Khazen

  Prime Minister Tammam Salam expressed ire on Thursday at his 24-member cabinet, considering that the government is hijacked by the political …

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A global campaign to name various new Seven Wonders of the World has announced the results of its Cities competition. 

The New7Wonders project was created by Bernard Weber in order to highlight some of the greatest natural and man-made wonders of the world not covered in the original list. The Cities project is the third of Weber's installments — in 2007, more than 100 million people voted in his New Seven Wonders of the World competition

Weber’s latest campaign to find the best cities on Earth aimed to showcase the "cities that best represent the achievements and aspirations of our global urban civilization," according to the New7Wonders website

The global competition began with more than 1200 nominees from 220 countries. That list was reduced to 77, since there was a limit of one city per country. Then the 77 remaining cities were narrowed down by a panel of experts headed by Federico Mayor, former director-general of UNESCO, to 28 suggestions. 

Following the announcement of the 28 finalists, the winning seven cities were chosen by voters from around the world. 

The seven winning cities beat out finalists such as Istanbul, London, St. Petersburg, Seoul, Reykjavik, and Chicago. None of the world’s seven winning cities are in Europe or the US. 

 

Below are the seven cities that have been named the new urban wonders of the world (in alphabetical order): 

1. Beirut, Lebanon

The capital city of Lebanon has been rebuilt several times due to unrest. Beirut's architecture is a stunning mix of modern, Ottoman, and colonial French. 

The Middle Eastern hub is often referred to as "The Paris of the Mediterranean."

 

BY:

JERUSALEM—A super-mole working in the upper ranks of Hezbollah on behalf of the Israeli Mossad has been exposed, according to a Lebanese website, El Nashra, citing informed sources.

The man, whose initials were given as M. Sh., was identified as a Lebanese businessman who traveled widely abroad on special missions for Hezbollah. He was said to be a senior official in Hezbollah’s Unit 910, responsible for “external operations against specific Israeli targets.” On one of M. Sh.’s trips to a western Asian country, he was recruited by the Mossad and agreed to provide top-secret information about Hezbollah operations and personnel, said the report.

According to the website, he was instrumental in thwarting a number of attempts by the organization to carry out retaliatory attacks for the assassination in 2008 of its top military figure, Imad Mughniyeh. A headrest in Mughniya’s car was replaced with one carrying explosives while he was visiting his mistress in Damascus. When he returned to the vehicle, the bomb was detonated remotely, killing him. Hezbollah accused Israel of the assassination and vowed revenge. Israel has never claimed responsibility.

Khazen History

Historical Feature:
Churches and Monasteries of the Khazen family