BEIRUT, May 2 (Xinhua)  Editor: Mu Xuequan — Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called Tuesday the political parties in Lebanon to agree on an election law reform the soonest. He warned that the country is “on the brink of the abyss” regarding the electoral law issue. But he stressed that his party is not seeking […]

By Edward Gabriel, opinion contributor – modified slightly  – The article represents opinion of the author-

Lebanon is a country of 4.5 million people hosting 1.5 million Syrian
refugees—the equivalent, percentage-wise, of all of Canada and half of
Mexico flowing into the U.S. in about four years. In meetings I had last
week in Beirut, the country’s Minister of Refugees told me that Lebanon
is the “sandbag” against a rising flood that keeps this problem from
overflowing to Europe and the West. And after speaking with President
Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and other top government
officials, I fear that Lebanon may not be able to cope much longer.

The
Lebanese have borne direct and indirect costs of nearly $20 billion as a
result of the Syrian refugee crisis, in a country with an annual GDP of
$48 billion. Half the refugee children are not in school (which are
plagued by overcrowding), power shortages produce less than half the
needed electricity, only one-third of households have access to clean
water, and the environmental damage from lack of sewage treatment is a
disaster. Meanwhile,
the country needs to protect its borders from al Qaeda and ISIS, a
daily threat to the country and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).

 Fortunately,
America has shown its trust in and support of the LAF, supplying more
than 90 percent of its equipment, logistical support, and training. In
return, the LAF have refused to accept military hardware from Russia and
Iran, preferring its privileged relationship with the U.S. In our
discussions with the new Commander of the LAF, General Joseph Aoun, who
is visiting the U.S. this week, it was strikingly apparent that the U.S.
has a real partner and collaborator in the wider fight against
terrorism in the region. 

by Gulfnews – Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer

Beirut: Thousands of protesters marked Labour Day on Monday as labour
union leaders vented their anger against authorities who struggle to
deliver on promises of pay rises. The demonstration coincided with
the recent anger over the government’s decision to delay the
long-awaited salary rises for teachers, civil servants and the military. On
Sunday, the National Federation of Workers’ and Employees’ Trade Unions
(FENASOL) and the Domestic Workers’ Union in Lebanon (DWUL) held a
pre-protest to express anger over the delays and also organised Monday’s
rally near its headquarters at the Cola Roundabout, led by Castro
Abdullah, the organisation’s chairman. Abdullah declared that,
“May 1st [2017] comes carrying with it more tragedies and crises that
make joy and hope for a decent life something very far-fetched for the
working class”.

The Lebanese Communist Party added its voice to
the Monday rally, while tenants upset with the government’s latest
proposals to increase fixed rents, rallied in Beirut’s Ashrafieh
neighbourhood. Ahead of the demonstrations, Prime Minister Sa‘ad Hariri marked
Labour Day with an assurance that the Lebanese government was ready to
tackle all challenges and already began implementing a series of
measures to reduce competition for the Lebanese labour market. Hariri
clarified that authorities were working to alleviate the suffering
faced by workers, and said various measures to reduce “competition for
the Lebanese labour force, actuating the economic cycle and encouraging
investments to increase employment opportunities” were already being
implemented.

The premier reiterated his pledge to present the
proposed wage scale to the parliament as soon as possible while pointing
out the realities of the market being flooded by cheap Syrian manpower —
one of the many repercussions of the six-year Syrian civil war next
door. Hariri reiterated that the influx of Syrian workers deprived
Lebanese of jobs — many who are in serious economic need. He pointed out that the refugees were also placing a huge strain on public services.

by The New Arab — A new plan to make Beirut go cycle-friendly has gotten off to a rocky start, after pictures have emerged of drivers traversing into a new car-free cycle lane. The
new bike lane in the Downtown area was only laid less than a week ago,
but some cars have been photographed driving over the line – or even
parking in the bike lane. Supporters of the bike scheme have been quick to point out that the 20 metre-long bike lane
was empty at the time. Others on social media also said that more needs
to be done to raise awareness of bicycles in a city where bike riders
are few and far between. Lebanon launched its first
bike sharing scheme in the town of Byblos project in January, supported
and financed by private entities Bike 4 All and The IBL Bank. In
Beirut, the municipality will reportedly provide the space for 25
similar bike hiring stations, but will not be making any financial
contribution. If successful, the project could be
expanded to cover other major cities, such as Tripoli in the north,
where a limited cycling lane was launched recently but was unsucessful,
and Sidon and Byblos. One of the organisers behind the project, Jawad Sbeity, posted on social media that he wanted Beirut to be a bike friendly city by 2030.
 The
bike scheme has received broad support from the government, but not
much is known on the Prime Minister’s personal opinion of the scheme.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Egypt and Lebanon Do Hoang Long (right) presented his letter of credential to Lebanese President Michel Aoun at a ceremony in Beirut on April 28. by english.vietnamnet.vn — Long presented a letter of credential to the Lebanese President at a ceremony in Beirut on April 28.    The ambassador highlighted the development […]

