Lebanese pop singer Nancy Ajram will open up about home invasion in new documentary

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by arabnews.com -- DUBAI: Back in January, Lebanese pop singer Nancy Ajram’s husband, celebrity dentist Fadi Al-Hashem, reportedly shot and killed an armed assailant who broke into the superstar’s Beirut property in the early hours of the morning while their two young children were sleeping. El-Hachem was subsequently charged with the murder of the masked assailant identifed as Mohammad Al-Mousa, after shooting him 16 times. Now, a new documentary entitled “The Full Story,” scheduled to premiere on Arabic streaming service Shahid VIP on July 16, will revisit the burglary that took place at the singer’s Beirut residence earlier in the year. The documentary will even feature real-life footage from the night of the home invasion.

In a short snippet posted to the video on demand platform’s Twitter account, a conversation between Ajram and an interviewer can be heard, with the singer saying “Minutes passed by like a year. Did Fadi die? He didn’t die.” The interviewer then says, “There are details that we, and the people, need to know. You’re going to tell us everything,” to which, Ajram replies, “Of course.” It’s not the first time that the “Ah w Nos” singer will publicly address the terrifying burglary. Just days after the home invasion, Ajram spoke to LBCI Lebanon News, and urged people to “put themselves in her husband’s shoes.” “Before anything, Fadi is a father and a husband. He has responsibilities. He is a human being... It was a normal reaction to the threat he experienced,” she said. During the interview, Ajram also opened up about how she hid in the bathroom when she realized there was an intruder in her home. “I heard Fadi telling him ‘whatever you want.’ When I heard this sentence, I knew the intruder was a robber and I ran to the bathroom with my phone. I called my father first because I was scared… I was shaking and I was in a state that I can’t describe to anyone. I called my father and told him ‘dad there is a thief in the house… do something now, Fadi and I and the children are home.” Hopefully the new documentary will shed more light on the incident.

Lebanese farmers sow seeds for new cannabis growers’ syndicate

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by arabnews.com -- NAJIA HOUSSARI -- BEIRUT: A group of Lebanese farmers have sown the seeds for the setting up of a growers’ syndicate for the production of cannabis plants. The move to establish a founding committee of agricultural sector representatives followed a decision by the Lebanese Parliament in April to legalize the use of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes. In doing so, Lebanon become the first Arab country to pass a law allowing the cultivation of the plant for specific non-recreational uses. Farmers from the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate in eastern Lebanon announced plans for the formation of the new committee during a press conference held at a tourist complex in the region. Former president of the Tobacco Growers’ Association in Baalbek-Hermel, Ahmed Zaiter, told Arab News: “Through the founding committee that we intend to form from representatives of families in the region who work in agriculture in general, we wanted to move the law enforcement mechanism in preparation for obtaining licenses to start planting cannabis, knowing that there are those who grow hashish in the region and we do not yet know whether this plant is the same one that was legislated.”

The new Lebanese law will provide for the formation of a government-monitored regulatory body to manage the cultivation, production, and export of cannabis. The cultivation process produces the drug tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and industrially fibers from the plant can be used for making products such as clothes and cars. A 2018 study by US consulting firm McKinsey and Co. estimated that Lebanon could generate $1 billion annually from legalizing cannabis cultivation. Zaiter pointed out “the importance of the birth of a syndicate of cannabis growers to organize this cultivation, the need to grant licenses to farmers, start preparing for seed insurance, and receive this plant from the state.” He added that farmers would be demanding that priority was given to the agricultural sector in the Bekaa Valley and the Baalbek-Hermel region and for the syndicate, when established, to join the Union of Agricultural Syndicates in Lebanon. A body is to be set up to monitor and regulate all activities related to cannabis and its derivatives, including planting, cultivation, harvesting, production, possession, export, storage, marketing, and distribution.

