by cnn.com — Kyle Blaine and Eliza Mackintosh — (CNN)Saudi Arabia on Friday opened its airspace to all civilian carriers, including all flights to and from Israel, in a step toward normalizing relations between the two nations as US President Joe Biden tours the Middle East. In a statement shared hours before he was due to fly directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia, Biden hailed the kingdom’s decision, saying that it could “help build momentum toward Israel’s further integration into the region.” The Biden administration has for months sought to formalize security and economic deals between Saudi Arabia and Israel, in a bid to set the stage for a normalization deal between the two countries.

Riyadh is believed to have a covert relationship with Israel but has yet to officially disclose those diplomatic ties. In 2020, then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly flew to Saudi Arabia for a covert meeting with the kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — a claim that was denied by Riyadh’s top diplomat. A possible normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia has been hailed as the “crown jewel” of agreements between the Jewish state and the Arab world. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan normalized relations with Israel in 2020 as part of a wave of agreements at the end of former President Donald Trump’s term.

by nypost.com — President Biden said Friday that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman denied having any role in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in a much-anticipated face-to-face meeting between the two leaders. “With respect to the murder of Khashoggi,” Biden told reporters during hastily scheduled remarks in the city of […]

by naharnet — MPs Ashraf Rifi, Michel Moawad, Fouad al-Makhzoumi and Adib abdel Massih announced Friday the program of their new parliamentary bloc, Tajaddod. Rifi demanded the hand over of any illegal “Lebanese or non-Lebanese weapons” to the state, considering that Hezbollah’s arms have lost their resistance character. “We demand the extension of the authority […]

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@AzziSejean

في مخيِّلةِ كلِّ مواطنٍ يَسكنُ رئيسُ جُمهوريّة. يَحلُمُ به ويَتوق إلى وصولِه إلى الحُكم. هكذا، تَفرِزُ المخيِّلةُ الشعبيّةُ اللبنانيّةُ أربعةَ ملايينَ رئيسِ جُمهوريةٍ، فيما نَفقِدُ مرشّحًا للأربعةِ ملايينَ لبنانيّ. السنواتُ عِجاف. يَستحقُّ هذا الشعبُ المعذَّبُ رئيسًا يُلاقي أحلامَه ويُعيدُ إليه عِزّتَه.

كلمّا قَرأ مواطنٌ لبنانيٌّ أو مواطنةٌ قِصّةَ عظيمٍ من التاريخِ يَتحَسّرُ على لبنان ويَتمنّى أن يَحظى بمثلِه. لِــمَ هذا الحُـرْم، بل هذا العُقْم؟ وحين يَحلُم اللبنانيّون برئيسٍ تَسرَحُ مُخيَّلتُهم وتَرسُمُ بَطلًا يُطِلُّ من قلبِ الأحداث، من مسيرةِ النضال، من طيفِ الشهداء، من نَبضِ الشعب، ومن ثقافةِ العصر. وحين يَحلُمُ اللبنانيّون برئيسٍ تتراءى لهم شخصيّتُه ولا يُفكِّرون بصلاحيّاتِه. صلاحيّاتُ الرؤساءِ الكبار هي شخصيّتُهم. الهيبةُ تُحدّدُ الصلاحيّاتِ لا العكس. لكنَّ اللبنانيّين التائقين إلى حلمٍ جديدٍ يَخلِطون بين مفهومَي الزعامةِ والرئاسة. في ضميرِ الشعوبِ الأسطوريِّ، الرئيسُ هو شخصيّةٌ تَبدأُ زعامتُها بالرئاسةِ أو زعيمٌ يُتوّجُ زعامتَه بالرئاسة. لكنَّ الأوّلَ مفقودٌ والثاني ممنوع.

BEIRUT Associated Press writers Kareen Chehayeb and Lujain Jo — Families of some of the victims of Beirut’s deadly port blast have filed a $250 million lawsuit against an American-Norwegian firm suspected of involvement in bringing the explosive material to the port, a Swiss foundation announced Wednesday. Accountability Now, which says its mission is to support Lebanese civil society efforts to put an end to the impunity of the country’s leaders, said the lawsuit was filed Monday. There are nine plaintiffs who are either Americans or relatives of an American, the group said. The move comes as a domestic investigation in Lebanon has been stalled since December, following legal challenges brought by officials wanted for questioning against the investigative judge working on the case. Hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material used in fertilizers that had been improperly stored in the port for years, exploded on Aug. 4, 2020 killing nearly 220 people, injuring over 6,000 others and causing damage worth billions of dollars.

The Lebanese probe shows that most government officials knew of the dangerous material stored at the port. The blast worsened the country’s economic meltdown rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement that began a year earlier. Accountability Now said the $250 million lawsuit filed in Texas names U.S.-Norwegian geophysical services group TGS, which owns the British firm Spectrum Geo, saying it had entered into a series of “highly profitable but suspicious contracts with the Ministry of Energy in Lebanon.” It added that in 2012, Spectrum chartered the Moldavian flagged vessel Rhosus to come to Beirut while carrying 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate on board. “This claim will force TGS to disclose Spectrum’s communications with various third parties who are all relevant to the investigations in Lebanon,” said Zena Wakim, a lawyer for Accountability Now who assisted the plaintiffs.

by Associated Press — BEIRUT – The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group threatened Israel with military escalation Wednesday if a future deal over the disputed maritime border between the two countries is not in Lebanon’s favor. Sayyed Hassan Narallah said in a televised speech that Lebanon should be able to extract oil and gas in Lebanese waters. He warned that sending unarmed drones over the Karish gas field in the Mediterranean earlier this month was “a modest beginning to where the situation could be heading.” On July 2, the Israeli military said it shot down three drones before Hezbollah issued a statement saying they were unarmed and were sent on a reconnaissance mission. “The mission was accomplished and the message was received,” a Hezbollah statement said at the time.

