President Michel Sleiman: في حفل افتتاح حديقة بيار الجميل لا بد ان نتذكر صوته الصارخ الذي ازعج وحوش الغابة فاغتالوه

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المشكلة الاقتصادية ليست تقنية بل هي سياسية والعلة الاساسية في الفساد الاكبر المتمثل بخرق الدستور والشغور الرئاسي المتكرر وامتداد فترات تصريف الاعمال الحكومية وشغور مقاعد نيابية ومواقع ادارية كبرى وتجاوز القانون وتسيب المعابر والحدود والسلاح غير الشرعي والانخراط في سياسة المحاور …



في حفل افتتاح حديقة بيار الجميل لا بد ان نتذكر صوته الصارخ الذي ازعج وحوش الغابة فاغتالوه جهاراً نهاراً ليس لاي امر سوى لانه صناعة لبنانية وعقل لبناني وقلب لبناني

Saudi pressure on Lebanon proves more painful with Kuwait also taking action

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by thearabweekly.com -- KUWAIT CITY--Kuwait continues to up its punitive measures against Lebanese nationals on its soil in a way that shows that this escalation is directly backed by Saudi Arabia. The kingdom, informed sources told The Arab Weekly, wants the Lebanese political class to realise that their coordination with the Shia Hezbollah movement will carry a heavy cost. Saudi Arabia, the sources added, will increase pressure and is ready to deal painful blows in its diplomatic crisis with Lebanon, starting with punitive measures taken by Kuwait, which hosts a Lebanese community of more than 50,000. Kuwaiti newspapers Al-Qabas and Al-Rai reported on Thursday that prosecutors in the country have detained 18 people suspected of financing Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. Al-Qabas said the prosecutor ordered the detainees to be held at the central prison for 21 days while investigations continue into alleged “membership in a prohibited party, money-laundering and spying.”

Local media reports also said that Kuwait had asked 100 residents and their families to leave the country because of their links with Hezbollah. Most of these asked to leave, the reports noted, are of Lebanese nationality, with some of them hailing from Iran and Iraq. Informed Kuwaiti sources also said that the targeted group is limited, with all individuals known to the Kuwaiti security apparatus. The next move, however, will include another list of those linked to Hezbollah’s support networks, based on discoveries by Kuwaiti security probes carried out in full coordination with the Gulf security services, particularly those of Saudi Arabia. A Kuwaiti source told The Arab Weekly that the next phase will be marked by stiffer restrictions on the activities of Hezbollah sympathisers. The source added that Kuwait is serious about dismantling the support networks of the Lebanese Shia group, whether in the form of direct donations or funds transferred by charities that succeeded in deceiving Kuwaitis, especially from the Shia sect, using religious and humanitarian campaigning to cover up Hezbollah’s secret agenda.

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‘Hundreds’ Of Fake Lebanese Degrees Sold To Iraqis

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by AFP -- Iraq has summoned its cultural attache in Beirut for an investigation into the alleged sale of “hundreds” of fake Lebanese university degrees to Iraqis, including MPs. “At least three private Lebanese universities are implicated,” an Iraqi academic source, who requested to remain anonymous, told AFP on Thursday. Lebanese authorities have also launched an investigation into degrees sold to Iraqis enrolled in remote learning courses, the source said. Several MPs and high-ranking officials paid to obtain master’s or doctorate degrees, particularly in religious subjects, according to another Iraqi official who also requested anonymity. The fake degrees, numbering in their hundreds, cost “between $5,000 for a master’s degree and $10,000 for a Ph.D.”, the official added. Higher education degrees are often a prerequisite for coveted government posts in Iraq.

The cultural attache, Hashem al-Shammari, has been summoned to Baghdad, higher education ministry spokesman Haidar al-Aboudi told AFP. According to Lebanese media reports, the Islamic University of Lebanon — affiliated with the country’s Supreme Islamic Shia Council — has sacked its president and four department heads over the scandal. Lebanon has 36 private universities, including prestigious institutions such as the American University of Beirut. It also has many institutions with religious affiliations authorised by the government after Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war. AFP

Minister Sejaan Azzi: رفعُ الدعمِ عن وِحدةِ لبنان

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بعد أزمةِ الصواريخِ في كوبا (1962) ثم اغتيالِ جون كينيدي (1963)، تَرشّحَ ليندون جونسون لخلافتِه سنةَ 1964. أعدَّ جونسون لحملتِه الرئاسيّةِ فيلمًا دِعائيًّا ناجِحًا عُرِف بـــ"ديزي" (Daisy). نرى فيه فتاةً صغيرةً تَنزعُ أوراقَ زهرةِ أقحوانٍ ورَقةً ورَقة. وما إِن تَصِلُ إلى الورَقةِ الأخيرةِ حتى يُسمعَ صوتُ رجلٍ يَـعُـدُّ بصوتٍ جَهوريٍّ عكسيًّا من عشرةٍ إلى صِفر كأنَّ العالمَ يَقترِبُ من لحظةِ إطلاقِ صاروخٍ نوويّ. وسُرعان ما تَظهرُ صورةُ انفجارٍ هائل، يَعقُبه صوتُ جونسون يقول للأميركيّين: "رِهانُنا أن نَبنيَ عالَـمًا يَعيش فيه كلُّ أبناءِ الله بأمانٍ أو يَغرَقوا في غياهبِ الظُلمات. فليُحِبَّ بعضُنا البعضَ الآخَر لئلا نَصلَ إلى انفجارٍ نووي جديد ونموت".

