Home - el Khazen Family Prince of Maronites : Lebanese Families Keserwan Lebanon

Presidency Says Claims Aoun Flouted Constitution 'Weaken Lebanese Position'

Details

by naharnet.com -- The Presidency’s press office on Tuesday noted that claims that President Michel Aoun has violated the Constitution “weaken the Lebanese position” in the border demarcation negotiations with Israel. “To date, the President has not signed or ratified any international treaty in order to agree on it with the Premier,” the office said in a statement. “Any other remarks distort the Constitution and are aimed at either misinformation or, what’s worse, weakening the Lebanese stance at the wrong moment, seeing as Lebanon is going to practical and technical negotiations over the demarcation of its maritime border to preserve its natural resources and sovereignty over every inch of its land and waters,” the office said. It added: “Enough with polemics in the era of seriousness and we direly need solidarity and national cohesion for the sake of preserving or recapturing our sovereign rights.” The Premiership had said Monday that Aoun had made a “clear and blatant violation of a constitutional text” by not coordinating with caretaker PM Hassan Diab in the formation of the team that will handle the negotiations.

BEIRUT: After decades of conflict, Lebanon and Israel are set for the first round of talks over their maritime border that runs through potentially oil- and gas-rich Mediterranean waters. The US-mediated meeting between officials from both sides will be held at the headquarters of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Wednesday. This will be followed by talks on demarcating the land border. David Schenker, US undersecretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, will preside over the inaugural session of the maritime talks, according to the State Department. Beirut insists that these talks “have nothing to do with normalization” of ties with Israel. The four-member Lebanese delegation headed by air force Brig. Gen. Bassam Yassin. The three other members are navy Col. Mazen Basbous, Lebanese oil official Wissam Chbat and border expert Najib Massihi. Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz will lead the Israeli delegation, according to Israeli officials.

Bassil Slams Hariri's 'Bravados', Proposes Constitutional Amendment

Lebanese expect the worst as poverty surges

Details

Business owners, most of whom had to close their companies, gather with anti-government protesters during a demonstration over deteriorating living conditions and after the government raised bread prices, in Beirut, Lebanon, on July 2. File Photo by Nabil Mounzer/EPA-EFE

BEIRUT, Lebanon, (UPI) - ByDalal Saoud -- - With no new government in sight to adopt reforms that would release urgently needed international aid, poverty is growing in Lebanon, with a pervasive fear that it's going to get worse. The streets are increasingly filled with beggars, mostly Syrian refugees. The minimum monthly wage has fallen to 600,000 Lebanese lira, the equivalent of $400 just a year ago, currently worth $69 at the black market rate. In August, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia estimated Lebanon's poverty rate had surged to 55 percent in May, compared to 28 percent last year. Bader Jamal el Naboulsi, a construction worker from the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood in Tripoli, has been jobless for months. "Now, I just do anything like cleaning homes and carpets or [work] as porter to raise at the end of the day 25,000 LL," which equates to $16 at the official rate and less than $3 at the black market rate, Naboulsi, a father of eight, told UPI. "Some days we sleep without food. I never beg for anything."

But his wife, Rima, is obliged to ask her neighbors for "bread, potatoes or anything they can spare" to feed her children. "I need at least 50,000 LL just to put some food on the table for my children." What the Lebanese people fear most is that the central bank will not be able to maintain the subsidy over basic commodities. What is left of its U.S. dollar reserves, estimated at $1.8 billion, barely allows it to continue subsidizing wheat, fuel and medicine at the official exchange rate of 1,507 Lebanese pound for $1, compared to LL 3,900 per U.S. dollar traded at the banks and nearly LL 8,700 in the black market. ADVERTISEMENT RELATED Lebanon's acting prime minister resigns, endangering reform Already drivers are seen queuing up at the gas stations to fill their tanks while many are touring the pharmacies to get medications that are in short supply.

Lebanese ex-PM looks to revive French rescue plan

Details

by NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri has put himself forward as a potential leader in a bid to break the country’s growing political deadlock. He also began political consultations with other parties in order to revive the possibility of a successful French rescue plan on Monday. After a meeting with President Michel Aoun in the Presidential Palace, Hariri said: “We have no time to waste on political polemics. If someone wants to change the concept of the French initiative, let them bear the responsibility.” The French plan, launched by President Emmanuel Macron on Sept. 1 to help Lebanon cope with its crises, failed after Hezbollah and the Amal Movement demanded ownership of the finance portfolio and the presence of Shiite ministers in a new government. Hariri said that the government should be “formed of specialists who do not belong to parties and who will undertake specific reforms within a specific timetable, which does not exceed a few months.”

Lebanon is scheduled to begin negotiations with Israel on Wednesday to demarcate maritime borders amid an absence of government in the country, which is enduring one of its worst economic and financial crises to date. President Aoun said he “wants to form a new government as soon as possible, because the situation no longer tolerates further deterioration.” Aoun also urged “the necessity of adhering to the French initiative.” In a statement, Hariri said the consultations, which also included meetings with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and other former prime ministers, were designed to “float Macron’s initiative.” He added that the French plan “is the only and last opportunity to stop the collapse and rebuild what was destroyed by the Beirut Port explosion.”

