By Monty Munford – BBC

One of the most familiar sights in
the Middle East is of local citizens gathering in cafes smoking hookah
pipes as they drink coffee strong enough to knock out an Arabian horse.

But in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, such traditional pastimes are being given a hi-tech twist.

Not
only is the city as hip and cool as any city in the West, Lebanese
technology is even changing the nature of the hookah pipe. Finding
the ideal tobacco flavour in the bowl at the right temperature is the
Holy Grail of hookahs, but a start-up called Nara – Arabic for flame –
is solving this with the first “internet of things” hookah pipe. Compact
fast-lighting spheres of charcoal are supplemented by a dense battery
and internet-connected sensors that measure air flow, moisture and
temperature – all vital elements for a perfect smoke.

Nara does its best to keep everything in the bowl
perfectly balanced. And the collected data can be used by cafe owners to
prepare a personal mix for returning customers. With more than
500 million people across the region enjoying a daily hookah pipe, this
is one of several innovations that the Beirut start-up ecosystem is
beginning to create.

By Yayalibnan Five Lebanese inventors Friday took top marks in Kuwait’s ninth international invention fair, state according to media reports. Head of the oraanizing committee Talal Kharafi reveled that 200 inventors from 36 countries participated. Here are the 5 Lebanese that won big for the inventions Dr. Jamal Shorbaji won a gold medal for his […]

By Business Insider We have a new first family in the White House. President Donald Trump has two sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, and a daughter, Ivanka, with first wife Ivana; a daughter, Tiffany, with second wife Marla Maples; and a 10-year-old son, Barron, with current wife Melania.  Having grown up in the spotlight, his three […]

SAN FRANCISCO — Several protesters barricaded the front of Uber
headquarters here on Friday. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is a member of President Donald Trump’s

economic advisory team, called the Strategic and Policy
Forum. A few protesters were chained to the front door of the building
on Market Street, and no employees were able to enter, according
to Business Insider’s correspondent at the site. The building’s side doors were also blocked by protesters before
police were able to clear the area. Uber has told its employees
to work from home or other offices, BuzzFeed
News reported.

Square’s headquarters are also in the building. At one point, protesters were able to close down Market Street, a
major San Francisco thoroughfare, between 10th and 11th streets.
There was a heavy police presence at the office building. “Trump thinks he runs this town, we have come to shut it down,”
the protesters chanted. “Stop Trump, stop the hate, Uber don’t
collaborate.”

The Daily Star BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Press Federation chief Aouni al-Kaaki Friday unveiled a draft plan to salvage the country’s newspapers’ financial crisis was in the final stages. Kaaki said that the project could help “minimize the collapse that [newspapers] are passing through and preserve some of the current dailies.” Kaaki made his remarks after meeting […]

by UPI Incoming first lady Melania Trump wore a sparkly Reem Acra gold gown at a candlelight dinner to thank donors in Washington, D.C., Thursday night. Melania Trump chose a powder blue dress and matching coat from designer Ralph Lauren for the day’s events. The incoming first lady paired the structured jacket with pointed stilettos […]

By Pamela Engel Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on Friday. He took the oath of office in front of the Capitol just before noon. The 70-year-old real-estate magnate beat his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in a shocking victory in the 2016 election, and he will start off his […]

By reuters

Lebanon’s prime minister called on Thursday for “adequate and substantial” foreign investments worth nearly $10 billion to address the Syrian refugee crisis and upgrade the country’s crumbling infrastructure. At least 1 million people fleeing neighboring Syria’s war have poured into Lebanon since the conflict began in 2011, making up a quarter of the small country’s population and seriously straining its public services.

“In the coming three years, Lebanon needs no less than eight to ten billion dollars worth of new investments,” Saad al-Hariri told a news conference in Beirut. Hariri said that international contributions, “while appreciated … are not proportional to the large needs of displaced Syrians and host communities”. Hariri appealed for funding for a three-year plan aimed at equipping Lebanon to better withstand the refugee influx and shore up its economy.

By Naharnet.com

Prime Minister Saad Hariri presided Wednesday over a
Cabinet session at the Grand Serail, during which he stressed that the
government’s “priority” is the organization of parliamentary elections. At the beginning of the session, Hariri lauded President
Michel Aoun’s speech before the the diplomatic corps and “the national
inclinations it included.”

“I stress that our priority in the government is to hold
the parliamentary elections and that our agenda will never include –
neither secretly nor publicly – any intentions or desire to extend the
parliament’s term,” the premier added. “All political forces represented in the government are
concerned with realizing this approach, as much as they are concerned
with agreeing on a new electoral law based on unified standards that
ensure fair representation,” Hariri said.

The session had 32 items on its agenda. The issue of
amending the Lebanese Petroleum Administration’s financial system was
postponed to the next session, Information Minister Melhem Riachi said
after the session.

Asked whether the Cabinet discussed the issues of the
Costa Brava garbage landfill, flight safety at Beirut’s airport and the
bird-repelling devices that have been offered as a grant, Riachi said
the conferees tackled the topic and that it would be thoroughly
discussed by the competent ministerial panel. State Minister for Women’s Affairs Jean Oghassabian said
the Cabinet discussed “an idea for a reevaluation of the entire waste
management file.”

Speaker Nabih Berri and Interior Minister Nouhad
al-Mashnouq have warned that the country is likely headed to
parliamentary elections under the controversial 1960 electoral law due
to the parties’ failure to agree on a new law.