By Joseph A. KechichianSenior Writer - Gulf news

Beirut: The Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, was adamant that his call to hold a regular legislative session was legal, despite the possibility that several Christian parties remained ambivalent about any participation.

Aware that a boycott may derail sorely needed legislation to curtail money laundering, boost the country’s banking sector, and further secure $600 million worth of key World Bank development funds, the Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea vowed that his party would not disrupt the Speaker’s contemplated initiatives. Geagea’s LF and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) accepted the compromise formula advanced by the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bisharah Al Ra‘i, who urged parliament to adopt several “technical actions” dealing specifically with financial laws.

By Robert Fadel Lebanese Member of Parliament

Few will forget the tragic image of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, who drowned as his family attempted to flee to Europe. His death came to symbolize the desperation gripping millions as they escape one of the worst humanitarian crises of this generation. As his image was displayed by media outlets around the world, it forced European leaders to re-examine their response to the deplorable situation. Yet, several emergency summits later, Europe continues to remain short sighted in its plan for tackling the problem, ineffective and ambivalent in its reaction. Europe will only prevent the issue from deteriorating further by working with countries like Lebanon, to implement solutions where the issue originates.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The Republic of Lebanon confirmed the purchase of six Embraer-made A-29 Super Tucano aircraft to bolster its air force's close-support capabilities.

The planes were manufactured by Embraer Defense & Security and Sierra Nevada Corporation. Under the contract, which was approved by the U.S. State Department, company officials will support aircraft operation as well as training programs for Lebanese Air Force pilots and mechanics. Jackson Schneider, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, calls the Super Tucano the best and most capable aircraft on the market.

Yassin Fawaz- Forbes

BEIRUT–For the better part of four decades, Lebanon has been battered by one knockout punch after another. Many of its wounds have been self-inflicted–civil war, sectarian strife, political paralysis, corruption–but the country has also been beset from the outside. It was also under Syrian military domination for years, invaded twice by Israel, manipulated by Iran, and staggered by the bombing death of its former prime minister, Rafiq Hariri. Now the tiny country is struggling to feed, house and educate more than 1 million refugees from next-door Syria.

What else could go wrong? It could miss a major economic opportunity, partly for reasons beyond its control but partly because the country can’t get its act together.

Just over a year ago Lebanon, which needs all the help it can get, was preparing to auction the first licenses to drill for gas in its territorial waters. Nearly 50 major international energy corporations, including Total, Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil, had qualified in April 2013 to enter the bidding for exploration licenses. Since then, vast new gas reservoirs have been found in the waters of Egypt and Israel, increasing the likelihood that the pool extends into Lebanese waters as well, but nothing has happened in Lebanon. The process has come to a halt.