by Middle-East Online BEIRUT – French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian pledged support for Lebanon’s military on Monday during meetings with the country’s president and his Lebanese counterpart. Jean-Yves Le Drian pledges support for Lebanon’s military, says France will maintain commitment to ‘well-organised and robust armed forces. After talks with Lebanon’s Defence Minister Yaacub Sarraf, […]

by Middle-East Online BEIRUT – French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian pledged support for Lebanon’s military on Monday during meetings with the country’s president and his Lebanese counterpart. Jean-Yves Le Drian pledges support for Lebanon’s military, says France will maintain commitment to ‘well-organised and robust armed forces. After talks with Lebanon’s Defence Minister Yaacub Sarraf, […]

Al Bawaba Lebanon’s Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos signed an agreement Friday with MEA chairman Mohammad al-Hout to prepare the necessary studies for the expansion of Rafik Hariri International Airport, said a statement issued by the ministry. “Fenianos signed an agreement with Hout whereby Middle East Airlines donated $675,000 to the Public Works […]

The Daily Star, BEIRUT: State Prosecutor Judge Samir Hammoud Sunday ordered an investigation on the armed attack against MP Ibrahim Kanaan’s convoy in Beirut, the National News Agency said. According to statement by Kanaan’s office, his convoy came under attack while passing through the Dora neighborhood just north of Beirut Saturday night. It is not […]

By Paul Astih – Asharq Al-Awsat Beirut- The head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, and Speaker Nabih Berri’s political advisor Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil have been exerting strong efforts for the past months to make a rapprochement between the two parties. Bassil and Khalil have been drafting an “understanding document” […]

by naharnet, Lebanon’s judiciary on Saturday banned a music video trending on social media of Lebanese artist Myriam Klink for violating the decency codes, the National News Agency reported. Media office of Justice Minister Salim Jreissati issued a statement banning the video, which features Klink and a performer Jad Khalifeh. He ordered the video’s withdrawal […]

by Gulfnews, Beirut: Brigadier General Joseph Aoun is expected to be appointed as
the new Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). He will succeed
General Jean Qahwaji. General Qahwaji was appointed military chief under the presidency of Michel Sulaiman in 2008. Aoun
(no relation to President Michel Aoun) was born in 1964 in Aychiye,
East of Sidon, a predominantly Maronite Village in South Lebanon. He
joined the military right out of college and reached his current rank
after he assumed command of the 9th Brigade, which served in South
Lebanon alongside United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) with
whose officers he is quite familiar with. Aoun has been slated to head the LAF since 2015, but Qahwaji’s term was extended twice.

In addition to this critical new appointment, the Cabinet is
apparently slated to designate Major General Emad Othman, who is
currently serving as a director general of the Internal Security Forces
(ISF), to become its Commander. He will be promoted to succeed Major General Ebrahim Basbous. Reliable
sources told Al Jumhuriyyah that Major-General Khalil Yahiya,
secretary-general of the Supreme Defence Council, will succeed
Major-General Mohammad Khayr, and that Major-General Tony Saliba will
replace Major General George Qara‘a as head of the State Security
Service.

Major-General Khalid Hammoud is slated to become head of
the ISF’s Intelligence Branch and Major-General Samir Sinan as deputy to
the State Security Service. Parallel to these appointments, Major
General Abbas Ebrahim, the director general of public security will
resign from the military, allowing him to stay in office until the
retirement age for civilians, which is 64 years old.

by Naharnet Newsdesk

The Judicial Council, Lebanon’s highest court for state
security crimes, on Friday held its second in absentia trial session in
the case of the 1982 assassination of president-elect Bashir Gemayel. After having issued an ultimatum asking the accused
Habib Chartouni to turn himself in within 24 hours at the latest from
Friday’s session, the court decided to consider Chartouni a fugitive and
to try him in absentia. It also decided to launch in absentia proceedings
against the other suspect in the case, Nabil al-Alam, seeing as no death
certificate has been issued for him by the Directorate General of
Personal Status.

Media reports had said that al-Alam had died of illness in 2014. According to al-Jadeed TV, the Judicial Council has
given al-Alam an ultimatum to turn himself in within 24 hours at the
latest from the next session, which will be held on April 28. State-run National News Agency, said the court also
decided to strip Chartouni of all his civil rights and to seize any
assets he has in Lebanon. Protesters from a Syrian Social National Party faction
calling itself the July 8 Movement meanwhile staged a protest near the
Justice Palace in support of Chartouni.

Demonstrators carried banners and pictures and called on the Lebanese state to consider Chartouni “a hero not a criminal.” Security forces took measures to prevent the demo from
approaching the Justice Palace before eventually asking the protesters
to leave the area. Gemayel was a senior member of the Kataeb Party and the
supreme commander of the Lebanese Forces militia during the early years
of the civil war.

Over the past three years, since the Banque du Liban (BDL) introduced Circular 331 to inject $600 million dollars in the Lebanese entrepreneurship ecosystem, Beirut has begun to emerge as a regional tech powerhouse – with greater access to funding, government support and a growing number of accelerators and incubators. A database compiled by Arabnet, […]