Beirut (AP) — Israeli military jets carried out several low flying flights over Beirut as reconnaissance drones also buzzed overhead Sunday in what has become a daily occurrence. Israel regularly violates Lebanon airspace, often to carry out strikes in neighboring Syria. On Christmas Eve, Israeli jets flew low late into the night, terrorizing Beirut residents who are no strangers to such flights. They were followed by reported Israeli strikes in Syria. The frequency of low flying warplanes over the capital has intensified in the last two weeks, making residents jittery as tensions run high in the region on the final days of President Donald Trump’s administration. “When the drone leaves, the warplanes come. When the warplanes leave, the drones return. They have seen us in our PJs, filmed us in our PJs and surveilled us in our PJs. Now what,” quipped Twitter user Areej_AAH. “Of all types of panic I experienced in life in Beirut, the panic that accompanies the Israeli warplanes flying this low in Beirut is very special,” Tweeted Rudeynah Baalbaky, who said it brought back memories of the 2006 war with Israel. Israel rarely comments on these reports.

by Charlie McCarthy — newsmax.com — Suggestions the U.S. has become a banana republic are way off base, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday. Using his personal Twitter account, Pompeo criticized politicians and journalists who have compared the U.S. to countries where “mob violence determines the exercise of power,” according to Pompeo per The Hill. Pompeo’s remarks were posted one day after demonstrators protesting the presidential election results attacked the Capitol. As of Friday afternoon, five people had died as a result of the insurrection. “In the wake of [Wednesday’s] reprehensible attack on the U.S. Capitol, many prominent people — including journalists and politicians — have likened the United States to a banana republic,” Pompeo wrote. “The slander reveals a faulty understanding of banana republics and of democracy in America. “In a banana republic, mob violence determines the exercise of power. In the United States, law enforcement officials quash mob violence so that the people’s representatives can exercise power in accordance with the rule of law and constitutional government.”

by naharnet.com — Al-Mustaqbal Movement said Sunday that PM-designate Saad Hariri has already presented the line-up of a reformist cabinet to President Michel Aoun, slamming what it called Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil’s “obstacles” and “sectarian and racist standards.” “The Movement leaves it to the Lebanese people to believe or not believe (ex-)Minister Bassil, seeing as we as a Movement will not engage in political polemics that will not bring the country an anti-coronavirus vaccine nor will return the economic cycle to its right track nor will rebuild Beirut and compensate those affected by the port blast,” al-Mustaqbal said in a statement. The statement comes in response to remarks voiced by Bassil in a televised address earlier in the day. “The government is ready and (its line-up) is waiting with the President,” al-Mustaqbal said, adding that such a government “will be a mission government that undertakes the needed reforms according to the French initiative and not according to the sectarian and racist Bassilist standards.” “This is what concerns us and not anything else, no matter how much they get creative in creating obstacles and producing controversial issues,” the Movement added.

by naharnet — Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil lashed out Sunday at Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and warned of a perceived attempt to return the country to the “pre-2005 era.” “What is the current specialty of the PM-designate?” Bassil said in a televised address, casting doubt on the possibility that the new government will be truly a so-called “government of specialists.” “The rule of specialty was not only broken in naming the premier but also the ministers! What does it mean to give a single minister two portfolios such as foreign affairs and agriculture or social affairs and environment or administrative development and youth and sport? What specialty is this?” Bassil asked. Lamenting that “there is no expertise nor standards nor rules in what is being proposed,” Bassil claimed that the objective is to “downsize the government and cling to 14 or 18 seats in order to aggrieve Druze and Greek Catholics.” He added: “We do not entrust Hariri alone with reform and to them this government is aimed at seizing control of the country and returning us to the pre-2005 era.”

Addressing the public opinion, he went on to say: “Do you believe that these people want a government for reform, forensic audit, combating corruption, recovering transferred and looted funds and lifting secrecy off the accounts of politicians and state employees? Who prevented them from abiding by CEDRE’s reforms? No one, other than laziness, ignorance, reluctance to conduct reform and hunger for stealing public funds.” “There is a Lebanese Ghazi Kanaan and his electoral laws are present and there is a Lebanese Rustom Ghazaleh and his appointments are present,” Bassil added, apparently comparing the two late Syrian officers who were in charge of Lebanon’s file to rival Lebanese leaders. “We won’t allow a return to the era of marginalization and elimination,” Bassil stressed.

by thearabweekly.com — ISTANBUL–Arab sources expected the surprise visit of the Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to Istanbul, where he held a long meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to have raised the issues of Gulf reconciliation and Turkish-French relations on top of the crisis faced by Lebanon where no government is yet in place despite Hariri’s efforts. Sources believe Hariri sought to explore the Turkish president’s reactions regarding recent developments within the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in light of the reconciliation between Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the kingdom of Bahrain, in addition to Egypt, which is not a member of the Council. Erdogan, they noted, has welcomed the declaration issued by the summit of the member states of the Cooperation Council (GCC) held in the Saudi city of Al-Ula. According to the sources, the Turkish president wants to be a part of the Gulf reconciliation process, being the first supporter of Qatar in its policy at all levels.

