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Daesh claims London attack

AFP - BEIRUT: Daesh has claimed responsibility for the London attacks, which left seven people dead, an online news agency affiliated with the terrorist group said Monday. A “detachment of fighters from Islamic State (Daesh) carried out London attacks yesterday” the Aamaq news agency said, referring to Saturday’s assault which saw three men in a van plow into pedestrians on London Bridge before going on a stabbing spree. Daesh has also urged supporters to weaponize vehicles in attacks against the West. It was the third attack in Britain this year that Daesh has claimed — after a similar attack on Westminister Bridge in March and the Manchester concert bombing two weeks ago — and one of several involving vehicles in Europe, including last year's Bastille Day rampage in the French city of Nice.
The three attackers Saturday were wearing what appeared to be suicide belts, but the belts turned out to be fake. Investigators were working to determine whether others assisted them, Rowley said. A bystander was also wounded by the gunfire, but the civilian's injuries were not believed to be critical. Forty-eight people, including two police officers, were treated at hospitals. Twenty-one remained in critical condition Sunday. Among the wounded were German, French and Spanish citizens, officials said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a Canadian was among the dead. A French national was also confirmed dead. Counterterrorism officers raided several addresses in Barking, an east London suburb, and arrested 12 people there Sunday, police said. Neighbors at the site of one raid in Barking said a man who lived there resembled one of the attackers shown in news photographs.
Armed officers also conducted a raid in the East Ham area of the city. Video showed police shouting at someone: "Get on the balcony. Stand up and show us your hands!" The rampage was the third major attack in Britain in the past three months, including a similar vehicle and knife attack on Westminster Bridge in March that left five people dead. On May 22, a suicide bomber killed 22 people and injured dozens at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, in northwest England. Grande and other stars performed Sunday night at a benefit concert for victims under tight security in Manchester. The Daesh group claimed responsibility for the Manchester bombing, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the London attack.

Top Lebanese bank to launch $1bn infrastructure fund

by tradearabia.com

FFA Private Bank, one of the leading investment companies in Lebanon, is all set to launch a structured investment vehicle to channel the country's investments in power sector and infrastructure projects. A first-of-its-kind in the country, Lebanon Infrastructure Fund is very advanced in terms of financial sophistication, said its top official. The initial objective is to reach $1 billion of investments in the short-to-medium term, over two to three years, remarked FFA Chairman Jean Riachi. It will be mainly focusing on solar, wind, and hydraulic power projects besides waste-to-energy projects and waste treatment projects, he noted. According to him, the financing could take different shapes whether debt or equity financing. It could include bonds, bank loans and vendor financing, Riachi told The Daily Star. The funding could also be in the form of multilateral financing obtained from international organizations such as the International Finance Corporation, German state-owned development bank KfW and French development-financing institution Proparco, he added. Iyad Boustany, managing director and head of corporate and investment banking at FFA, said the bank's job is to provide the structure or the sponsor. FFA is eyeing various infrastructure projects with special attention to renewable energy, he noted. Lebanon, he stated, has a reasonable wind potential, especially in the district of Akkar in north Lebanon. There are currently three projects under final review on the table of the cabinet, each with an average capacity of 70 MW. All three projects of $100-150 million each are located in the same area and are likely to represent 100 per cent of the wind-farm sector in Lebanon, he added.

Lebanon election needs at least 6 months preparation

W460

by Gulf news - Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer

Beirut: At least six months preparation time will be required before a Lebanese parliamentary election can be held under any new law, Interior Minister Nohad Mashnouq said on Friday. Lebanese politicians have indicated they are close to agreeing a new parliamentary election law after months of disputes over how the polls should be conducted. Parliament’s term is due to expire on June 20. Machnouk was speaking in televised comments after meeting Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Lebanon is to hold a series of extraordinary legislative sessions from June 7 to June 20 in an attempt to save the country from constitutional crisis as politicians have failed thus far to agree on a new electoral law.

President Michel Aoun signed the presidential decree for the sessions on Thursday, after a closed-door meeting with Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri and Berri. The announcment was made on Thursday at a Ramadan Iftar banquet held at Baabda Palace that was also attended by the Progressive Socialist Party head Walid Junblatt, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and a host of political, religious and social figures. Speaking with reporters after the Iftar, Hariri said recent talks on the law were positive but politicians have yet to iron out the details. The new law is expected to be based on full proportional representation in 15 districts.It was led by MP George Adwan from the Lebanse Forces party.

