By Jeremy Berke

There’s a normal procedure in place for
these types of phone calls since Rutherford B. Hayes first

installed a telephone in the White House in 1877. Everything
is meticulously planned to leave very little to chance.

When President Barack Obama calls other world leaders, for
instance, his aides bring him a National Security Council dossier
that contains a complete intelligence portrait of the person with
whom he’s about to get on the phone. The dossier includes
everything from the leader’s personality and health to
information about their children and spouses — even tidbits like
whether the person likes jokes or small talk, Yahoo
News reported in 2014. 

“The world leader profiles include basic intel,
idiosyncrasies, personal political pressures, whether any close
relatives are seriously ill, girl- or boyfriend problems,
personal health issues,” a senior administration official told
Yahoo News at the time.  Immediately following the call, officials from both sides
will produce “readouts,” or short summaries designed to drive
media coverage. 

by Sierra Marquina, Us Weekly

Don’t expect to get into a political debate with Mark
Wahlberg. The Patriots Day star
told Task & Purpose magazine he
stayed mum during the controversial 2016 election between
Donald Trumpand Hillary Clinton because he doesn’t think
celebrities should discuss politics.

“A lot of celebrities did, do, and shouldn’t [talk
politics],” he told the magazine, explaining that A-listers
aren’t on the same playing field as the common voter. “They might
buy your CD or watch your movie, but you don’t put food on their
table. You don’t pay their bills. A lot of Hollywood is living in
a bubble. They’re pretty out of touch with the common person, the
everyday guy out there providing for their family.”

However, despite his own major celebrity status, Wahlberg
considers himself to be in touch with the everyday man. “Me, I’m very aware of the real world. I come from the real
world, and I exist in the real world,” he said. “And although I
can navigate Hollywood, and I love the business and the
opportunities it’s afforded me, I also understand what it’s like
not to have all that.”

By Rachel Gillett

What you eat for lunch affects your productivity for the rest of the day.

High-fat, high-sugar lunches make us sleepy and have low energy by 3 p.m., says Lisa De Fazio, a healthy lifestyle expert
and registered dietitian, so it’s important to go heavy on the protein
and healthy fats and easy on the carbs when choosing what you eat for
lunch.

Of course, we can all come up with plenty of excuses to make poor eating decisions during the workday.

Luckily, whether you bring your lunch, buy it, or scrounge something
from the noon meeting, there are plenty of healthy lunch options that
will keep you from passing out at your desk.

Please click read more to view these options

Alex Lockie and Natasha Bertrand

President-elect Donald Trump spoke with the president of Taiwan
by phone on Friday, in a move likely to infuriate Beijing and
hinder US-China relations.  “President-elect Trump spoke with President Tsai Ing-wen of
Taiwan, who offered her congratulations,” according to a readout
of the call released by Trump’s transition team. “During the discussion, they noted the close economic, political,
and security ties” between Taiwan and the United States, the
statement continued. “President-elect Trump also congratulated
President Tsai on becoming President of Taiwan earlier this
year.”

Trump also tweeted
about the conversation late Friday, saying “The
President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on
winning the Presidency.” The call, first reported by the
Financial Times, is the first time a US president has
directly spoken with Taiwan’s leadership in more than 30 years.
The White House was not made aware of the call until after it
occurred, an administration official told Business Insider.

The US suspended formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979
after establishing a One China position — which states that
“there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China” — in an
effort to establish diplomatic channels with Beijing.

Beijing views Taiwan as a province of China, whereas Taiwan —
which has its own democratically elected government — has a more
complicated view of the nations’ relationship.

By: Lisa Abou Khaled and Matthew Saltmarsh

HAZMIEH, Lebanon – Born deaf and living as a Syrian refugee in
Lebanon, eight-year-old Mohammed has faced more hurdles than most during
his short lifetime. But thanks to the support of a remarkable
institution he has found his voice and the promise of a brighter future.

For three years now, Mohammed has been attending the Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf (FAID) in Hazmieh, a leafy suburb on the Damascus Road in the hills above Beirut.