In statements, on Friday, Erdogan welcomed the reconciliation, saying that it would “be good for the region,” and that his country would directly benefit from it. He stressed that “Turkey will strengthen its relations with the Gulf,” and that ” Turkey will return to its stature in the coming period for the sake of Turkish-Gulf cooperation.” Ankara espouses a narrative that is supportive of reconciliation and tries to appease the Saudi leadership, in particular, in order to take advantage of this reconciliation opportunity and restore the Turkish-Gulf relationship to its status of before the Qatar crisis of June 2017.

by France24 — Marc Perelman — In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh expressed concern about the ongoing financial crisis in his country, warning the situation could “deteriorate” if a government is not formed quickly. He announced that Lebanon’s central bank is ready to provide all the information necessary […]

The app for a favorite social network of President Trump supporters will no longer be sold on Google Play — and Apple is also threatening to pull it, according to reports. Parler, which bills itself as “an unbiased social media focused on real user experiences and engagement,” can’t be sold on Google Play until the […]

by nypost.com — Twitter on Friday took the unprecedented step of banning President Trump from the platform “permanently” — less than two weeks before he leaves office. “After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” the company said in a statement shortly after 6 p.m. The decision comes after Wednesday’s US Capitol siege in which five people were killed when thousands of pro-Trump supporters unhappy with the election stormed Congress. “In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action,” the statement continued. “Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open.” “However, we made it clear going back years that these accounts are not above our rules entirely and cannot use Twitter to incite violence, among other things. We will continue to be transparent around our policies and their enforcement.” The president’s team immediately fired-back, calling the move “disgusting.”

“Disgusting. Big Tech wants to cancel all 75M @realDonaldTrump supporters. If you don’t think they’re coming for you next, you’re wrong,” wrote Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller. But Twitter is not the first social media company to ban the president in the wake of the violent episode. On Thursday, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg announced he had banned Trump from using the platform until after he leaves office on Jan. 20, saying he had used his platform to “condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters.” “The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” wrote Zuckerberg in a post on his personal Facebook account.

by arabnews.com –TAREK ALI AHMAD — LONDON: Lebanese news anchor Layal Alekhtiar is the latest victim of a Hezbollah-led campaign to silence free media in and out of the country. The journalist, who works for US State Department-funded Alhurra, received death threats via text following an incitement campaign launched by viewers loyal to Hezbollah. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) told Arab News that these threats must be investigated. The campaign comes after Alekhtiar tweeted a video of the unveiling of the newly erected statue of the late Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani with a line from Ayat Al-Anbya (The Prophets) from the Qur’an that said: “What are these statues to which you are so devoted?”

Alekhtiar told Arab News: “I didn’t provoke them specifically in any way, all I did was place this Ayat as a matter of freedom of speech, nothing more. I didn’t demean them, nor did I do it in any impolite way. “So, they let their whole army loose on me, and all those from Al-Manar and Al-Mayadeen and all their news channels and I didn’t understand why, there is nothing to it. “I tweeted the Ayat regarding the statues because what grabbed my attention was that there were Shiite religious men there. Anyway, to me, any statue that would be erected for someone not Lebanese — especially since he has a political agenda — paid by the Lebanese, should not be placed. Whoever it may be, not just Qassem Soleimani,” she said. Shortly after, a senior member of the Israeli Army tweeted the same Ayat which added fuel to the fire. “So, they begin to create a link between my tweet and his and they begin to photoshop both tweets together and spread it and say that I am a foreign agent and that I am an Israeli spy,” she added.

by english.aawsat.com — The rise of the US dollar exchange rate against the Lebanese Lira has brought protesters in the north and south of Lebanon back to the streets. On Thursday, the exchange rate of 1USD was equal to LBP8,800 after it was stable for the past weeks at around LBP8,000 and LBP8,500. In Sidon […]