Huma Abedin has been by Hillary Clinton’s side for decades as one
of her longest-serving aides, and now she’s at the center of an
FBI investigation that involves the Democratic presidential
nominee’s use of a private email server. Clinton’s critics have long focused on the 41-year-old Abedin
because of her close connection to Clinton.
Vanity Fair
noted in a profile of Abedin earlier this year that
she is often referred to as Clinton’s “second daughter.” She
follows Clinton nearly everywhere and is thought to be one of her
closest confidantes. Abedin started working for Clinton as an intern in
1996 when Clinton was the First Lady. Abedin had initially
wanted to go into journalism, but ended up sticking with Clinton
and following her from the White House to the Senate to the State
Department to the campaign trail. She’s now vice-chairwoman of
Clinton’s presidential campaign. And the email scandal isn’t the first controversy she’s
found herself at the center of.
Her ties to Saudi Arabia Abedin’s upbringing and family ties have been the sources of many conspiracy theories. She was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to a Pakistani mother and Indian father, and she spent much of her childhood in Saudi Arabia.
By Ahram Online Google marked the 95th birthday of Wadih El Safi, Lebanon’s most prominent cultural icon, with a doodle featuring the musician sitting with his oud at the backdrop of a typical Lebanese landscape.Born on 1 November 1921, “El Safi became known as the ‘Voice of Lebanon’ after winning a national radio competition at […]
The new exhibition’s 520 pieces range from the Paleolithic period to the Ottoman Empire. A naturally preserved mummies, found in the caves of Qadisha valley in the Lebanese mountains and dating back to 1283 A.D., on display in the newly inaugurated basement section of Beirut’s National Museum. The National Museum of Beirut has a collection […]
Lebanon’s economic growth could accelerate to 3.3 per cent
next year following the election of a president after a 29-month
political vacuum, according to a report from the International Institute
of Finance (IIF).
Lebanon’s parliament on Monday elected Michel
Aoun, an ally of Hizbollah, as president, a post that had remained
vacant since May 2014 because of political haggling over the successor
to Michel Suleiman. The
next step is to form a national unity government, which is expected to
be headed by Saad Al Hariri, who helped to broker consensus for the
election of Aoun.
Growth, which is forecast to have risen to 1.4
per cent this year from 1.2 per cent last year, will pick up next year
thanks to “modest recovery in private investment and exports of goods
and services”, said Garbis Iradian, chief economist for the Middle
Eastern and North Africa for the IIF in the report.
These
growth estimates are more optimistic than the IMF, which is forecasting
1 per cent growth this year and 2 per cent for next year.The
economic recovery could be boosted if the blocked trade routes with
Syria and Iraq are reopened in the event of the defeat of ISIL, a
de-escalation of fighting in Syria takes place and Lebanon’s ties with
Arabian Gulf countries improve, according to the IIF.
Sharjah: Lebanese intellectual and academic Dr Ghassan Salame was
named Cultural Personality of the Year of Sharjah International Book
Fair’s (SIBF) 35th edition. Dr Salame, who is a former Lebanese
minister of culture (2000-2003), will be recognised during the fair,
which will take place from November 2 to 12 at Expo Centre Sharjah.
Ahmad
Bin Rakkad Ameri, chairman of Sharjah Book Authourity, said, “Our
selection of Dr Salame was based on his long and distinguished career,
his invaluable contribution to the Arab cultural scene and his concern
for all issues relating to the Arab world.” The SIBF’s recognition
pays tribute to intellectual figures in the Arab world and celebrates
their achievements that inspire future generations. Dr Salame is highly regarded for his significant achievements in the history of the region over the past five decades.
An internationally recognised and influential personality, he was
appointed political adviser to the UN Mission in Iraq, served as senior
adviser at the United Nations and taught political science at the
University of Paris.
Daily Star BEIRUT: Family and friends filled the Saint Nicolas Church in Beirut’s Ashrafieh area Sunday as they said their final goodbyes to one of Lebanon’s most beloved singers and composers, Melhem Barakat, who passed away two days ago.
His coffin arrived from the nearby Hotel Dieu Hospital at around 10 a.m. to the Greek Orthodox church, where a funeral mass was held by Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut Elias Aoude at around 1 p.m. It arrived in a black hearse with a large picture of the late singer on top, as loudspeakers played his songs. His life-time friend and Lebanese poet Nizar Francis helped carry the coffin inside the church.
Many Lebanese singers and politicians were present at the funeral mass. “We are going to miss a lot of his songs, words and laughter…It’s not only a loss for his town, family and fans, but one for all music,” Lebanese singer, Ragheb Alama said. The renowned singer passed away Friday at the age of 71, after battling an illness.
The funeral convoy later departed to the Mount Lebanon town of Kfarshima, the home town of Barakat, where he will be buried. Hundreds of people joined in the funeral procession in the town, which took place around 3 p.m. Barakat was one of the few Arab singers to perform in colloquial Lebanese Arabic, a stylistic choice that he defended throughout his career.
The Lebanese musical icon also launched an acting career, appearing in several films in the 1980s and participating in many of the acclaimed Rahbani Brothers’ musicals. When the musical legend wasn’t singing, he was composing songs and collaborating with famed artists such as Ghassan Saliba, Majida Al-Roumi, Najwa Karam and Carol Sakr. He is survived by his three children from his first marriage Majd, Waed and Ghinwa, and a son named Melhem Junior from his second.
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s state news agency says Lebanese singer and composer
Melham Barakat, who was highly esteemed and popular across the region,
has died. National News Agency said Barakat, 71, died Friday at a Beirut hospital where he was admitted weeks earlier.