Lebanese-British man cycles to Lebanon to raise funds for blast victims

Details

by middleeastmonitor.com -- A British-Lebanese man has cycled 4,200 kilometres from London to Beirut to raise money to support victims of the devastating blast that rocked the capital city. Nearly 200 people were killed and 300,000 were left homeless after the 4 August explosion which could be felt as far away as Cyprus. Horrified at images from the scene, 38-year-old Eddie El-Lamaa felt compelled to do something to help. The father of three, who moved to the UK from Lebanon with his parents in 1985, embarked on the challenge to cycle to Lebanon, a journey he completed in 40 days. “It was like a mammoth of a task. Even professional cyclists were saying ‘look don’t do it.’ Even speaking to the people at the bike shop were looking at me like I was mad.” El-Lamaa didn’t own a road bike prior to the challenge and had not cycled since he was a teen. However, he successfully pedalled 4,200 kilometres through nine countries in Europe including France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey, before taking a ferry to Tripoli, Lebanon, and reaching his final destination. “I didn’t know how long it would take, how many miles it was. I didn’t even own a road bike at the time. I’m not a professional cyclist.”

Armenian-Lebanese opera singer Kevork Hadjian dies on the Nagorno-Karabakh frontline

Details

Kevork Hadjian, an Armenian-Lebanese opera singer, has died while fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh. Nancy Hajian

By Razmig Bedirian -- thenational.ae --Kevork Hadjian, an Armenian-Lebanese opera singer, has died while fighting on the Nagorno-Karabakh frontline. He was 49. Reports of his death first began circulating on social media on Wednesday, October 7. However, it is believed that Hadjian was killed in battle the day before. Hadjian was a member of a regiment of volunteers led by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation – an Armenian nationalist and socialist political party that is also active in Syria and Lebanon. The platoon had been fighting alongside the Artsakh Defence Corps and managed to overrun Azerbaijani positions on the Varangatagh (Lulasaz) height shortly after Hadjian was killed.

Who was Kevork Hadjian?

Born in Anjar, in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, in 1971, Hadjian’s musical prowess was evident from an early age. “He would sing the songs of Sayat Nova when he was just a few years old,” Nancy Hajian, a cousin of Hadjian says, referencing the 18th-century Armenian poet and musician. “The entire family was known for their powerful singing. Even his brother and three sisters have remarkable voices.” Hadjian attended Anjar’s Harach and Calouste Gulbenkian Primary School before being accepted at the Holy Sea of Cilicia’s Zarehian Seminary in Antelias, a town to the north of Beirut. “He would sing sometimes between classes,” Father Aram Deyirmendjian, the parish priest of the Armenian Church in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, says. “We grew up in the same neighbourhood in Anjar and then studied together in Antelias. We often spoke about music, even up to his final days.”

Lebanese Army Commander ends two-day visit to the UK

Details

LAF Commander General Joseph Aoun visits the UK

by gov.uk -- During his visit to the United Kingdom at the invitation of the UK Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter, Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun alongside General Sir Carter met with Rear Admiral Simon Asquith, Commander Operations for the Royal Navy, Mr David Quarrey, the Prime Minister’s International Affairs Adviser and Deputy National Security Adviser, and other senior Defence and security officials. The visit was an opportunity to appreciate the UK’s support to Lebanon and its army. Discussions focused on UK support to the LAF and ways to expand the partnership to fight terrorism and support land and sea border security. Discussions also covered the LAF’s role in protecting human rights and the right to peaceful protest, and the importance of the LAF upholding the highest standards and being transparent as a general principle in implementing all his missions. At the end of the visit Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter said:

The Lebanese and UK Armed Forces have a long and proud history of working together. As part of today’s visit we discussed how best we can continue to build on our Defence relationship. Our personnel continue to serve and train alongside each other and we remain committed to providing support in the region on countering extremism and reinforcing border security. Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun expressed his deep thanks to his British counterpart for his invitation, reiterating the strong relationship between both armies and expressed his confidence in continuing cooperation in the interest of the two friendly countries: This visit is to thank the United Kingdom for its effective participation in supporting border security, and to reinforce cooperation and work towards continued support to the Lebanese Armed Forces amidst the huge challenges facing it, especially in fighting terrorism and border security.

Lebanese carrier MEA takes delivery of new A321neo from Airbus

Details

by ttnworldwide.com -- Lebanon-based Middle East Airlines (MEA) said it has taken delivery of Airbus’ A320 Family aircraft with manufacturer serial number 10,000 from the Airbus' base in Toulouse. This is the third A321neo aircraft to join the all Airbus MEA fleet, thus taking its total to 18 aircraft. The Lebanese carrier received its first A321neo aircraft earlier this year and will be taking another six A321neos over the coming months. The handover of the aircraft took place in Toulouse in the presence of Mohamad El Hout, Chairman and Director General of MEA. Speaking on the occasion, El Hout said: "We are honoured to receive the state of the art A321neo with its distinctive serial number 10,000 coinciding with the 75th anniversary of Middle East Airlines and specially after receiving MSN5,000 back in 2012." "Since we first acquired an A320 Family aircraft in 2003, we have not only benefited from the outstanding operational efficiency of the aircraft but were also the first airline to introduce the wide-body cabin product on a single-aisle aircraft which has become a trend in the airline industry afterwards," he stated.

The new A321neo is powered by Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower PW1100G-JM geared turbofan engines and is configured in a comfortable two-class layout with 28 seats in Business and 132 seats in Economy Class. It is also equipped with the latest generation in-flight entertainment system and high-speed connectivity. Incorporating the latest engines, aerodynamic advances, and cabin innovations, the A321neo offers a reduction in fuel consumption of 20% as well as a 50% noise reduction. "Unfortunately, due to the current situation in Lebanon, this time we will not be able to celebrate the delivery of the MSN10,000 in Beirut, as we did with the MSN5,000, but I am sure that in these challenging circumstances, it is a ray of light, hope and motivation to surpass our nation’s difficulties," he added.