Khazen

Holy See declines to co-sponsor Palestinian flag initiative at UN

catholicherald.co.uk

The Holy See has asked to be removed from a draft resolution prepared by the Palestinian United Nations (UN) mission which calls for the flags of Palestine and the Holy See to fly at the UN.

According to a Reuters report, the Palestinian draft resolution calls for the flags of non-member observer states to “be raised at the United Nations Headquarters and Offices following the flags of the member states of the United Nations.”

The Holy See and the State of Palestine are both non-member observer states at the UN. Currently, only member states’ flags fly at the UN’s headquarters.

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How Lebanon’s rubbish spurred a budding revolution

Lebanese protesters pose for a photograph as other set fire to plastic barriers and trash behind the barbed wire separating them from the police, during a protest against the trash crisis and government corruption, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015. The powerful Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah threw its weight behind mass protests calling for the government’s resignation Tuesday, deepening a crisis that started over trash collection but is tapping into a much deeper malaise. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Lebanese riot policemen clash with Lebanese protesters during a protest against the trash crisis and government corruption, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015. The powerful Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah threw its weight behind mass protests calling for the government’s resignation Tuesday, deepening a crisis that started over trash collection but is tapping into a much deeper malaise. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Lebanese activists clash with riot policemen, during a protest against the ongoing trash crisis, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015. The powerful Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah threw its weight behind mass protests calling for the government’s resignation Tuesday, deepening a crisis that started over trash collection but is tapping into a much deeper malaise. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanese policemen stoop over and beat a protester, his leg seen emerging on the right, during a protest against the ongoing trash crisis, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015. The powerful Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah threw its weight behind mass protests calling for the government’s resignation Tuesday, deepening a crisis that started over trash collection but is tapping into much deeper malaise. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanese paramedics carry away an injured demonstrator, during a protest against the ongoing trash crisis, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015. The powerful Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah threw its weight behind mass protests calling for the government’s resignation Tuesday, deepening a crisis that started over trash collection but is tapping into a much deeper malaise. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Al Jazzera

What ostensibly began as public frustration over the Lebanese government’s failure to tackle the country’s rubbish crisis has since swelled into massive street protests, with residents from across the political spectrum calling for a change in government.

Al Jazeera examines what is really behind the public outcry and how the situation might evolve from this point.

How did it all start?

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Hundreds flee as clashes kill 3 at Lebanese Palestinian camp

AP, Sidon, Lebanon // Fighting between rival armed groups in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian camp killed three people on Tuesday and forced hundreds of residents to flee.

The fighting in the Ain Al Helweh camp near the southern port city of Sidon began on Saturday following a failed assassination attempt on an official of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement.

Ashraf Dabbour, the Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon, told Beirut-based Al Mayadeen TV that a ceasefire agreement was reached late on Monday, but clashes erupted again on Tuesday.

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Will Lebanon Fall to ISIS Next? Lebanon’s got 99 problems and trash is just one

 

Three Gulf countries have issued warnings over travel to Lebanon after peaceful anti-government demonstrations in Beirut turned violent over the weekend.

Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia issued the warnings after protests that began over the country’s uncollected rubbish escalated into mass protests over perceived government corruption, and power and water shortages.

by ;

It is hard to say what is going to happen, but there is reason for concern and our domestic media is not addressing this increasingly deteriorating situation.

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6 ministers storm out Lebanese Cabinet amid trash crisis

 

Lebanese activists paint graffiti on the a concrete wall installed by authorities near the main Lebanese government building, a day after violent anti-government protests, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 24, 2015. Anticipating more protests, authorities installed a concrete wall near the main Lebanese government building, site of the largest protests. Organizers of the "You stink" protests that have captivated the Lebanese capital postponed anti-government demonstrations set for Monday evening after a night of violent clashes with police during which dozens of protesters and police officers were wounded. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Lebanese activists hang Lebanese national flags on a concrete wall installed by authorities near the main Lebanese government building, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015. Anticipating more protests, authorities installed a concrete wall near the main Lebanese government building, site of the largest protests. On Saturday and Sunday nights, police fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesters, battling them in the streets of Beirut in dramatic clashes, wounding dozens. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Water bottles are gathered to be recycled near a statue in Martyrs’ Square in Beirut, Lebanon August 25, 2015. Lebanon’s cabinet held an emergency meeting on Tuesday in its newly fortified headquarters after protests over trash collection spilled over into street violence and calls for the feuding government to resign. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi

 

A Lebanese man takes a photograph through a concrete wall installed by authorities near the main Lebanese government building, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015. Anticipating more protests, authorities installed a concrete wall near the main Lebanese government building, site of the largest protests. On Saturday and Sunday nights, police fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesters, battling them in the streets of Beirut in dramatic clashes, wounding dozens. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanese women have their picture taken in front a concrete wall installed by authorities near the main Lebanese government building, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015. Anticipating more protests, authorities installed a concrete wall near the main Lebanese government building, site of the largest protests. On Saturday and Sunday nights, police fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesters, battling them in the streets of Beirut in dramatic clashes, wounding dozens. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

 Al Arabiya:

An emergency Lebanese cabinet meeting on Tuesday has ended in failure in a bid to address the trash crisis amid street violence and calls for the feuding government to resign.

An agreement was reached, however, on cancelling all the tenders from companies to remove the piling garbage that have been previously announced.

Al Arabiya News channel’s correspondent in Beirut confirmed the withdrawal of members from Hezbollah and its allies, the Free Patriotic Movement and the Armenian Tashnag Party in Lebanon from the talks on Tuesday.

Six ministers from the Hezbollah group and its allies withdrew four hours into the meeting. Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil said he was also pulling out because of a "theater" being performed with regards to the trash issue, according to the Associated Press.

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Lebanon cartoons vent anger at rubbish crisis

BBC news: Absence of the state’ – An-Nahar newspaper: The image on the right shows sandbags in 1975, the year that Lebanon’s Civil War broke out. On the left, the same scene, only with rubbish sacks

Time-bomb – Al-Joumhouria newspaper

Cartoon depicting a rubbish bag with a lit fuse as a bomb ready to go off.

"The solution lies in sorting rubbish" – Al-Joumhouria Green bin: "Political waste"; Yellow: "Terrorist waste"; Red: "Sectarian waste"

Ad-Dabbour magazine

Woman: "You didn’t tell me where you live… "

Man-sized rat: "Under your house, in the trash pile"

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The Battle For Lebanon’s Beaches

Alice Fordham NPR

The sun is beating down on the rocky shore of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, and architect Mona Hallak is taking her son and his friends to see their heritage. "Who knows how to swim?" asks Hallak, an advocate for public beaches in Lebanon.

The kids say they can, but they learned in private beach clubs. Hallak tells them of the past, when Beirutis learned to swim in the sea because the shore was all public. She shows them a nearby area that was open and has been fenced off. She fears it too will be built on as many other places have been.

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