US support for Lebanese army proves effective

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By Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English -- As Lebanese soldiers communicated during a counterterrorism simulation, American troops stood on a hilltop in northern Lebanon to observe an operation that marked the culmination of a two-week training exercise. Around 60 US personnel from the Navy, Marines, Army and Coast Guard participated in Resolution Union 2022, an annual exercise between the two armies focused on maritime security operations, mine countermeasures and explosive ordnance disposal. The live-fire event saw various branches of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) integrate air, naval, and ground capabilities during the operation.

Three separate operations were carried out in the exercise: long-range fire on hostile and terrorist targets using various tanks; closing in on a building housing a senior terrorist leader using ground and air support; chasing down a boat that was believed to have been used for the terrorist leader to escape the raided building; visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) of a ship used for smuggling; a rescue operation of injured personnel on board the vessel during the VBSS; and helicopter missile fire at a target on land. “This is a pretty sophisticated performance,” one senior US military member told Al Arabiya English. “This takes a high level of professionalism and education.” The military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak, lauded the LAF as being “one of the more advanced armies in the region.” The US military is one of the top in the world in integrating different attack and defense methods. Now they are trying to help other countries do the same to counter drug trafficking and terrorism while working to integrate the air defense systems of more advanced militaries in the region.

Since 2006, the US has invested over $2.5 billion in the LAF, which has used this training and weaponry provided by Washington to defeat an extremist militant organization in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in 2007 and become one of the first armies in the region to push ISIS entirely out of it borders in 2017. But there have been mounting concerns over the LAF’s ability to decide between war and peace, which the Iran-backed Hezbollah arguably has complete control over. Nevertheless, US support has continued to bolster the LAF and this has been observed as recently as this month when American lawmakers agreed to reroute US taxpayer funds to include “livelihood support” for Lebanese soldiers.

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What It’s Like To Be A Billionaire In Lebanon

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FBI charges former Lebanese MP's ex-bodyguard with gun smuggling

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by middleeasteye.net - A bodyguard of Gebran Bassil, the leader of Lebanon's Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and son-in-law of President Michel Aoun, has been charged by the FBI for gun smuggling. George Ajaltouni allegedly purchased weapons at gun shows and dealerships in Ohio and shipped them to Lebanon by hiding them in secret compartments in modified cars, according to an indictment reviewed by Middle East Eye. Between May 2011 and September 2014, Ajaltouni worked with another Lebanese man, Jean Youssef Issa, to send hundreds of firearms, mainly handguns, to Lebanon. Issa was recently arrested after a red notice was issued by Interpol. Ajaltouni, 47, is currently believed to be residing in Batroun, Lebanon, which is also the hometown of Bassil, who served as foreign minister from 2014 to 2020. The FBI has also released an indictment for Nakhle “Mike” Nader, a former Cleveland, Ohio, resident and acquaintance of Ajaltouni. Nader has been charged with four counts of income tax evasion related to various businesses he owned and operated in Ohio.

Mr Ajaltouni is also charged with naturalisation fraud after obtaining naturalisation and US citizenship in 2009 that he was not entitled to nor eligible to receive, according to the indictment. The indictments were filed between 2016 and 2019 but were unsealed on Tuesday. Shortly after their release, pictures appeared online of Bassil and Ajaltouni together at a table having drinks. A second image shows Ajaltouni shaking hands with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

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'Condoms' and 'Playboy magazines': Zarazir decries being given 'filthy' parliament office

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by naharnet -- MP Cynthia Zarazir of the ‘change’ bloc on Tuesday decried the “disrespect” and “bullying” she has faced ever since entering parliament’s building for the first time. “Ever since I entered parliament, I have not been shown any respect that suggests that those whom I will be present with for four years are firstly humans and secondly respectable people,” Zarazir said on her official Twitter and Facebook accounts, shortly after she faced several bullying and name-calling instances in parliament. “Below are some examples that point to their high manners: - Catcalling by pro-government MPs whose misogyny outweighs their manhood. - Being given a filthy office where I found Playboy magazines and used condoms on its floor and in it drawers. - Bullying over my family name. - Not being given a car parking spot!” Zarazir added in a tweet. “These people are dealing with an elected MP in this manner, so how will they deal with the people who have no voice!” she lamented.

