Khazen

Rafik Hariri remembered 13 years later

by The Daily Star BEIRUT: Lebanon paid tribute to the late Rafik Hariri Wednesday as politicians and friends of the former prime minister visited his tomb and a torch was lit near the place of his assassination 13 years ago. Speaking from a commemoration ceremony at Beirut’s BIEL, the late prime minister’s son and current prime […]

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Rex Tillerson says Hezbollah ‘part of political process’ in Lebanon

by AFP – AMMAN: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday conceded that Iran-backed Hezbollah is part of the “political process” in Lebanon, appearing to soften Washington’s tone ahead of a visit to the country. “We support a free, democratic Lebanon free of influence of others, and we know that Lebanese Hezbollah is influenced […]

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Lebanon’s judge drops case against Saudi minister for “supreme interest”

BEIRUT, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) — Beirut’s First Investigative Judge Ghassan Oueidat dropped on Monday a case against Saudi Arabia’s Arab Gulf Affairs Minister Thamer Sabhan because it conflicted with Lebanon’s supreme interest, the Daily Star reported. It said Oueidat justified his decision based on the idea that “the tweets made by Minister Sabhan came within […]

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Polish PM visits Lebanon ahead of refugee donor conferences

BEIRUT (AP) – Poland’s prime minister is visiting Lebanon ahead of a series of European donor conferences to support the tiny Mediterranean country as it hosts nearly one million Syrian refugees. Lebanon says the international community must share the burden of the refugee crisis caused by the civil war in neighboring Syria. Mateusz Morawiecki was […]

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A Facebook employee asked a reporter to turn off his phone so Facebook couldn’t track its location — and it reveals a bigger problem within the company

by  Steve Kovach — To corporate giants like Facebook, leaks to rivals or the media are a cardinal sin. That notion was clear in a new Wired story about Facebook’s rocky time over the past two years. The story talks about how Facebook was able to find two leakers who told a Gizmodo reporter about its news […]

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Rising intolerance in India is causing anxiety, says cardinal

by Anto Akkara – catholicherald.co.uk – Cardinal Oswald Gracias, newly elected president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, has expressed “anguish” over increasing threats to pluralism in the country. “Intolerance is causing a certain amount of anxiety to us,” Cardinal Gracias said in Bangalore, while addressing a news conference at the end of the assembly of Indian […]

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Saudi Arabia expects to collect $13B in settlements, RE assets this year

by The Real Deal Magazine – Saudi Arabia’s corruption crackdown, where hundreds were detained in Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel for weeks, is over in some senses, but now the government is looking to collect on the deals made between the detained business leaders and officials. The government estimates it will collect about $13 billion in cash, real estate […]

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Syrian, Israeli missile debris land in Lebanon

by- The Daily Star BEIRUT: Parts from Syrian surface-to-air missiles used against Israeli planes carrying out strikes near Damascus landed in Lebanese border towns Saturday. Casings from the surface-to-air missiles fired over Syria towards an Israeli planed landed in the southeastern town of Kawkaba in Hasbaya, falling in the middle of a lemon grove, a security […]

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Lebanon to begin offshore energy search in block disputed by Israel

by Lisa Barrington – BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon said on Friday it had signed its first offshore oil and gas exploration and production agreements for two blocks, including a block disputed by neighboring Israel. Lebanon’s energy minister said the dispute with Israel would not stop Lebanon benefiting from potential undersea reserves in the contentious Block […]

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Homeless Lebanese dishwasher becomes Michelin-starred chef

PARIS (AFP) – When Lebanese chef Alan Geaam first arrived in Paris two decades ago he found himself sleeping on the streets, lost and penniless with hardly a word of French. This week Geaam, who began his career as a dishwasher while he was sleeping rough in a Paris park, received his first Michelin star […]

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