Khazen – Page 915

adminApril 11, 2006UncategorisedComments are off for this post

Lebanon came to a standstill on Monday night as the biggest lottery in the nation’s history was finally decided. No-one had won the top prize since the beginning of the year and lottery fever had gripped the country, with people buying tickets to the last minute.

The jackpot ballooned to 6,306,619,438 Lebanese pounds, the equivalent of just over $4m. The surprise on the live television announcement was that there was not one winner but three. Dizzying amount Even construction sites in Beirut had fallen silent as workers paused clutching their lottery tickets and hoping. Thousands were dreaming about the dizzying amount of money that could change their lives in these dire economic times.

For weeks people forgot about the political upheaval in Lebanon, the bickering between politicians and the tense security situation, all pinning their hopes on the small, coloured, numbered balls. And then, the big surprise. For weeks no-one had hit the jackpot, but this time three people selected all six winning numbers. Even the presenter could not believe it as she repeated the results again and again.

Joseph Attieh first Lebanese to win

adminApril 9, 2006UncategorisedComments are off for this post

2006 Al Bawaba , Lebanese contestant Joseph Attieh won the title of Star Academy 3 by winning 55.15% of the votes defeating his opponent Egyptian contestant Hani Hussein who received 29.2% of the votes and Moroccan Hana Al Idreesi who received 15.65%.The final episode of the popular program featured Lebanese singer Wael Kfoury and Australian singer Tina Araira.Joseph is the first Lebanese to ever win the title of Star Academy with the first round going to Egyptian Mohammad Attieh and the second round to Saudi Hisham Abdul Rahman.
Star Academy was aired on the Lebanese Broadcasting Company (LBC) for a period of four months, and each week one of the contestants out of 19 was eliminated. It is a reality TV show started in 2003 that features a group of young male and female candidates from all over the Arab world. It is the Arabic adaptation of the French television show Star Academy produced by Netherlands company Endemol.The show is a competition to find the best young singer in the Arab world. The concept is training the students in several disciplines: singing, acting, vocalizing, theatre expression, musical culture and gymnastics. Then, each week, the three weakest students are nominated. During the prime show, where they perform and sing along with famous singers, the nominated student that didn’t win, neither by the public vote, or by its fellows’, is out of the game.

Damascus refuses diplomatic ties with Beirut

adminApril 8, 2006UncategorisedComments are off for this post

By Jihad Issa, The Foreign Affairs Minister said an exchange of ambassadors would be

Lebanon remembers its

adminApril 4, 2006UncategorisedComments are off for this post

by Youssef Hourany, Pope John Paul II

Skiing in Lebanon?

adminApril 3, 2006UncategorisedComments are off for this post

FARAYA, Lebanon — When Mart Maastik’s friends suggested a ski vacation in Lebanon, he was hesitant — and more than a little skeptical, especially about security."Skiing in the Middle East? I’d never heard of that," the 41-year-old Estonian said while standing in full skiing gear at the foothills of the Faraya-Mzaar mountains.

But Lebanon, with six ski resorts and a season that generally runs from December through April, is increasingly drawing not just Arab tourists, but Europeans, too, industry officials say. Maastik, who is in the real estate business back home, has skied in Austria, Andorra, France "and almost everywhere else," but he feels Lebanon’s slopes have a different flavor."This is quite exotic for us," he said, saying he was taken with Lebanon’s hospitality and its good weather. He said he was worried about security at first. "But I decided to forget about politics and come anyway."

Business at the area’s biggest hotel, the InterContinental Mountain Resort & Spa, plunged more than 30 percent in 2005 because of political instability in Lebanon, general manager Robert Zogbi said. The country has seen at least 16 bombings since October 2004, the largest of which killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri a year ago.

A treat on the Lebanese riviera

adminApril 1, 2006UncategorisedComments are off for this post

By James Owen, Published: March 31 2006 15:03, However hard you squint into the sun as it sets red over the Corniche, Beirut nowadays does not much resemble the

Resolution gives green light for talks on Hariri tribunal

adminMarch 30, 2006UncategorisedComments are off for this post

BEIRUT, 30 March (IRIN) – A UN Security Council (UNSC) decision authorising UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to hold negotiations with Beirut on the establishment of a tribunal to try suspects in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri received positive reactions among some circles. "This is a positive step towards revealing the truth behind Hariri’s death," said Michael Young, a Beirut-based political analyst.

Resolution 1664, unanimously adopted by the 15-member council on Wednesday, called for Annan to begin talks with the government "aimed at establishing a tribunal of an international character based on the highest international standards of criminal justice". "The resolution is basically an agreement to push the process forward," said Young. "It opened the door for negotiations between the two concerned parties: the UN and the Lebanese government." Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Butros Assaker welcomed the decision, saying that the government, "would do its best to conclude the negotiations with Annan without delay." He went on to say that the resolution gave voice to the international community’s decision to support Lebanon and punish the perpetrators of the February 2005 Hariri assassination.

Lebanese journalist wins world press freedom prize

adminMarch 29, 2006UncategorisedComments are off for this post

May Chidiac, a Lebanese journalist, who also is a popular television presenter, whose news bulletins and Sunday programmes – Naharkoum Sa

Arab summit calls for stabilizing of Syrian-Lebanese ties

adminMarch 28, 2006UncategorisedComments are off for this post

Chairman of the Arab Summit, Sudanese President Omar al-Basheer, appealed on Tuesday for the stabilization of the relationship between Syria and Lebanon and rejected US pressure on Syria. "Out of solidarity, we have to look to Syria and Lebanon and suppor them in the face of pressure that Syria is facing through unjust laws … and we support a free will and independent decision for Lebanon," al-Basheer said.

The chairman of last year’s summit, Algerian President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika, said that Syria and Lebanon enjoy "extraordinary ties." "As much as we are keen on revealing the truth about the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al Hariri, we also call on our brothers in Syria and Lebanon to maintain their brotherly close ties that bind the two brother nations since old times," Bouteflika said. The 18th Arab League Summit kicked off with key Arab leaders absent from the meetings that are expected to tackle a number of thorny regional issues. The Arab foreign ministers who met two days earlier to set the agenda of the summit had rejected any US or Israeli pressure on Syria and stressed Lebanon’s right to sovereignty.

Lebanon leaders still divided over Lahoud fate

adminMarch 27, 2006UncategorisedComments are off for this post

By Henri Mamarbachi – BEIRUT Lebanon’s leaders held fresh talks on Monday focusing on one of the most contentious issues dividing supporters and opponents of Syria – the fate of President Emile Lahoud whom the parliamentary majority wants to oust.

The talks, which resumed after a five-day break, are aimed at ending Beirut’s political paralysis which set in after Syria pulled out its troops after dominating life in its tiny neighbour for some three decades. "Talks focused on one essential subject, that of the presidency of the republic … and this point remains on the agenda for the next session, next Monday," parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri told journalists after the meeting which lasted fewer than three hours. Earlier at the start of the talks, Samir Geagea, head of the former Christian militia, the Lebanese Forces,, told journalists: "We do not expect that the remaining problems will be resolved during Monday’s session." The Lebanese newspapers al-Balad and as-Safir both suggested that the question of the presidency would have to wait for decisions taken at the Arab summit in Khartoum this week.