Lebanese presenter Nadim Koteich on the ‘intellectual battle’ for regional culture

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by ALI KHALED -- arabnews.com -- DUBAI: “The material that appeals to the younger generation is less related to geopolitics and more related to values and emotions: The videos that expose lying, hypocrisy and contradictions, and the filthiness of the political elite across the board, are basically the hits among this generation.” Sky News Arabia’s Nadim Koteich is talking about the radical shift in the Middle East’s media landscape in recent years. And the Lebanese presenter is well placed to do so, as a veteran journalist and broadcaster adapting to that shift. He is known for his biting satirical and political commentary which has proven hugely popular online. His new Monday-to-Friday show, “Tonight With Nadim,” is, he says, a natural progression of his previous work. “Even the most traditional giants in the market are adopting digital strategies in terms of distribution and channeling the message,” he tells Arab News. “My show airs at midnight, but we post it completely on digital before it hits the screen. Before, the (TV) screen was sacred. Now, whenever it’s ready, just put it up. So what kind of short format is reaching the audience becomes a question of content.” Koteich’s 25-minute show aims to tackle the issues of the day via three segments: ‘Fake News’ — two or three quick stories that look to “decode” events and statements; ‘3D’ — a satirical take on the news; and ‘Serious Talk,’ which Koteich calls a “visualized editorial” of the day. It’s a format tailored for modern audiences.

“(People under 30) don’t have the time, they don’t have the stamina, they don’t have the interest in just dry takes,” he says. “They have a love of skepticism when it comes to reading or following politics. They have so much more at their disposal than what conventional media is providing them.” Younger viewers may prefer these “media nuggets,” but Koteich is keen to ensure that older ones are not ignored. It is less about age and more about ideology, he suggests. “We are in an intellectual battle between two main projects in the region: Political Islam and national states,” Koteich, a fierce critic of Iran and Hezbollah, says. “The two audience camps are not divided not only by age groups, but also by communities. (Both have) young, old, and middle-aged groups. I think this dichotomy between age groups is a little misleading, because you need to talk about communities that are a hybrid of age groups.” Koteich, who has over 360,000 Twitter followers, has learned to tune out the background noise of social media over the years. “You grow very thick skin,” he says. “You shouldn’t take (things) personally, because there is a collapse of context when it comes to social media and it’s made the conversation very poisonous. Because people are basically talking to a screen and the emotions are edited out in a very fierce, very dehumanizing way.” This loss of context can lead to the rise of conspiracy theories, he adds.

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Lebanon registers 1,636 new COVID-19 cases, 16 deaths

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The Daily Star --  BEIRUT: Lebanon registered 1,636 new coronavirus cases and 16 deaths Wednesday, as caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan said that the ministry was aiming to equally distribute a potential vaccine in a safe and secure manner to the population. Of the registered cases, 33 were found among incoming travelers from abroad, bringing the total number of registered cases in the country to 120,300. The Health Ministry reported that a total of 12,489 PCR tests had been administered in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate of the tests in the last two weeks stood at 14.7 percent.

An alarming 23 coronavirus-related deaths had been recorded Tuesday, bringing the total number of deaths since the virus was first detected in late February to 950. Meanwhile the Internal Security Forces Wednesday said that 578 coronavirus cases were detected at the Roumieh Prison and 28 cases at the Baabda Justice Palace detention center, with a smaller number of cases detected in other prisons around the country. Hasan said after a meeting with the national committee responsible for the COVID-19 vaccine that they are working on guaranteeing an equal distribution of the vaccine, as well as monitoring the side effects of the vaccine when it reaches Lebanon. The caretaker health minister had announced that Lebanon would receive COVID-19 shipments from Pfizer – one of the lead developers of the vaccine – by March.

More charges filed over Beirut port explosion, including against Hezbollah's reported point man

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by cbc.ca -- A Lebanese prosecutor filed charges on Tuesday against current and former customs officials over the massive blast at Beirut's port in August, including a former customs chief who was reportedly the point man for the militant Hezbollah group at the facility. State prosecutor Ghassan Khoury charged senior customs official Hani Haj Shehadeh and former customs chief in Beirut, Moussa Hazimeh, according to the state-run National News Agency. The report didn't reveal the charges or give additional details. Hazimeh was reportedly the point man for Hezbollah at the Port of Beirut when a massive amount of highly explosive fertilizer was stored there more than six years ago. Nearly 2,500 tonnes of ammonium nitrate blew up Aug. 4, killing more than 200 people, injuring thousands and causing damage worth billions of dollars, mostly in nearby neighbourhoods.

Beirut's port is considered one of the most corrupt institutions in the country, where ruling political factions including Hezbollah have divvied up positions and created fiefdoms. National News Agency said that in charging Shehadeh and Hazimeh, the number of those now charged in connection with the explosion reached 33, of whom 25 are under arrest. None of the charges have been made public and the process has been highly secretive.  Riad Kobaissi, an investigative reporter with Al Jadeed TV, has followed corruption at the port and within the customs authorities since 2012. He said all the political factions in the country benefited from using the port as patronage, and most overlooked dubious dealings. He said many people knew of the initial warning about the danger of the stored ammonium nitrate in 2014 by a customs official. He said that includes Hazimeh, who Kobaissi described as Hezbollah's former point man at the port.

