BEIRUT, (Xinhua) — Lebanon’s construction material industries are struggling to cope with up to the 40 percent lower demand for their products, as reported by exhibitors at Project Lebanon 2018 that closed on Friday. “Demand for our products declined by 20 percent compared to three or four years ago because there are no new construction […]

by catholicherald.co.uk — Addressing the international community, Bishop Avenya said: ‘Don’t wait for the genocide to happen before intervening’ A bishop in Nigeria has warned of the threat of genocide against Christians in the country’s middle belt region, describing an upsurge of violence by militant Fulani herdsmen as “ethnic cleansing”. Bishop William Avenya of Gboko […]

ARSAL, Lebanon – Hundreds of Syrian refugees left northeast Lebanon yesterday morning in pick-up trucks jam-packed with their belongings: mattresses, gas stoves, crockery, children’s toys as well as the occasional bird cage. They were headed for the Qalamoun region of Syria, just a few hours drive from the camps they had lived in for the past few years in Arsal, a Lebanese border town. All of them reported having fled the intense fighting back in 2013. According to one of the organisers, Khaled Abdelaziz, there are roughly 20,000 people from Qalamoun in Arsal, out of the 50,000 to 60,000 refugees in the area. Relatives and friends waved tearful goodbyes. “I hope you arrive safely and that we’ll see each other soon in Syria,” sobbed an elderly lady as she embraced Hajer Darwish, a young mother of two sitting in the front of a pick-up truck driven by her husband. “She’s crying because we’re leaving and she’s staying,” explained Darwish, smiling. “We’re so happy to go back to our country. I haven’t slept all night.” Darwish’s sons, who were born in Lebanon, will be seeing their parents’ country for the first time. They have high hopes. “In Syria, there are sheep, cows, chickens, swimming pools and water,” lists one of them. Water and electricity cuts are common in the camps surrounding Arsal, where living conditions are rudimentary.

Standing on her balcony to watch the trucks waiting to leave, one Lebanese woman seemed relieved. “A few hundred people is not many, but it still means fewer refugees in Arsal.” The town has suffered from severe spillover from the Syrian war. The departure has been months in the making. “Following a reconciliation deal, two traders from the town of Fleeta living in Arsal started circulating lists of names of refugees who were interested in returning to the Qalamoun area,” explained Mireille Girard, the UNHCR representative in Lebanon, in an interview mid-June. The names were handed over to the Lebanese General Security, a branch of the intelligence services, who sent them to Damascus for approval. Over 3,000 people registered, but only 360 left yesterday, according to a Lebanese army colonel who was coordinating their departure on the ground. Later in the day, General Security announced that actually only 294 people made the trip back to Syria. The Lebanese army check the names of Syrians who were approved by Damascus to return to Syria (MEE/Sunniva Rose) In many cases, the only person to be approved in the family was female. As a result, the entire family stayed in Lebanon. Hayla Jassatir, a 29-year-old mother of six, had packed her truck together with her husband, Muhammad Kanaan, hoping that he would be able to leave with her. But it was not to be. “Who will drive us to Fleeta if he can’t come?” she complained. Like a dozen other people in the same situation, Jassatir kept asking a harassed-looking young man carrying a long list of names to double check whether her husband’s name might be on it.

by infomigrants.net — Hundreds of Syrian refugees are returning home from a Lebanese border town. The voluntary returns were coordinated between authorities in Beirut and Damascus. A group of around four hundred Syrian refugees living in the Lebanese border town of Arsal returned to Syria on Thursday, many of them to villages just across the […]

by arabianbusiness.com — Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, is looking for Lebanese candidates to join its multi-national cabin crew team. The Dubai-based carrier said it is holding two cabin crew recruitment open days at Jounieh and Beirut on July 3 and 6 respectively. The airline said it is looking for open-minded, helpful, friendly and […]

BEIRUT, (Xinhua) — Lebanese President Michel Aoun emphasized Wednesday the importance of using technology to achieve sustainable development in Lebanon and in the Arab world. “We cannot ignore the role of technology in the development process in our Arab region,” he said at the 30th ministerial session of the Economic and Social Commission for Western […]

by al-fanarmedia.org —Benjamin Plackett  — BEIRUT—Some cities in the Arab world come alive at night, perhaps none more so than Beirut. Now a sleep expert at the American University of Beirut Medical Center is warning that Lebanon’s late nights come with a major health risk. Regional statistics, although limited, suggest the problem exists in other Arab […]

by en.annahar.com — BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri lashed out at the former head of Lebanon’s General Security agency, MP Jamil Al-Sayyed, after the latter called for the nomination of a new Prime Minister. Al-Sayyed, a close ally of Hezbollah, who was detained in 2005 for his alleged role in the assassination of Hariri’s late […]

by menafn.com — MENAFN – Khaleej Times) Lebanon requires “an immediate and substantial” fiscal adjustment to improve the sustainability of public debt that stood at more than 150 percent of gross domestic product at the end of 2017, the IMF executive board said. An IMF statement released overnight said IMF executive directors agreed with the […]

by cityam.com — Laura Millar — It’s barely nine o’clock in the evening, and I’m uncomfortably close to my first brush with death. Or, to be more precise, Death, a lethal-sounding concoction made with gin, vodka, cognac, sherry, lemon, orange and cinnamon, stored in a bottle featuring a skull and crossbones on the front. It’s the creation […]