(https://www.hrw.org/) It reportedly began as a traffic dispute and ended in a vicious public murder, a man stabbed to death in broad daylight on a busy sidewalk in central Beirut.

Bystanders captured the attack on film and footage clearly shows a man repeatedly stabbing George Ibrahim al-Reef despite pleas from al-Reef’s wife Rola. The authorities later arrested Tarek Yateem, a bodyguard for the powerful chairman of Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL) and charged him with premeditated homicide – a crime punishable by death. Lina Haider, who was traveling in the car with Yateem, is charged with being an accessory to al-Reef’s murder.

The sun has very nearly set on Beirut, and in a bar called Anise, they’re mixing the first cocktail of the evening.There’s vodka, vermouth and iced glasses. And next to the bunches of mint for mojitos are sage, wild oregano, rosemary and the Lebanese favorite, za’atar, a kind of wild thyme.

Here in Lebanon, mixologists and brewmasters are taking a national cuisine and reimagining it in liquid form.

Anise is one leader in this trend for cocktails with herbs usually found in salads or breads. Co-owner Marwan Matar says that since the bar opened a couple of years ago, he’s been bringing trunkfuls of herbs from his family’s village.

AFP

King Salman of Saudi Arabia is expected to arrive in France later on Friday for a Riviera beach holiday, bringing with him no fewer than 1,000 people from his entourage.

While the king’s three-week visit is a boon for the local economy, it has also sparked anger due to the closure of a public beach for the privacy and security of the royal party.

The king’s inner circle will be put up at the family’s private villa, which stretches across a kilometer of Riviera coastline between Antibes and Marseille.

Beirut: The humid summer air of Beirut has started to reek as uncollected trash piles up in the streets after protesters shut down Lebanon’s largest landfill at a time of political paralysis.

Residents walking by the garbage spilling out of dumpsters and into the paths of passing cars lift their shirts or scarves over their noses to protect themselves from the smell.

The growing heaps have been dusted with white poison powder to keep away rats and insects, but the measure does little to combat the odour.

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of a potential foreign military sale (FMS) of BGM-71 tube-launched, optically-tracked, wireless-guided (TOW) 2A missiles and associated equipment to Lebanon.

Under the estimated $245m sale, the Lebanese Government has requested the supply of 1000 BGM-71E-4B-RF 2A Tow anti-armour radio-frequency missiles, along with 500 BGM-71-H-1-RF tow bunker buster radio frequency missiles, and 50 M220A2 TOW launchers.

BABAK DEHGHANPISHEH, Reuters

An unlikely group in the Middle East has found common ground in recent days: Saudi Arabia, Israel and hardliners within Iran have all made clear they consider the landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers a very bad idea.

All of these players feel a direct threat to their power and influence as a result of last Tuesday’s agreement.

For the first time in more than three decades, Iran, a country with a highly educated population of some 80 million and huge oil and gas reserves, is poised to rejoin the international community and the result could be profound change both inside and outside the country.

AP, BEIRUT –  The Lebanese cabinet has failed to agree on a solution for the country’s growing garbage crisis, postponing discussion until next week as trash piles up on the streets.

The main company in charge of collecting trash stopped its work last week amid a dispute over the country’s largest trash dump. Mountains of trash have collected in the capital and suburbs meanwhile.

Following a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk estimated the amount of trash currently on the streets to be at 22,000 tons.

Beirut (AFP) – Preliminary investigations into the kidnapping of five Czech citizens in Lebanon last week suggest the case is criminal, Interior Minister Nuhad Mashnuq said on Wednesday.

"We’ve arrived at the beginning of the end of the thread (of investigations), and it relates to mafias, drug trafficking and weapons," the official National News Agency quoted him as saying.

Mashnuq, who was speaking during a visit to France, did not elaborate further on any leads in the case.

Anthony H. Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Much of the criticism of the proposed nuclear agreement with Iran has focused on the fact that it would allow conventional arms transfers to Iran in five years if Iran fully complies with all other aspects of the agreement.

In practice, this does not obligate any country to sell arms to Iran, nor does it affect US and European constraints on arms sales.

It could, however, lead to significant arms sales on the part of Russia and China, and potentially other states. Iran badly needs to modernize its aging air force, surface-to-air missile defenses, and many other elements of its weapons systems – as well as acquire the technology for a wide range of new sensors, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and other improvement in its war fighting capabilities.

BAALBECK, LEBANON—

On a sweltering afternoon at one of the Middle East’s historic treasures, preparations are in full swing to bring visitors back to Baalbeck’s Roman ruins.

“Baalbeck International Festival has become a brand,” said Nayla de Freige, president of the renowned cultural gathering set to kick off next Friday in Lebanon’s Beq’aa region. “When you go outside Lebanon, many people know about it. It’s more than just a festival.”However, the festival’s fortunes have been mixed of late.