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Ghosn’s Arrests Called ‘Extrajudicial Abuse’ by UN Panel

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By Hugo Miller -- bloomberg -- Carlos Ghosn’s detention for almost 130 days in a Japanese jail was neither necessary nor reasonable and violated the former Nissan Motor Co. chairman’s human rights, a UN panel concluded in a harsh critique of Tokyo prosecutors who led the case against him. The decision to arrest Ghosn four times in a row so as to extend his detention was “fundamentally unfair,” the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in a report Monday posted on its website. The panel said that it would refer the case to the UN’s rapporteur on torture, cruel and other inhuman or degrading treatment. “The repeated arrest of Mr. Ghosn appears to be an abuse of process intended to ensure that he remained in custody,” the panel said, pointing out that on at least two occasions he was arrested for the same alleged crime, only for a different time period. “This revolving pattern of detention was an extrajudicial abuse of process that can have no legal basis under international law.” Ghosn and former Nissan director Greg Kelly were arrested in Tokyo on Nov. 19, 2018, and accused of underreporting the former chairman’s compensation. Both have denied wrongdoing. Additional charges were filed later accusing Ghosn of using company assets improperly, which he has also denied.

Ghosn made a daring escape from Japan to Lebanon hidden inside a large box aboard a private jet in late December. It was, Ghosn argued defiantly in Beirut later, the only way for him to avoid what he called trumped-up charges of financial misdeeds concocted with the help of his former Nissan colleagues. His arrest and removal as chairman of Nissan, Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. shook the foundations of the automaking alliance he built and triggered management and operational turmoil. While Ghosn is unlikely to ever face trial or detention in Japan, the report could be relevant for several ongoing legal proceedings related to the former auto executive. The most immediate potential impact may be on the impending extradition from the U.S. of former Green Beret Michael Taylor and his son Peter, who are sought by Japanese prosecutors for their role in helping Ghosn escape the country.

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Lebanon on borrowed time not addressing Hezbollah’s weapons

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BEIRUT: A Lebanese academic has warned politicians that the country is at risk from the group Hezbollah, despite various factions coming together to try to launch a rescue initiative, as it struggles to resolve a myriad of crises currently affecting the eastern Mediterranean state. There has been no progress yet on the formation of a new government since the collapse of the previous administration in August, and consequently, no negotiations with the International Monetary Fund over a bailout. American economist Steve Hanke said in a tweet on Monday: “While Venezuela continues to hold the top spot in my world inflation table, Lebanon has finally passed Zimbabwe for 2nd place. It’s rather shocking to watch Lebanon’s politicians fiddle, while Beirut burns.” The inflation rate in Lebanon has now reached around 365 percent.

In light of this stalemate, during a press conference at the Palace of Justice in Beirut on Monday, trade unions, universities, economic organizations, labor bodies and civil society forces launched a national rescue initiative under the slogan “Recovering the State,” while joint parliamentary committees will meet on Wednesday to discuss a new electoral law. The head of the Beirut Bar Association, Melhem Khalaf, said in the press conference: “We want to restore the state by reconfiguring the authority to rebuild the country.” Khalaf added: “The initiative is easy to implement and relates to the size of people’s pain, and is open to constructive discussion in a way that reassures all concerns.” The head of the North Bar Association, Mohammed Al-Murad, explained the details of the rescue initiative. He said that the initiative “includes the necessity to form an effective, purposeful, fair and reliable government of independent specialists with specific and limited legislative powers within a specific time frame.” He added: “Government priorities should an endorsement approving the start of implementing a financial, economic and social rescue plan, achieving full justice for the explosion at the Beirut Port and the implementation of a national plan to combat the coronavirus disease pandemic and limit its spread.”

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Protesters mark Lebanon’s Independence Day with brooms and basil

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by arabnews.com -- NAJIA HOUSSARI -- BEIRUT: Many national celebrations for Lebanon’s 77th Independence Day on Sunday were canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic, the political divide, the economic downturn and the aftermath of Beirut’s port blast on Aug. 4. However, several wreaths were laid on the graves of several independence statesmen, while Army Commander in Chief General Joseph Aoun laid a wreath on the memorial statue of the Lebanese Army martyrs. The civil movement celebrated the day in a different way, suspending brooms and wreaths of basil on the walls of public institutions such as the headquarters of the government, the parliament, the Ministry of Economy, the Bank of Lebanon, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Palace of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Electricity of Lebanon, the Association of Banks and the Port of Beirut. Basil wreaths are usually placed on the graves of the dead but these carried the demands of the protesters. “We chose this way of expression as we are unable to take to the streets again because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are sending a clear message to officials that true independence will only be achieved by returning state institutions to the people who are the source of all powers. We wanted to mourn the corrupt authority,” activist Mahmoud Fakih told Arab News.

The Lebanese fear the collapse of their state in the light of corruption, the quotas that hinder the formation of the government and the failure to achieve the reforms required to support Lebanon from abroad. The chaos surrounding Lebanon’s economic crisis has deepened after international firm Alvarez & Marsal terminated its contract to audit the central bank’s accounts. On Sunday, the black market exchange rate for dollars in Lebanon soared to more than 8,400 Lebanese pounds to the dollar. Many activists expressed their indignation on social media. Lawyer and activist Nizar Siagha wrote on Twitter: “The independence of the people from the leaders that have transformed the state into a fiesta is the independence for which we are fighting today, the independence of equality, justice and solidarity without discrimination.” Dr. Suzanne Hosri, a researcher at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, wrote: “This year, I refuse to celebrate or even mention Independence Day. There is no independence before the liberation of the homeland from the corrupt and failed system. There is no sovereignty before holding leaders across the sectarian spectrum accountable for our fear, disease and death. There is no freedom before breaking the shackles of our intolerance and sectarianism toward an open and responsible citizenship capable of defending its dignity and rights. No to a fake and misleading Independence Day!”

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