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Lebanese hospitals falling apart as coronavirus cases spike

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by Sunniva Rose -- thenational.ae -- Lebanon witnessed a surge in Covid-19 cases as health professionals warned that local hospitals were “falling apart” because of the country’s severe economic crisis. The 86 new cases reported on Saturday was the highest daily increase since Lebanon was hit by the coronavirus pandemic in late February. With only 36 deaths and 2,168 cases, the small Mediterranean country has been relatively spared up to now. But hospitals, which were already suffering from the country’s nine-month economic crisis, worry that they will not be able to cope if infections surge. “We cannot afford rampant coronavirus in this country, because our capabilities are low,” Firass Abiad, director of Lebanon’s Rafic Hariri hospital, where most of the Covid-19 cases are treated, told The National. Mr Abiad pointed to the recent increase in power outages that “almost crippled the healthcare industry in Lebanon”. Electricity cuts, which normally last between three and eight hours a day, increased nationwide in recent weeks because of a fuel shortage. Rafic Hariri hospital, Lebanon’s largest public healthcare facility with 430 beds and 10 operating theatres, had to cope with daily outages of up to 18 hours.

State power firm Electricite du Liban usually gives preference to hospitals by switching power off for only one to two hours a day, said Mr Abiad. “When you have severe cuts from the power grid, then you have to resort to your generators. But without fuel, those generators cannot run indefinitely, and without generators, a hospital can simply not function ... That’s why we had to cut our fuel usage to be able to continue,” he said. From July 2 to July 7, the hospital turned off the air conditioning for administrative staff – but not patients – despite the sweltering heat and humidity. It also closed two of its operating rooms and postponed non-urgent surgeries. Fuel importer Total Liban donated diesel for the hospital’s generators last week but Mr Abiad said the situation was far from stable. “We are working on reopening the last [operating room],” he said. “We are scheduling cases and I think we can clear” the backlog. But the hospital is rationing fuel as much as possible. “This problem might come back again,” said Mr Abiad.

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Lebanese Maronite patriarch reiterates criticism of Hezbollah, confirms shift

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by yourmiddleeast.com -- Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai stepped up criticism of the Iran-backed radical Shia group Hezbollah and its political allies without directly naming them, on Sunday, saying Lebanese rejected the maneuvres by a “parliamentary majority” that is isolating the country and driving it “from prosperity to decline”.

For the second sermon in a row, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai stressed the importance of Lebanon’s neutrality, implicit criticism of the heavily armed Hezbollah over its support for Iran in conflicts with Sunni-led Gulf Arab states. His last two sermons have been seen to mark a shift to a more openly critical stance against the policies of both Hezbollah and its ally President Michel Aoun. Both back the government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab. “The intervention was seen as a shift in his politics away from supporting the president and more into criticizing the political position of the country, regionally and internationally,” Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center said. Rai, in a copy of the sermon sent by email, said Lebanese “rejected any ... parliamentary majority messing with the constitution ... and Lebanon’s model of civilization, and that it isolate it from its brothers and friends ... and that it move it from abundance to want and from prosperity to decline”.