Israel and Hezbollah are bitter enemies that fought a monthlong war in the summer of 2006. Israel considers the Iranian-backed Lebanese group its most serious immediate threat, estimating it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel. “The message of the drones meant that we are serious and we are not after a psychological war but we are gradually moving in our steps,” Nasrallah said, adding that Lebanese officials should take advantage of his group’s strength to use it in indirect talks. Nasrallah added that “whatever we are supposed to do, we will without any hesitation. This message was understood by the Israelis and by the Americans.” Nasrallah’s refused to comment on the Lebanese caretaker prime minister’s criticism of Hezbollah for sending the drones. Najib Mikati said at the time it was an unnecessarily risky action. “Whether our message was understood in Lebanon or not, we don’t care about that. What is important for us is that the enemy gets the message,” he said.

by ansamed.info — BEIRUT – A fire broke out on Tuesday in Beirut inside of what remains of grain silos destroyed by a devastating explosion in the port of the capital two years ago, according to eyewitnesses and Lebanese media. A column of smoke was reported to be rising from inside the silos, where the remains of grain – now spoilt and fermenting – have been left for two years. The cause of the flames is unclear. Families of the victims have told media outlets that they are afraid that it may be a case of arson intending to destroy what remains of the silos, which over time have become a true symbol of the August 4, 2020 disaster in which over 250 people died, over 6,000 were injured, and 330,000 were forced to leave their homes.

On August 4, 2020, some 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut’s port after being left in unsafe conditions by Lebanese authorities for over six years in one of the port hangars. The tall grain silos, visible from every side of the Beirut seafront, protected part of the city from the devastating effects of the explosion, which experts rank among the 10 more powerful non-nuclear explosions in history. After the August 4 disaster, which occurred amid the worst economic and political crisis in Lebanese history, the entire political class was blamed by the victims’ families and by broad swaths of public opinion. Massive street protests had already begun periodically starting in 2019 against corruption and bad government.

By Julian McBride — Geopoliticalmonitor.com — Lebanon was once known as the most prosperous nation in the Middle East to emerge from the post Sykes-Picot map, despite the inherent flaws in the Levantine nation. Heightened sectarian disputes, economic inequality, pan-Arabist nationalism, and regional disputes would eventually lead to the extremely brutal 15-year Lebanese Civil War, a conflict that killed 150,000 civilians and combatants. Dozens of militias, all attached to various ideologues, took part in hundreds of armed clashes, some of which pitted former neighbors against each other. Several countries played a major role in the carnage, such as Israel and Syria, with the latter ultimately enacting a 30-year occupation of Lebanon.

The three-decade Syrian occupation was quite brutal. The “elections” that took place were nothing more than a sham with handpicked people to lead a corrupt government. There were assassinations of key political figures and mass detention of political dissidents without due process, which happened quite frequently. To this day the fate of hundreds of Lebanese in Syrian prisons remains ambiguous and quite frightening given Syria’s Baathist Party methods of torture and abuse.

By Maya Gebeily — BEIRUT, (Reuters) – Kenyan cleaner Noel Musanga survived Lebanon’s economic meltdown, waves of COVID-19 and Beirut’s port blast. But when her internet provider announced rates would double, she feared her last lifeline to family and work would snap. The freelance migrant worker already barely earned enough to survive. Now, the higher telecoms bill means she will have to ration her calls to relatives and potential employers. “It will be like (being) in a deep hole,” Musanga said in her ground-floor apartment in the densely-populated Burj Hammoud neighbourhood on the edge of Beirut.

Lebanon hosts an estimated 250,000 migrant workers primarily from sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, according to the United Nations. Their residence is usually subject to “kafala”, a sponsorship system that rights groups say gives employers excessive control over workers’ lives. Lebanon’s three-year financial downturn has only added to their woes, with employers abandoning domestic migrant workers in the streets as their monthly wages – between $150 to $400 – became too expensive. Some went freelance, living on their own and taking on cleaning or nannying work to pay the bills. But that has become harder by the day. Lebanon’s currency has lost 95% of its value while food and public transportation costs have risen roughly eleven-fold.

by famagusta-gazette.com — Lebanon is unlikely to form a new cabinet very soon, given a deeply divided political landscape shown in the parliamentary elections in May and under the influence of multiple external factors, said experts. “Amid the current steep divisions, I believe we won’t be seeing a new cabinet in Lebanon and the caretaker government of Prime Minister (Najib) Mikati will stay until we elect a new president for the republic by the end of October, which may also be a very difficult task in the light of the current complicated scene,” political analyst Amin Kammouriye told Xinhua. Soon after Mikati was re-appointed as Lebanon’s prime minister-designate by the president on June 23 following binding consultations with parliament members, he vowed to form a cabinet capable of assuming its full duties and responsibilities.

Mikati, who was appointed for a fourth time with 54 votes from the 128-member parliament, should govern in the run-up to the presidential election in the autumn and rally various parties to put aside differences for Lebanon’s reforms. However, Kammouriye said, Mikati’s premiership was secured by the lowest number of votes for any prime minister in Lebanon ever since 1990, a reflection of the new make-up of the parliament as the Iran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah and its allies lost their majority in May elections. During the elections, the Free Patriotic Movement, a major Hezbollah ally led by the president’s son-in-law Gebran Bassil, also lost its position as the largest Christian bloc in the parliament. Kammouriye also noted the rifts between Mikati and Bassil over key ministerial portfolios. As the end of President Michel Aoun’s presidential term is imminent, Bassil aims to appoint his supporters in key public institutions to ensure his party’s control of key posts, the political analyst explained.