Barakat rose to prominence more than three decades ago. He was
influenced by the late Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdul-Wahhab, who was
widely regarded as one of the Arab world’s best songwriters. Among Barakat’s most popular songs are “Two Moons at my Door,” and “Habibi Inta (You are my Love)”. He was married twice and is survived by four children.
By Daily Star: The esteemed singer and composer, who began his long career in the
1960s, was admitted to the Hotel Dieu Hospital in Beirut more than a
month ago, local media reported. Barakat was one of the few Arab
singers to perform in colloquial Lebanese Arabic, a stylistic choice
that he defended throughout his career. The Lebanese musical icon
also launched an acting career, appearing in several films in the 1980s
and participating in many of the acclaimed Rahbani Brothers’ musicals.
Lebanon’s
central bank chief said he was satisfied with the country’s foreign
currency reserves, which have been boosted to record highs by months of
financial engineering, and had no plan for further operations to boost
them.
“Today we
are at a historical, record high,” Bank of Lebanon Governor Riad Salameh
told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit.
Foreign
currency reserves excluding gold rose to $41 billion by mid-October
from around $35 billion before the financial operations involving the
Ministry of Finance, central bank and local banks began in June.
We are at a satisfactory level which
will allow the country to fund its needs for the public and the private
sector,” Salameh said. “The engineering we are talking about has
achieved its purpose and has been now ended.”
Yesterday, I examined the ten most undereported stories about Donald Trump
during this campaign, which I believe would have done great damage to
his candidacy if they had been given appropriate attention by the
all-too-easily-distracted news media. Today, I have complied a similar
list of topics, in no particular order, to which the news media has
given short shrift regarding Hillary Clinton.
1) Benghazi. Before Donald Trump was a
serious threat to make this election all about him, it was assumed/hoped
by most conservatives that at least a significant portion of the
dialogue would be about how Hillary handled the loss of four Americans under her watch at Benghazi.
And yet, despite a major motion picture having focused attention on the
heart-breaking story, almost nothing has been made of it during this
election. I guess, as Hillary infamously said in one of her testimonies
about the episode, “what difference, at this point, does it make?!”
2) Bill’s Presidency. You would think that
if someone’s spouse had been President of the United States for eight
years that their record might come up if that person ran in a general
election for the very same job. However, you would think wrong. At least
based on the fact that about the only thing we ever hear about Bill’s
presidency these days is that the economy was good. Nothing about why he
was impeached (no, not the sex, it was the perjury and obstruction of
justice), his outrageous last-second pardons (specifically of Marc Rich), his unwillingness to kill Osama bin Laden, or how the Republican Congress was responsible for much that got done.
Rep.
Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Iran’s
ransom demand of $4 million to release a Lebanese-American permanent
resident was entirely predictable based on our payment of $1.7 billion
in cash for the release of other Americans in Iranian custody earlier
this year.
“Just as I feared, the Iranian regime now has more American hostages and wants more money,” Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., told the Washington Examiner Wednesday.
“The
Obama administration’s $1.7 billion cash payment to Iran wasn’t just
bad policy — it put additional lives at risk. … Iran should release
all American hostages immediately and unconditionally,” said Royce.
Royce also noted that President Obama threatened
to veto his bill to bar additional “ransom payments.” Obama argued at
the time that the measure is aimed at solving a problem, the “so-called
ransom payments, that does not exist.”
Nizar
Zakka, a Lebanese citizen and permanent resident of the United States,
has been imprisoned in Iran for more than a year and last month was
sentenced to 10 years in Iranian prison on charges of spying, which he
denies.
Reuters, (Reporting by Laila Bassam and Lisa Barrington; editing by Andrew Roche)
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Sunday the door to electing a president was “wide open” and his members of parliament would vote for ally Michel Aoun at a parliamentary session at the end of October. Lebanon has been without a president for more than two years, part of a political crisis that has resulted in a breakdown in many basic services and concerns about the country’s stability. Lebanon’s former prime minister Saad al-Hariri said on Thursday he would back Christian leader Aoun to be president. Hariri stressed that his endorsement was a “political settlement” for the benefit of the whole country.
Gulf news reports- Joseph A. Kechichian: “Observers of Lebanese politics believe classic pro-Syrian
March 8 and anti-Syrian March 14 groups are no longer relevant following
the political fallout surrounding Sa’ad Hariri’s recent decision to
back Michel Aoun for president. No one knows what the next parliament session, scheduled for October 31, will hold and who will back who. But
one clear effect of Hariri’s shock decision are growing divisions
within both alliances. Splits have already emerged between members of
the March 14 alliance with some members supporting Hariri’s decision and
others staunchly rejecting it. The same goes for March 8, an
alliance made up of Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement and two principal
Shiite parties, Amal and Hezbollah, with the latter fighting side by
side with Bashar Al Assad’s forces in Syria.” Druze leader Walid Junblatt, whose Progressive Socialist Party is part
of the March 14 alliance, said he “understood” Berri’s reservation on
the way in which Aoun’s name was put forward.
“The past few days saw an important
development: a declaration by the Future Movement leader (Hariri) of his
support for the nomination of General Michel Aoun for the presidency.
The door is now realistically wide open for a successful presidential
election,” Nasrallah said.
Parliament
will convene on Oct. 31 for a session to elect the president, the 46th
such sitting since the term of the last president, Michel Suleiman,
expired in 2014. Each of the previous sittings failed to gain the
two-thirds quorum needed for a vote.
The position of president must be filled by a Maronite Christian.
Nasrallah
spoke at a commemoration event for a Hezbollah military commander
recently killed fighting in the Syrian city of Aleppo. Iran-backed
Hezbollah is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the
country’s conflict