Lebanese Lawmakers Lobbied U.S. Officials to Soften Hezbollah Sanctions

By Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian - This article represents opinion of the author

Amid renewed congressional efforts to tighten sanctions on Hezbollah, delegations of Lebanese politicians and bankers descended on Washington in May in an attempt to minimize the effects of any new sanctions on the Lebanese banking sector. A draft amendment known as the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Amendment Act of 2017, which has not yet been formally proposed in the House, would tighten financial regulations on Lebanese banks and extend scrutiny to Hezbollah allies in order to screen for any illicit funding to groups linked to Hezbollah, which the United States, Israel, the Arab League, and others have designated as a terrorist organization.

The draft, first revealed in Lebanese news outlets in April, quickly attracted opposition there. In an April 28 press conference, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that he hoped to work with U.S. politicians to “change” the bill and that such sanctions would be “harsh on Lebanon,” according to the Beirut-based Daily Star. The banking sector is a mainstay of the Lebanese economy. The delegation of bankers and politicians aimed to convey to Congress that, without amendments, the draft regulations would damage their economy and even the overall stability of the country. Yassine Jaber, a Lebanese politician who visited Washington in May, told Reuters, “There’s one question anyone who wants to put pressure on Lebanon should remember: Do you want another failed state on the eastern Mediterranean?” The draft amendment is the second round in a series of efforts intended to squeeze Hezbollah’s financing. In 2015, President Barack Obama signed into law the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act, which had been authored by U.S. Representative Ed Royce, a Republican from California. The new draft amendment aims to further strengthen sanctions on the political group’s financing both in Lebanon and abroad, and is in line with President Donald Trump’s emphasis on fighting terrorism financing, especially groups such as Hezbollah which receive backing from Iran.

Lebanese PM: Electoral Law Right Around the Corner

by Asharq Al-Awsat

Beirut- Lebanon’s electoral law remains at the center of meetings held between different political parties striving to reach an agreement on a structure that is acceptable by all sides. However, discussions on such a draft-law was absent from Wednesday’s cabinet session chaired by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who said he was optimistic about reaching a solution. Hariri stressed the electoral law was right around the corner. “We still have 19 days to agree on a new electoral law. I am optimistic about reaching a solution, and this is what we must work on achieving, and we are working day and night to overcome the remaining difficulties,” Hariri said at the start of the cabinet session. He also urged ministers to abide by what was agreed on to preserve the government’s solidarity, and stressed that the door is open for the discussion of any idea in the council of ministers. Meanwhile, political observers are waiting for a speech by President Michel Aoun during the Iftar hosted by the Presidential Palace in Baabda on Thursday.

The president might announce a “final agreement on the electoral law based on the proportional system and on dividing the country into 15 electoral districts.” Sources close to the electoral file predicted that Aoun’s position would be preceded by a closed meeting between him, Speaker Nabih Berri and Hariri. “As Prime Minister Hariri said, we are working on the final agreement” on the electoral law, Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury told reporters at the end of the cabinet session. For their part, deputies who met with Berri on Wednesday quoted him as saying that he “was awaiting for the outcome of ongoing contacts regarding the vote law based on 15 districts.” According to the MPs, Berri hoped that the different parties would strike a deal on a new vote law as soon as possible. Also Wednesday, Interior Minister Nohad al-Mashnouq told reporters following the cabinet session that if a new electoral law based on 15 districts was approved, then there would not be enough time to hold the elections within three months. On May 21, Lebanon missed the first deadline for conducting the parliamentary elections.

Lebanon ranked third globally in smoking

by Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer

Beirut: Lebanon has been ranked third globally for having the most smokers per capita, according to the data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the year 2015. Lebanon has been ranked poorly despite Law 174, which was approved by Najib Mikati’s Cabinet in 2012, and that intended to limit cigarette consumption, at least in public places like restaurants. Although the antismoking law remains in effect, it is very difficult to enforce it in a country where smoking is somewhat of a cultural tradition. The law that banned indoor smoking irritated Lebanese accustomed to shishas and cigarettes at restaurants, cafes, pubs and nightclubs. The law was applauded by a vocal minority in the country advocating for improving overall health of the people. The law, however, is effectively defunct, due to a lack of effective enforcement mechanisms. According to the WHO, Lebanon’s daily per capita consumption in 2015 was reportedly between 8 to 9 cigarettes, “which calculates out to an average of 3,023 cigarettes per capita annually”.