عظة البطريرك الكردينال مار بشاره بطرس الرّاعي الأحد السَّابع من زمن العنصرة: إرسال التَّلاميذ الإثنين والسَّبعين الدّيمان، الأحد 12 تموز 2020 "إِختَارَ يَسُوعُ إثْنَينِ وَسَبْعِينَ آخَرِين وَأَرْسَلَهُم" (لو 1:10) 1. الكنيسة، برُعاتِها ومؤمنيها ومؤسَّسَاتها، مرسَلَةٌ إلى العالم. أرسلَهَا المسيح الرَّبُّ، ويُرسِلُها كلَّ يوم حتَّى نهاية العالم، حاملةً سلامَه الخلاصيَّ لجميع الشُّعُوب. إنطَلَقَت مع الرُّسُل الإثنَي عشَر، وَهُم أعمدةُ الحقِّ فيها، وأساقفتُها السَّاهرون عليها كالمسيح الرَّاعي الصَّالح، بالتَّعاون مع الإثنين والسَّبعين كأوَّل جماعةٍ مؤمنةٍ بالمسيح، راح عددُها ينمو ويكثُر وينتشِر بقوَّة الكلمة وعمَلِ الرُّوح القدس، كما يُروي كتاب أعمال الرُّسُل، حتَّى وصلوا إلى أنطاكية، حيثُ أسَّسَ بطرس الرَّسُول كرسيَّه الأوَّل قبل الانتقال إلى رومية. وفي انطاكية سُمِّي لأوَّل مرَّةٍ المؤمنون بالمسيح "مسيحيّين" (اعمال 11:26). 2. يُسعِدُنا أن نحتفِلَ معًا بهذه اللِّيتورجيَّا الالهيَّة، فأُرحِّب بكم أيُّها الحاضرون، وأُحيِّي كلَّ المؤمنين والمؤمنات الذين يُشاركون معنا روحيًّا عبر تيلي لوميار – نورسات والفيسبوك وسواها، لعدم إمكانية المشاركة الفعليَّة والحسِّيَّة بذبيحة المسيح لفدائنا، وبوليمة جسده ودمه لحياتنا، في الكنائس الرعائية بسبب المرض أو الشَّيخوخة أو وباء كورونا. وأوجّه تحيَّةً خاصَّة لعائلة المرحومة نهى سلامه سلامه: لابنَيها وابنتَيها وسائر أنسبائها، وفي مقدِّمتهم نجلها الأكبر عزيزنا المحامي ميشال، رئيس بلدية فاريَّا العزيزة، الذي اعتنى مع شقيقه عزيزنا ايلي برفع أكبر تمثال للقدِّيس شربل على جبل صليب فاريَّا، فضلًا عن الانشاءات والمشاريع الانمائيَّة والسياحية التي يحققها مع المجلس البلدي. لقد ودَّعْنا معهم والدتَهم المرحومة نهى منذ حوالي أربعة أسابيع. نصلّي في هذه الذبيحة المقدسة لراحة نفسها، ولعزاء اسرتها.

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Ex-Nissan boss Ghosn says helping everyone who stood by him

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BEIRUT (Reuters)  by Tom Perry - Former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn is helping everyone who stood by him, he said in an interview broadcast on Saturday, though he declined to comment on cases of people accused of helping him flee to Lebanon from Japan. Ghosn, the ex-chairman of an automaking alliance of Renault SA , Nissan Motor Co and Mitsubishi Motors Corp was arrested in Japan in late 2018 on charges of underreporting his salary and using company funds for personal purpose - charges he denies. In late December, he made a dramatic escape from house arrest in Japan, where he was awaiting trial, and fled to Beirut, his childhood home.

Japan has asked the United States to extradite U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor, who are accused of helping Ghosn flee and were arrested in May. Asked in an interview with Al Arabiya TV if he was trying to help the Taylors and others involved in his escape, Ghosn said: "You are talking about specific people, and I will not comment on those people who you are singling out. "What I'm saying is that I am helping everyone who helped me; I'm helping them with my means, with my thinking, and in any way I can," he said. "I am not talking about those people you mentioned specifically," he said, adding that he was talking about people who helped him "in general". Ghosn has refused to discuss details of his escape from Japan, saying it would put in danger those who helped him.

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Hagia Sophia embodies old Istanbul – a world at risk of disappearing

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by catholicherald.co.uk -- Hannah Brockhaus/CNA -- A Turkish court has paved the way for the former Byzantine cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to be turned back into a mosque. Turkey’s highest administrative court ruled July 2 to revoke the 80-year-old decree that declared the sixth-century building a museum. The ruling was announced July 10. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to make the final decision on whether Hagia Sophia will revert to a mosque — a cause he has loudly championed. Christian leaders in the Middle East and U.S. have spoken out in favor of maintaining the status quo at the historic site.

Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said Turkish people have the responsibility “to make the universality of this wonderful monument shine,” given that as a museum it is “the symbolic place of encounter, dialogue, solidarity and mutual understanding between Christianity and Islam.” Patriarch Bartholomew addressed the place of Hagia Sophia in his homily during Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Istanbul June 30, Fides news agency reports. Hagia Sophia belongs “belongs not only to those who own it at the moment, but to all humanity,” he said. The Eastern Orthodox Christian leader warned that converting it to a mosque “will push millions of Christians around the world against Islam.” “A threat against Hagia Sophia is a threat to all of Christian civilization, meaning our spirituality and history,” Patriarch Kirill of Moscow said on July 6. He said the former basilica of Constantinople is “one of the biggest monuments of Christian civilization” “What could happen to Hagia Sophia will cause deep pain among the Russian people,” said the Russian Orthodox patriarch.

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