Gulf news by Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer – Beirut: At a time when 77 per cent of all Lebanese claimed that their
financial situation deteriorated over the past six months — according
to a Byblos Bank/AUB Consumer Confidence Index — Central Bank Governor
Riad Salameh has stressed that all local banks would abide by the latest
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of
Treasury rules, even as he requested justifications before suspending
accounts suspected of belonging to Hezbollah operatives.

“The law
issued in the United States is an American law that is supposed to be
implemented globally and in Lebanon, and, accordingly, Memo 137 that was
issued by the Central Bank on May 3, 2016 was a Lebanese legal
obligation,” Salameh declared in a formal statement issued on Tuesday.
This was more than a technical concern because “Article 70 of the
Monetary and Credit Act required the Central Bank to ensure credit
stability [which] cannot be secured without implementing this US law.”

By Elsa Keslassy

CANNES — Lebanese actress-turned-helmer Nadine Labaki,
whose latest film “Where Do We Go Now” won prizes in Cannes and
Toronto, is set to direct her third pic, “Cafarnaúm” (Capernaum), a $4
million feature set in a Middle Eastern town.

Labaki is reteaming with her regular French producer, Anne-Dominique
Toussaint at Les Films des Tournelles — the Paris-based outfit behind
this year’s Directors Fortnight player “Tour de France” directed by
Rachid Djaidani. Labaki and her husband, Khaled Mouzanar, who is a
popular music composer, will co-produce via their newly-launched outfit
in Lebanon. “Cafarnaúm” (Capernaum) wil start shooting at the end of the summer in Liban.

The script – now completed — is based on an original story penned by
Labaki Jihad Hojeily whose credits include “Caramel” and “Where Do We Go
Now” (pictured above).

Staff writer, Al Arabiya English  Former Miss USA Rima Fakih married music Lebanese-American producer Wassim Salibi in Lebanon on Sunday. The wedding included attendance of Canadian singer The Weeknd, Moroccan-American rapper French Montana and Lebanese singers Haifa Wehbe and Wael Kfoury. The beauty queen’s husband, Salibi, 35, was recently recognized by Billboard magazine for being […]

Daily Star.com.lb By Brooke Anderson

It could be considered a marriage
of convenience between the financially strapped but politically stable
eastern Mediterranean countries of Greece and Cyprus and wealthy
Lebanese property investors.

Greece and Cyprus are fast-tracking
citizenship for high-net-worth property owners, as Lebanese who can
afford it are lining up to buy homes. This is the idea of the third
edition of the Beirut International property Fair, Residency and
Citizenship by Investment, a three-day event from May 16 to 18 at the
Beirut Habtoor Grand Hotel Convention Center. The event, with booths and
representatives from real estate agencies and immigration law firms
from different countries throughout the world – mainly Greece and
Cyprus, but also the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and Malta – are showing
Lebanese how they can invest their way to citizenship.

Brochures
being distributed throughout the halls not only give instructions on
how to obtain citizenship, but also outline the perks of second
citizenships and give overviews of quality of life, security, business
activities, tax planning and retirement in various countries.

Naharnet – Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan on
Monday accused some political parties of “hiding” behind the banner of
the civil society in a bid to oust his major influence in the Choueifat
area where municipal polls were held on Sunday.

“I wish our list won all the seats but this is what
happens in elections. Sometimes there is no full victory or a full
loss,” said Arslan at a press conference, referring to the fact that the
rival list managed to clinch three seats on the municipal council. The list backed by Arslan won the other fifteen seats.

Polls opened in the second phase
of Lebanon’s municipal and mukhtar elections Sunday, with heated
battles taking place in a number of Mount Lebanon towns between
different alliances.

Elections in 45 municipalities have already
been decided by acclamation, the Interior Ministry said, however battles
are taking place in the key areas of Jounieh, Sin al-Fil, Baabda,
Hadath, Ghobeiri and others.

The vote comes one week after
municipal elections in Beirut and east Lebanon saw victories for the
country’s mainstream parties despite a powerful showing by a grassroots
group in the capital, and influential families in the east.The
mostly-peaceful municipal elections in Beirut, the Bekaa and
Baalbek-Hermel marked the first polls to be held on time since the last
municipal polls in 2010.

  Al Arabiya English
Monday, 9 May 2016

News outlets this week speculated on the apparent conversion of a former American Muslim beauty queen to Christianity. Lebanese-born
Rima Fakih came to fame after winning the national Miss USA pageant in
2010. She later had a short-lived stint as a WWE wrestler.

But now, the 30-year-old beauty queen also seems to have come to a new faith. UK-based magazine Christian Today
reported that Fakih “gave her life to Christ last month,” as she
prepares to marry Wassim Salibi, a wealthy music producer who is a
Maronite Christian..

While Fakih was
raised as a Shiite Muslim, she attended a Catholic school near the
Lebanese capital Beirut. Her family later moved to New York to escape
the devastation of the Lebanese Civil War.

The economic and social impact
of the Syrian crisis — now entering its sixth year — is one of the most
critical issues facing Lebanon. The total number of displaced Syrians
who took refuge in Lebanon since the outbreak of the conflict in March
2011 stands at 1.5 million, equivalent to about a quarter of Lebanon’s
population. This has strained the public financial capacities and the
provision of environmental services in Lebanon. The crisis is also expected to increase rampant poverty among the Lebanese and widen the income inequality gap.

In particular, estimates indicate that as a result of the Syrian
crisis, about 200,000 Lebanese nationals fell into the clutches of
poverty. It is also estimated that about 300,000 Lebanese citizens have
become unemployed, and most of them are unskilled young people, which is
without a doubt a result of the harmful effect of the low cost of
Syrian workers.

Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer Beirut: Minister of Telecommunications Boutros Harb confronted
several new challenges on Friday after the Financial Prosecutor, Judge
Ali Ebrahim, indicted three high-level officials at the state-owned
Ogero telecommunications company in the ongoing internet scandal, and
after the MTV television chairman and CEO, Michel Gabriel Al Murr,
accused him of lying.

Harb, who famously condemned General
Prosecutor Judge Hatem Madi in 2013 and threatened to take him to court
after the latter allegedly protected a presumed assassin (nothing
happened on that front since that time), spent three hours on Thursday
evening on the LBC Kalam Al NAS talk show with Marcel Ganem to
display his dazzling perspectives. It was unclear whether he succeeded
to salvage the ongoing Ogero scandal.