Elementor landing recent post test – Page 1219

ISIS has been dealt 2 major blows in the past month

•

December 30, 2015

•

by Ahmed Rasheed and Stephen Kalin

BAGHDAD — US-led forces have killed 10 Islamic State leaders in airstrikes, including individuals linked to the Paris attacks, a US spokesman said, dealing a double blow to the militant group after Iraqi forces ousted it from the city of Ramadi.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi planted the national flag in Ramadi after the army retook the city center from Islamic State, a victory that could help vindicate his strategy for rebuilding the military after stunning defeats.

The scars of war on Lebanon’s Holiday Inn

•

December 30, 2015

•

Uncategorised

by India Stoughton Arts & Culture, Middle East, Lebanon

Beirut - In the early hours of the morning, Lebanese artist Jad El Khoury, who goes by the name Potato Nose, entered the carcass of Beirut's abandoned Holiday Inn through the military base that now occupies the ground floor.

He climbed the 26 flights of narrow service stairs, then descended down the side of the building on ropes. Over the course of the next two hours, he painted a series of cartoonish, blue-and-white creatures on the building's facade, composing them around the bullet holes and craters caused decades ago by shelling.

When Beirut residents awoke to discover Khoury's artwork last month, they responded passionately, with many expressing anger at his alteration of the landmark building.

Regulating Lebanon’s grapes

•

December 30, 2015

•

Uncategorised

by Nabila Rahhal

Winemaking is a rapidly growing industry in Lebanon. Fifteen years ago we only had a handful of wineries to speak of; today the country boasts 42 wineries, according to oenologue and Les Caves De Taillevent General Manager Paul Choueiry.

The industry as a whole produces approximately 8 million bottles (an estimate of the Union Vinicole du Liban (UVL) since there are no exact figures), more than half of which are exported to over 40 countries across the globe. In fact, jewelry and wine are the only two Lebanese products for which the balance of trade is positive, according to Hady Kahale, general manager of Ixsir. With such growth and global distribution come serious concerns about the regulation of the sector as well as the positioning of Lebanese wine abroad.

Lebanon seizes 5 tonnes of drugs at Beirut airport: security source

•

December 30, 2015

•

Uncategorised

BEIRUT Dec 29 (Reuters) - Lebanese customs seized five tonnes of Captagon amphetamine pills and hashish at Beirut airport on Tuesday, concealed in primary school desks that were to be shipped to Egypt, a security source said.

Meanwhile, security forces in northern Lebanon found two workshops producing Captagon and other drugs during a series of raids, the source said.

Both events came after a number of drug seizures at Beirut airport in recent months, including one that led to the arrest on charges of smuggling of a Saudi prince.

Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said Tuesday's operation at the airport was one of the biggest of its kind, and that the drugs could have been smuggled onto other countries after Egypt, without elaborating.