As tobacco products are not regulated for their contents [nicotine and/or tar] as well as emissions in Lebanon, and nearly 42 per cent of 13 to 15-year-old males and around 32 per cent of females in the same age-bracket reportedly smoke tobacco products, Lebanese face serious health issues. “I don’t care about any legislation or bans,” Antoine Doumit, 16, who works at a grocery store in Antelias told Gulf News, while he lit up his cigarette. After introduction of Law 174 in 2012, Beirut pledged to impose strict fines on cigarette companies who failed to carry a visual warning of the health impacts that tobacco consumption generates, on every cigarette pack. While a few manufacturers abided by the regulations, most did not. Today, there are written warnings on cigarette packs sold in Lebanon, but without any pictures as is customary in most countries.

Notwithstanding Law 174 and successive governmental pledges to abide by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which Lebanon signed in 2005, Beirut condones the Lebanese Authority for Tobacco and Tombac, which is a state-sponsored organisation) manufacturing tobacco products at reduced prices, because it fills their coffers. Lebanon introduced a new tax on tobacco products earlier this year — 200 Lebanese pounds ($0.13) on a pack of cigarettes, and 500 Lebanese pounds ($0.33) on a pack of cigars. This tax hike is expected to boost VAT revenues by 10 per cent and based on 2016 VAT figures, could add $215 million to the treasury in 2017. An additional $100 million would also go into state coffers through the fiscal stamp fees, which must be affixed on every package of tobacco products too. Lebanon imports tobacco worth $160 million annually primarily from Turkey, Switzerland, Egypt and Germany.

Beirut’s only public beach is about to be taken over by an exclusive private resort

by pri.org

For all its charm, Beirut can be a difficult place to live. The roads are often clogged with traffic, the sidewalks are narrow and it seems as though there’s a construction site on every corner. Most cities have outdoor places where residents can escape the noise and the chaos. But in Beirut, they’re in short supply — and if developers are allowed to have their way, there may be even fewer still. Beirut’s only public beach — Ramlet al-Baida — is the latest battleground in the fight between Beirutis and authorities over public space in the city. On a brisk, windy day at the beach, Mohammad Ayoub, an activist who campaigns for the protection of public land, stands facing a construction site jutting out onto the sand. Vehicles work on the construction of the Eden Rock Resort on the south end of Ramlet al-Baida beach, in Beirut

“All laws and international agreements, the constitution of Lebanon, say that everything on the sand is public space. So it’s strange to find someone who is pretending that he owns the sand,” he sighs. The beach development now under construction is called the Eden Bay Resort, described by its developers in a promotional video as “an exclusive community by the sea.” When finished — all 5,400 square feet of it — this “sanctuary of luxury and refinement” will feature high-end apartments, a five-star hotel, a spa, swimming pool and a jetty for residents to moor their yachts. It will cater to Beirut’s upper class and wealthy foreign visitors, and it will be unaffordable to most Beirutis. This bothers activists campaigning against the development. “Public space is the spirit of the city. It’s where the city meets. It’s where the children go and play, where young people go and do different kinds of activities and develop their talents. Without public space the people will be more stressful and bored. They will not feel like they belong to the city,” Ayoub says. As far as Ayoub sees it, what little public space that Beirut has is under attack.

Across town, the largest and only substantial park in the city is under threat by plans to build a hospital. Farther down the coast from Ramlet al-Baida, a popular picnic spot on the rocks was closed to the public a couple of years back. Even the city’s downtown area is regularly closed off to the public for security reasons. Densely populated, scarce public space Detailed censuses of the population in Lebanon are hard to come by, for various reasons. But a 2013 survey by the Public Health Ministry estimated Beirut’s population to be around 420,000. That’s around 55,000 people per square mile. For comparison, New York City has around 11,000 people per square mile. Manhattan is more dense, at 72,000 people per square mile, but its public space is incomparably more. Map: Manhattan versus Beirut public space Even famously densely populated and built-up cities like New York have far more green and public space than Beirut does. Up-to-date information on Beirut's public spaces is limited.