Originally from Idlib, Syria, he did not attend schools at home as
they were not accessible to children with hearing impairments. He still
needs surgery and a proper hearing aid, which his parents cannot afford
as they struggle to make ends meet in Lebanon.

In many cases, before finding the school, parents had given up hope
of their children having the same opportunities as other children. But
Mohammed’s mother, Salima, told officials from UNHCR, the UN Refugee
Agency, during a recent tour of the school that she was delighted that
her son had been given a chance.

“I can clearly see how much he has progressed since coming here. He
can finally speak,” she said. “Mohammed has made friends, he’s very
happy there.”

Vehicles work on the construction of the
Eden Rock Resort on the south end of Ramlet al Bayda beach, in Beirut,
Lebanon, November 20, 2016. Sally Hayde/Thomson Reuters Foundation via

REUTERS

Security forces stand guard at the Eden
Rock Resort construction site at the south end of Ramlet al Bayda beach,
Beirut, Lebanon, November 26, 2016. Sally Hayde/Thomson Reuters
Foundation via

REUTERS

BEIRUT
(Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Construction of a new luxury resort on
Beirut’s waterfront could enclose the city’s last free public beach,
leaving only wealthy residents who can afford lofty daily fees to enjoy
the Mediterranean shore.

The
battle for Ramlet al-Baida beach on the Lebanese capital’s highly
developed shoreline is at the center of the latest conflict between
residents and municipal authorities.

It
follows tensions last year over the closure of urban landfills and the
continuing accumulation of garbage on the city’s peripheries.

Locals say Beirut could become the
first Mediterranean city without a beach open to the public after
developer, Achour Development, began building its Eden Bay resort,
scheduled to open in 2018.

During the most recent protest at the building site last weekend, protesters were met with a heavy police presence.

“People
have become numb,” said Bana Kadi, a demonstrator from Beirut. “It’s
terrible. The beach belongs to the public and belongs to the people,
which is the way it should be legally.”

Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer – Gulf news

Beirut: Article 522 of the Lebanese Penal Code shields rapists from
prosecution on the condition that they marry their victim, a phenomenon
that is still practised in the country, especially among conservative
families whose chief aim is to preserve the family’s so-called “honour.” Activists
say that such ‘protection’ is, more often than not, a second trauma for
victims — something that parliament’s Administration and Justice
Committee met to discuss a few days ago.

Deputy Élie Keyrouz, a
Lebanese Forces MP, proposed to abolish the article entirely, but
parliament moved to postpone the debate on the proposal until next
Wednesday. The Lebanese Forces’ Department of Women’s Affairs not
only called to abolish the article but also to prosecute the rapists —
insisting that 522 stands as an insult to “women and violates their
dignity and the safety of the family and stability.”

The hashtag #Undress522 has also been launched to trigger online discussion and awareness on the matter. It
teamed up with local NGO, ABAAD, which made visual inroads as it
displayed in front of parliament building at Nijmeh Square a woman
dressed in a white wedding dress made with bandages, to say that this
was not acceptable.

#LiveLoveLebanon #khazen #LebaneseArchitecture

By Wajdi Al-Aridi

Beirut- President of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists Fadi
Gemayel has said that Lebanon is passing through difficult circumstances
as its growth rate has ranged between 1 and 1.5%. “Although this rate is being reached in some European countries too,
yet it is still so far away from what the Lebanese economy has achieved
in the past.”

Gemayel stressed that Lebanese industry isn’t in its best situation
and is not consistent with Lebanese people’s capabilities and
potentials. In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Gemayel noted that the World
Bank praised the diversity of Lebanese products that include traditional
products as well as sophisticated goods in several sectors.

Gemayel said that Lebanon’s industry has faced many challenges in the
past and has developed without any support or industrial policy, except
for the interest subsidy in the industrial, agricultural and tourism
investments. He said that Lebanese products have reached countries with most demanding markets such as the United States, Canada and Europe.

We always praise the capabilities of Lebanon’s industry, he said, despite the challenges Lebanon has been facing for many years.