobs was a jerk. There have been plenty of accounts over the years that have detailed his cruelty, rudeness, and miserliness to workers, business partners, and even family and friends. Still, the stories that have come out so far from “Small Fry,” the new autobiography from his […]

BEIRUT (AP) — Ahmad Harb opened his perfume shop on the main street of Beirut’s commercial Hamra district 35 years ago, and his business has weathered security and political crises in this volatile country, including a civil war. He says this year has been the worst he’s seen: sales dropped by 90 percent and after […]

by Business Insider — Republican Sen. John McCain, an internationally renowned Vietnam War hero who served for 30 years in the Senate representing Arizona, died Saturday due to complications stemming from brain cancer. His office said in a statement that his wife Cindy McCain and their family were alongside him when he died. “At his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully for sixty years,” his office said. McCain, 81, was a part of many of the past three decades’ most significant political moments. He was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee in a contest he lost to President Barack Obama. He also sought the presidency in 2000, mounting a primary campaign against President George W. Bush. A graduate of the Naval Academy, the Arizona Republican followed both his father and grandfather, who were four-star admirals, into the US Navy, where he carried out airstrike missions. During a 1967 bombing run over Hanoi, McCain’s plane was shot down, nearly killing him. He was captured by North Vietnamese forces and spent six years as a prisoner of war, suffering brutal beatings at the hands of his captors, which left him with lifelong physical ailments. He quickly lost 50 pounds and saw his hair turn white. His captors did not treat his injuries from the plane crash.

John McCain is pulled out of a Hanoi lake by a mix of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Vietnamese citizens in October, 1967. McCain was shot down by a Surface-to-Air Missile and had broken both arms and his right knee upon ejection, losing consciousness until he hit the water. Reuters Because his father was named commander of US forces in Vietnam that same year, the North Vietnamese offered to release McCain early. He refused unless every prisoner of war taken before him was also released. He was soon placed in solitary confinement, where he would remain for the next two years. He was not released until March of 1973. Upon returning to the US, McCain was awarded a number of military medals, including two Purple Hearts. He soon set his sights on politics and ran for an Arizona congressional seat in 1982, winning a tough primary and subsequently the general election.

In 1986, he ran for the Senate seat vacated by longtime Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 1964. He won that election as well, and he has been reelected to the Senate for five additional terms — most recently in 2016. Early in his Senate career, McCain became embroiled in the “Keating Five” scandal. McCain was one of five senators who received campaign contributions from Charles Keating Jr. and was later asked by Keating to prevent the government from seizing his Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. McCain met twice with regulators to discuss the government investigation. He later returned the donations and admitted the appearance of it was wrong. The episode led McCain to become a leader on campaign finance reform, which included the passage of the McCain-Feingold Act. During his 2000 campaign for president, the press became enthralled with the candidate who won over a reputation as a “maverick,” rebuffing his party’s conservative orthodoxy at the time. He famously traveled on a bus called the “Straight Talk Express” during his 2000 bid.

Source Naharnet — Relations between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri are “not broken” because of conflict over the Cabinet formation, and the two men are holding contacts on a daily basis away from media spotlight, al-Akhbar daily reported on Saturday. “Contacts between the president and premier are not broken. There are daily contacts […]

By PAUL JEBARA — thrillist.com — While you spent your childhood summers at sleepaway camp, I went to Lebanon. I suppose two decades of once-a-year grandma smooches and cousin catch-ups made me feel like I couldn’t explore the country outside of a family context; those of you who have a similar “homeland” situation can probably attest to the feeling. But during my last visit, on an exceptionally balmy February day, I was the one in the driver’s seat of my uncle’s ‘96 Camaro, one of his several faded hot rods that hibernate in the driveway, blanketed by dried pine needles and the occasional stray cat. It was time for the torch — stick shift, rather — to be passed on so I could finally experience something that all Lebanese love to brag about doing: a morning on the ski slopes with an afternoon dip in the Mediterranean. After shredding near-perfect snowpack at the Mzaar ski resort, just two hours from Beirut, I would cruise the mountain roads back down to the coast for a beer and beach situation in 80-degree sunshine, a hot toddy by the chalet fireplace. Because when you’re in Lebanon, you can do it all.

I challenge you to find a better slice of land in the Middle East. One with a coastline like the Côte d’Azur, Swiss-style ski resorts, and relics from history’s greatest civilizations scattered around and within the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. It doesn’t even have a desert. Yes, war in neighboring Syria is raging 70 miles away, but the Lebanese have done a solid job protecting against spillover. Because once you experience your own vicious civil war like they have, you’ll do anything for lasting peace, however fragile the goal may seem. Americans are even feeling good about Lebanon’s recent years of sustained stability, with visitors surging to new levels in 2017, all to uncover the diverse culture, incredible food, and natural wonders of a nation smaller than Connecticut. Take it from someone born in Connecticut — Lebanon’s a hell of a lot better choice for your next big trip.

Lebanon is unique because Lebanese identity is unique This is a country of extremes existing in harmony, and that, bizarrely enough, is what allows its extremely rich culture to flourish. Mountains rising from the Mediterranean, ancient temples at the foundation of glimmering skyscrapers, the synchronous sounds of church bells and Muslim prayer calls. Even the late, great Anthony Bourdain declared it “a place of such unbelievable possibilities” — and that’s what makes it a rewarding destination for the discerning traveler. Many Lebanese actually deny being Arab, insisting instead that they descend from the Phoenicians (ancient seafarers and inventors of the alphabet), and that sets them apart. Lebanon’s national identity is strong and comprised of 18 recognized religious sects, making it the most religiously diverse society in the Middle East. And since everyone has their own story, they’ll want to hear yours, too. A remarkable hospitality exists here that stems from an earnest desire to get to know you, especially if you’re American. Our political policies chafe with certain pockets of the Lebanese population (you’ll want to avoid south Beirut and other Hezbollah strongholds for this reason) but overall, it’s a safe place for Americans to visit. Maybe just don’t come with stars and stripes tattooed on your forehead.

by annahar.com — BEIRUT: After much media hype and anticipation, Lebanese political talk show host Marcel Ghanem introduced Friday his latest venture during a news conference broadcast on local TV station MTV. Ghanem, a pillar of Lebanese political debate, will be hosting a new show titled “Sar Al Waqet”, or “It’s about time.” After 27 […]

BEIRUT,(Xinhua) — The Vessel Beijing Bridge of Cmacgm arrived to Lebanon’s Tripoli port on Thursday from China passing through Suez Canal to unload 800 containers of products, local media reported. “After the opening of the maritime line between Lebanon and China, Tripoli port will become a central port for transit in the Mediterranean sea,” Tripoli […]