بعد نحوِ ستّين سنةً لا تزالُ رمزيةُ "ديزي" صالحةً للعالم، وبخاصّةٍ للبنان. هل نريد أن نبنيَ لبنانَ ديمقراطيًّا، حرًّا وآمِنًا وحضاريًّا لنا جميعًا، أم سنواصِل العَدَّ العكسيَّ حتّى الصِفر والعَدْوَ نحو الانفجارِ الوطنيِّ الشاملِ والارتطامِ النهائيِّ؟ سابقًا، بَلَغنا الانفجارَ أكثرَ من مرّةٍ من دونِ أن نَرتَطِمَ، واستَعدْنا الحياةَ وأَكْمَلنا الشَراكة. أما اليومَ، ففي لبنان مَن يُصِرُّ على إكمالِ العَدِّ العكسيّ حتّى الواحدِ وفي ظَنِّه أنّه يُخيفُ اللبنانيّين فيَستَسلِمون قَبل الصِفر، لكنّه سيَخْسَأُ اليومَ كما خَسِئَ سِواه بالأمس. فاللبنانيّون لا تُخيفُهم الأصفارُ والأرقامُ والأعداد. يوجدُ في لبنان مَن يَقتلُ "ديزي" ويحافظُ على الرجلِ الذي يُقرِّبُنا من ساعةِ الصِفر. هؤلاءِ نَزعوا أوراقَ جميعِ زهورِ الأُقْحوان وسائرِ الزهور، وآثَروا العيشَ في الظُلمات. وَلِعوا بساعاتِ الصِفرِ وبأصواتِ الانفجارات. نَشروا روحَ العَداءِ المختَلَقِ كأنّنا لسنا جميعًا أبناءَ الله، ولا أبناءَ وطنٍ واحدٍ وأبناءَ قرى ومدنٍ واحدة. لماذا النزعةُ العدائيّةُ المجانيّةُ والعبثيّةُ تَطغى على إرادةِ الشراكةِ والحياة؟

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Aoun’s party appeals against Lebanese election law amendments

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By Najia Houssari  arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Just 72 hours before the deadline for expatriates to register to vote in the Lebanese parliamentary elections currently scheduled for March 27 next year, President Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement party on Wednesday lodged an appeal with the Constitutional Council over amendments to electoral law recently approved by the parliament. On Oct. 28, an absolute majority in parliament approved plans to amend the 2017 electoral laws so that parliamentary elections can be held in March instead of May. They also scrapped its provisions for the election of six members of parliament to represent expatriates and the introduction of a biometric, magnetic card that would allow voters to cast their ballots where they live rather than returning to their home towns to vote. Aoun had previously rejected these amendments. FPM members walked out of parliament in protest when they were approved.

In its appeal to the Constitutional Council, the president’s team argued that the decision not to allow expatriates to have their own elected representatives in parliament has “canceled a basic and fundamental right of a special Lebanese group.” It added that “the amendment of the deadlines is a violation of the principle of separation of powers, as the parliament is not entitled to discuss the date of the elections determined by the executive authority, which constitutes a violation of the provisions of the Constitution.” The appeal also argued that “the abolition of Article 84 of the law, related to the magnetic card, which allows the voter to vote in his place of residence, will affect the credibility and transparency of the electoral process.” FPM member Alain Aoun said: “The Constitutional Council will issue its decision within a month and the FPM will abide by its decision.” He also warned against “any step that could be taken by the minister of interior that entails inviting the electoral bodies to convene before the Constitutional Council issues its decision regarding the appeal.”

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President Michel Sleiman: اعلان بعبدا

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مقتطف من مقابلة وزير العدل السابق ابراهيم نجار ضمن برنامح بكل حرية على قناة suroyo tv    الصحافية: لفتتني اللوحة الموجودة في مكتبكم والتي تعبر بين مزدوجين عن الحوار الوطني او لقاء بعبدا ( اعلان بعبدا ) على عهد الرئيس ميشال سليمان وكأنه يحلم وفرحان ان كل المنظومة اتفقت وهذا فعلا ما زال حلماً لليوم لم يحصل، فكرة هذه اللوحة مميزة جداً اليوم وللأسف لم نعشها. الوزير نجار: كان بهذه اللوحة ينظم الفوضى، كل شخص يرمي الاوراق ويختلف مع الآخر وهو ينتظرهم والسلاح موجود، نجح في تنظيم الفوضى. اليوم لسوء الحظ اتفاق مار مخايل لم ينجح بين التيار الوطني الحر وحزب الله وانا اشعر وكأنه هناك بوادر انتفاضة من التيار الوطني الحر بسبب الانتخابات