BEIRUT – A shootout erupted early Monday as Lebanese forces raided a nightclub north of Beirut, leaving eight people dead, including two officers and at least one member of a notorious crime family, the state-run news agency and the Lebanese army said.
The purpose of the raid at the White Night Club in the city of Jounieh was to apprehend fugitives, the reports said, without providing details. Four officers were also wounded in the firefight.
Beirut (AFP) – Lebanon’s political stalemate has not only left uncollected garbage piling up in the streets, but now risks losing millions in international loans for key development projects because of a paralysed parliament.
To secure the funds, Lebanon’s parliament is required to approve loan deals or pass legislation on which the money is conditioned.
But the legislature, deeply divided over issues ranging from minor domestic disagreements to the conflict in neighbouring Syria, has not met since May 2014.
The World Bank warns that Lebanon could lose half a portfolio worth $1.1 billion (1 billion euros) if parliament fails to ratify loan agreements before December 31.
Around half that money is for the Bisri Dam project in southern Lebanon, which is intended to provide 1.6 million people with water for drinking and irrigation.
Legislative inaction has already led France to cancel 46.5 million euros for building schools and 70 million euros for the electricity sector, in a country where chronic power outages continue 25 years after the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.
Lea Hatouni is like a lot of other teenagers around the world. She likes music and hanging out with her friends. Her favorite band is the British rock band Coldplay. When she has free time she stops by the snack shop where her brother, Kenny works. "I talk to Kenny. We laugh and put on music. We start to dance and doing crazy stuff," she laughs.
This story is part of our #15Girls series, profiling teens around the world.
And she loves to paint her fingernails her favorite color— dark blue.
Like any teen, she has big dreams.
Right now, she shares a bedroom with her four siblings. She fantasizes about a room of her own. "With a big closet full of dresses and clothes," she laughs. "And I’ll have my own window and my own bathroom!" One day, she hopes to become a translator and travel the world.
But there’s an edge to these adolescent dreams. Hatouni is a Christian living in Beirut, Lebanon, a part of the world dominated by Islam. Her family is crammed in to a small two-bedroom apartment in Achrafieh, the city’s Christian section.
Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, has a mix of beauty, history and anarchy that can be deeply inspiring. The element of the unexpected, even chaos, leaves a lot of space for creative expression.
The reason I live in Beirut is because of the inspiration it gives me as an artist and filmmaker. It challenges me and makes me feel connected. I feel that I am living in history as it happens. Here, I feel I can leave a mark and make a difference.
Beirut is next to the sea. I can see the Med from my dining room window. It’s great to stroll along the corniche (promenade), especially early in the morning, when the city is fresh and clean, but the sunset is nice, too. It’s the place to see all walks of society: fishermen, joggers, children on their bikes, people drinking coffee or playing backgammon. There are veiled women walking hand in hand with girls in mini skirts, as well as musicians and street artists.
My family moved to Lebanon when I was five. I’ve lived in many countries since, but Lebanon is the place I call home. Currently I live in Beirut with my husband, filmmaker Jean Chamoun, and my two daughters, Nour and Hana.
Beirut, Lebanon: According to the UNHCR, Lebanon has absorbed at least 1.5 million Syrian refugees since the start of the conflict and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have increased counter terrorism operations in partnership with the US military and the CIA.
The US government recently announced a new $150 million (Dh550.5 million) package to be delivered to the LAF in addition to 560 artillery rounds and 50 Hellfire missiles. The US strategy has taken a turn since Washington announced it would refrain from training more “moderate” rebels in Syria.
Gulf News sat down with US sources who gave insights into America’s intention of providing increased funding to the Lebanese saying this was part of the strategy to step up the war on terrorism.
While some Lebanese have started taking personal initiatives to recycle “from the source” with the help of online campaign #LetsSort as the trash crisis enters its fourth month, others have added a little creativity to the widespread #YouStink movement.
As the movement gains momentum, many have turned to creative methods to raise awareness on the issue, especially with winter’s arrival and the continual stalling by the Cabinet to approve a plan.
Com Fu, a marketing firm, has contributed to the movement by introducing “Haute Zbouture” – a fashion show where models wear designs made out of trash bags. The satirical video, published Wednesday, shows models wearing these trash bags in different styles and walking down a hall under club lights and while loud music plays.
While some Lebanese have started taking personal initiatives to recycle “from the source” with the help of online campaign #LetsSort as the trash crisis enters its fourth month, others have added a little creativity to the widespread #YouStink movement.
As the movement gains momentum, many have turned to creative methods to raise awareness on the issue, especially with winter’s arrival and the continual stalling by the Cabinet to approve a plan.
VIENNA — Major disagreement still exists between opposing camps present at today’s Syria talks in Vienna, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil told Buzzfeed by phone after the meeting.
Asked about the atmosphere inside the meeting room, he said: “The disagreements are still very evident.” That, he added, was a “diplomatically correct” way of referring to them.
Bassil said the outcome constituted “a start for an all-inclusive process … a major achievement” considering the apparently enduring deep divisions.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was more sanguine than his Lebanese counterpart when speaking about the meeting’s outcomes afterwards, though still cautious about just what will come of the talks. “I will leave with a fresh sense of possibility,” he said before speaking to reporters with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.N. Special Representative for Syria Staffan de Mistura.
The Lebanese film “I Want to See” is an experimental work that is an interesting watch. Written and directed by husband and wife, Khalil Joreige and Joana Hadjithomas, they spin a story of a post-war Lebanon. Using part scripted and part documentary style filming and directing, Joreige and Hadjithomas take film to a whole new level.
As we start the film, we see famous French actor Catherine Deneuve, playing herself in the film, talking to her security agent. The first words we hear are, “I want to see,” arguing about her going to Lebanon to film. Then there is a quick transition to meeting Rabih Mroué, the director’s favorite actor who is in all their films.
Then our actors take to the road. But not until we see the actual directors introduce them and tell them to get acquainted. Deneuve and Mroué drive and walk through towns, seeing the destruction and rebuilding taking place. They are on their way to the town that Mroué grew up in. When they get there, rubble fills the streets. Mroué wanted to show Deneuve where he had lived as a child, but he couldn’t find the building; even the road to the house was destroyed. The confusion and anguish on his face makes the scene.
VIENNA/BEIRUT (Reuters) — Iran signaled on Friday it backed a six-month transition period in Syria followed by elections to decide Bashar al-Assad’s fate, a proposal floated at peace talks as a concession but which the president’s foes rejected as a trick to keep him in power.
Sources who described the Iranian proposal said it amounted to Assad’s closest ally dropping its insistence on him remaining in office.
But Assad’s enemies say a new election would keep him in power unless other steps were taken to remove him.
His government held an election as recently as last year, which he easily won. His opponents have always rejected any proposal for a transition unless he is removed.
Iranian officials attended international peace talks on Syria for the first time on Friday in Vienna, a month after the balance of power in the 4-year-old civil war shifted in Assad’s favor with Russia launching air strikes against his foes.
iloubnan.info A Christian spiritual summit convened yesterday as a conclusion to the Syriac Catholic Bishops Synod, which was held at the Patriarchal Notre Dame Monastery in Al Cherfe, in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio Gabriel Katchea. A large number of patriarchs or representatives of eastern churches attended said summit, amongst them Maronite Patriarch Cardnial […]