by AFP: Lebanon launched a bike-sharing programme in its capital Beirut on Sunday, hoping to cut down on the congested city’s notorious traffic and pollution. The scheme aims to eventually allow users to rent and return bicycles at 25 automated stations distributed across the city. For now, a single station is operating in central Beirut, […]

by catholicherald.co.uk/

Military helicopters flew overhead and police fanned out in force
today as Pope Francis celebrated an open-air Mass for Egypt’s tiny
Catholic community, on the final day of a visit aimed at comforting
Christians following a series of attacks by Islamic militants. Despite the security concerns, Francis zoomed around the Cairo sports
stadium in an open-topped golf cart before the start of Mass. The crowd
cheered him wildly, waving Egyptian and Holy See flags and swaying to
hymns sung by church choirs. The defence ministry’s stadium has a
capacity of 25,000, but only about 15,000 people attended — a reflection
that Catholics represent less than 1 percent of Egypt’s 92 million
people. In his homily, Francis urged them to be good and merciful to their
fellow Egyptians, saying “the only fanaticism believers can have is that
of charity!” “Any other fanaticism does not come from God and is not pleasing to him!” he said.

Yesterday, Francis demanded that Muslim leaders renounce religious
fanaticism that leads to violence. Francis made the appeal during a
landmark visit to Cairo’s Al-Azhar, the revered, 1,000-year-old seat of
Sunni Islam learning that trains clerics and scholars from around the
world. Security was exceptionally tight around the stadium and in the
upscale neighborhood where Francis spent the night, with uniformed and
plain-clothed police stationed every meter (yard) or so along his
motorcade route. Police used metal detectors to check vehicles for
explosives and armed guards stood watch, some on rooftops, their faces
covered. But Francis decided to forego the bullet-proof “popemobile” that his
predecessors used on foreign trips and drove through Cairo in a simple
Fiat, his window rolled down.

“He is a messenger of peace, he is really a messenger of peace,” said
Amgad Eskandr before the Mass got under way at the stadium. “All his
words talk about peace, call for peace, push for peace which is great.” His gestures sent a defiant message to the extremist Islamic State
group, whose local affiliate in Egypt has vowed to target Egypt’s
Christians to punish them for their support of President Abdel-Fattah
el-Sissi. As defense minister, El-Sissi had led the military ouster of the
Islamist Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president whose
one-year rule proved divisive.

 Already, attacks against Christians in northern Sinai, the epicenter
of the insurgency, have forced hundreds of families to flee the region,
seeking refuge elsewhere in Egypt. Recent attacks on churches — one in
Cairo in December and twin Palm Sunday attacks in cities north of the
Egyptian capital — have claimed at least 75 lives and injured scores.

By Daily Star Lebanon – BEIRUT: Lebanon will work with U.S. authorities in a bid to minimize
the impact of new sanctions being drafted to target Hezbollah financing
and its suspected affiliates, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Thursday.“There’s a new bill being prepared by the U.S. Congress and we
should have a team working on explaining our efforts in combating money
laundering and other [illicit activities],” Hariri told reporters after a
meeting with President Michel Aoun at the Baabda Palace. “The
[implementation] of the bill will be harsh on Lebanon,” he said, adding
that Beirut would work with Washington to “change [the bill].” A number of members of the U.S. House of Representatives have
prepared the draft “Hezbollah International Financing Prevention
Amendments Act of 2017” – that aims to cut off all forms of financial
support to the party, which Washington deems a terrorist organization.

The
new draft, which has not yet been introduced in the House, has
reportedly added additional entities, such as the Amal Movement, to the
list of already sanctioned parties. A similar draft is said to be making the rounds in the Senate. A
high-ranking Lebanese political and banking delegation is set to travel
to Washington in May in a bid to negotiate with U.S. authorities
regarding the measures. Sources told The Daily Star Monday that the
delegation may include ministers and MPs as well as representatives of
the Association of Banks in Lebanon. The prime minister also chaired a meeting Thursday at the Grand Serail with a delegation from north Lebanon municipalities. “You
represent different political movements, but what is important is the
citizen who lives in this municipality, knowing that in the end, the
state will benefit from consolidating its presence through the
development projects that will be implemented,” Hariri told the
delegation. “What is required today is to set priorities and
develop a road map to implement all the projects that must be
complementary to each other.” Deputy Prime Minister and Health
Minister Ghassan Hasbani attended Thursday’s meeting, as did
representatives of other ministers, including those of President Aoun.