Speaking to MTV, Zarazir said she found files at the office carrying the name of “Hajj Mohammed” and that she is yet to determine the “full identity” of the MP or former MP who used to occupy the office. “There was total chaos. The files were on the floor and the erotic magazines were on the tables. Even rotten food was forgotten on the table and used and unused condoms were inside the drawers and on the table,” MTV quoted Zarazir as saying. “Every day I communicate with the employees at parliament so that I get a parking spot for my car. In the first two sessions, I had to use the small car of a friend to be able to park it, and when I requested that from them several times, I was told by MP Ali Hassan Khalil: ‘Go buy a small car. You have money,’” the MP told MTV.

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Chaotic scenes in Lebanese Parliament as MPs vote on 40 draft laws

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By Jamie Prentis -- nationalnews.com -- -- Chaotic scenes marked the Lebanese Parliament's first legislative session since the May 15 elections, with MPs given the task of voting on 40 draft laws on Tuesday. Among the items approved include a proposed amendment of Lebanon’s banking secrecy laws and a $150 million loan from the World Bank to support wheat imports for the next six to nine months. Insults were traded on the floor of Parliament, particularly between MPs from Amal — the party of Speaker Nabih Berri — and those from the opposition bloc the Forces of Change, which is linked to the October 2019 protests against the ruling class that led to the collapse of the government.

In one session, Forces of Change MP Cynthia Zarazir was branded a “cockroach” by Amal MP Kabalan Kabalan. 'Heads held high' in Lebanon as pride in Cedars basketball team salves Asia Cup loss The amendments to the banking secrecy laws are one of a number of prerequisites for $3 billion in funds from the International Monetary Fund. However, the bill has been watered down from its original version and allows government institutions to lift secrecy specifically in cases of criminal investigations, including in illicit enrichment, money laundering and terrorism financing. But the original draft law would have allowed banking secrecy to be lifted to investigate “all financial crimes”.

Tense scenes could be witnessed outside Parliament as well: family members of the victims of the August 2020 blast that struck Beirut’s port protested in front of the building, demanding that MPs pass a law that would classify the port's silos as a monument to the more than 200 people who died. “We want [the MPs] to keep the silos as a memorial to the victims that lost their lives,” Mariana Fodoulian, whose 29-year-old sister Gaia died in the blast, told The National.

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Journalism student Yasmina Zaytoun wins Miss Lebanon 2022 - 2023

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by gulftoday.ae -- Lebanese journalism student Yasmina Zaytoun won the Miss Lebanon 2022, which was held for the first time in 4 years. The organisers of the competition wanted to send a message of "hope" in a country suffering from an economic crisis ranked among the worst in the world. Zaytoun, 20, from the town of Kfarshouba in the south of the country, won the title that Miss Lebanon 2022 after Maya Raidy (2018) retained the title for four years as the competition could not be held during the past three years, initially due to popular protests in October 2019, then the COVID-19 pandemic and the country's financial crisis. The elected queen, who studies journalism, is 167 centimetres tall and weighs 51 kilogrammes, and will receive a financial prize of $100,000. She will also represent Lebanon in the Miss World and Miss Universe competitions.

Maya Abul-Hassan was the first runner-up, Jacinta Rashid, the second runner-up, and Lara Hrawi, the third runner-up, while Al Khalasiya Dalal Hoballah was the fourth runner-up. Seventeen participants competed to win the title of the competition sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism under the slogan "We miss Lebanon", and it was broadcast by LBCE directly from the Forum de Beirut hall.

The jury consisted of musician Michel Fadel, influencer on social networks, Karen Wazen, general director of "An-Nahar" newspaper and website, Nayla Tueni, producer Mohamed Yahya, director of Caracalla Theater Ivan Caracalla, presenter Hilda Khalife, and Miss Lebanon for the year 1993 Samaya Shadrawi, and the current Polish Miss World Karolina Bilavska, who was replaced by the chairperson of the board of directors of the organizing body for the Miss World contest, Julia Morley, due to a health problem.

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