khazen.org  offers its deepest condolences to President Michel Sleiman @SleimanMichel for the passing of his Mother جوزيفين الكلاب

khazen.org remembers the great leader Gibran Tueni. Today Marks the 10th Anniversary of his assasination and still No Justice! We pray for the criminals to be brought to justice!     Lebanese deputy member Gebran Tueni speaks during an interview in this file picture shot November 28, 2005     Anti-Syrian journalist and lawmaker Gibran […]

by Sara Hussein

Lebanon’s southern city of Sidon is best known for its Crusader castle and ancient market, but a more modern landmark has marred its Mediterranean shoreline for decades—a towering "mountain" of trash.

In the summer, reeking fumes hung over the city, and fires broke out at the dump. Rubbish washed out to sea reaching Cyprus, 260 kilometres (160 miles) away in the Mediterranean, and was pushed across the city by winter storms.

But now an ambitious project is putting an end to the towering nightmare, transforming it into a seaside park that local officials hope will inspire others dealing with Lebanon’s many dumps.

"We were talking about… a trash mountain right next to houses," said Mayor Mohamed al-Saudi, who came to office in the city of 200,000 pledging to deal with the dump.

"It’s gone from a 58-metre (190-foot) trash mountain to an eight-metre green mound… We’ve cleaned up the sewage, and the trash mountain is gone."

The project began with the installation of a seawall around the eyesore site and the coastline to the south, preventing waves from impeding work or taking rubbish out to sea.

Then the site was closed to further deliveries, with the city’s waste going to a new processing facility further south.

  BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abu Faour expressed disappointment Wednesday over what he said was the "unfortunate" state of Lebanese civil society, highlighted by its lack of support for his food safety campaign. It is sad "that civil society has reached this state whereby it did not come out with a position on the food […]

  Prime Minister Tammam Salam said on Wednesday that France will sign over the weekend the final agreement to equip the Lebanese army with the weapons and ammunition it has ordered, as he lamented the “insufficient” international support for Lebanon. Salam spoke upon his arrival to Paris on a four-day official visit during which he […]

  TEL AVIV: Israel’s military said on Wednesday it was exploring the possibility of cooperating with the Lebanese army to counter jihadi militants, even though the two countries remain technically at war. But any coordination is almost certain to be rejected in Lebanon, where Israel is by and large considered an enemy among all religious […]

By Elise Harris Vatican City, Dec 9, 2014 / 01:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Rather than being called by his papal name “Benedict XVI,” the retired pontiff revealed that since his retirement he has wanted to return to his original priestly title and be called simply “Father Benedict.” Father Benedict made his comments in a private conversation with journalist Jorg Bremer, who published bits of them in a Dec. 7 article for German newspaper F.A.Z. According to the journalist, Benedict explained that when he initially stepped down he wanted to be called “Father Benedict” rather than Pope Emeritus or Benedict XVI, but “I was too weak at that point to enforce it.”

At least part of the reason for wanting his new title to simply be “Father” rather than Pope Emeritus or Benedict XVI is to put more space between him and the role of the pope, so that there is no confusion as to who the “true Pope” is, Bremer reported. The retired pontiff encouraged the journalist to write about his desire, saying “Yes, do that; that would help.” In their conversation Benedict also spoke of his current relationship with Pope Francis, saying that “we maintain good contact (with each other).” “Francis has a strong presence. Much stronger that I could ever have with my physical and mental weaknesses,” he observed. “To remain in my office would not have been honest.”

  BEIRUT: MP Ibrahim Kanaan announced Tuesday the formation of a Coordination Committee for Mayors to follow up on the budget money that municipalities have not received since 1994. After a meeting in the Free Patriotic Movement’s headquarters in Rabieh, Kanaan, who is also the head of the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance, announced […]

  BEIRUT: The European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy arrived in Lebanon Tuesday for a two-day visit. Sources at Rafik Hariri International Airport told The Daily Star that Federica Mogherini, accompanied by an EU delegation, arrived in Lebanon at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, coming from Turkey aboard a private jet. (Link)