Al Bawaba: Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

Valerie Abou Chacra is not only a "Queen" in Lebanon's eyes, but she's a queen in her doting boyfriend Rabee' Moqbel's eyes as well.

The 23-year-old was crowned Miss Lebanon 2015 on Tuesday, beating beauties Jocelyne Mosleh, Cynthia Samuel, Nour Nasrallah and Maria Tannous to the title.

MODERN Syria is dead. Russia’s intervention into the bloody four-year conflict cements that reality. Now U.S. policymakers must plan for what comes next. And it’s not pretty.

Officially, the Russians say they entered Syria to fight the radical Islamic State. But they come at the invitation of Syria’s besieged president, Bashar al-Assad, and Russian bombing runs targeting U.S.-backed rebel forces underscore the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intervention is really about propping up the Assad regime, Moscow’s only ally in the region.

That pits Washington, D.C., and Moscow in a proxy war reminiscent of conflicts in Southeast Asia and Africa during the Cold War, and it limits the West’s military options in supporting the anti-Assad rebellion and forcing Assad to step down.

Russian forces sent out a warning to the Israeli Air Force after Israeli jets were detected near Russian controlled airspace near the …

by Salah Takieddine

 BEIRUT, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The wave of illegal immigration to the European Union (EU) countries witnessed a remarkable increase during the past few weeks as Lebanese started to follow the steps of the displaced Syrians who decided to take a dangerous adventure that may lead to a better life.

 Lebanese security sources confirmed to Xinhua on condition of anonymity that about 1500 citizens in Tripoli, the largest city in the north, left during the past two months for Turkey, where they would board small ships to transport them to the Greek shores before they start their adventure towards the northern European countries, particularly Germany.

 The sources added that this illegal and dangerous adventure cost last week the lives of a Lebanese family of nine people when the small ship they were on sank before reaching the Greek shores.