Tag Archives: Lebanon

As the deadly covid-19 pandemic spreads throughout the world, it is important to realize that there are many unknown heroes who are putting their lives and those of their families at risk while fighting the dangerous virus. More than we realize. By Haytham Mouzahem I am not only talking about …

Now that Hezbollah realizes its efforts to hide virus cases won’t work anymore, Washington should urge Beirut to put LAF medical and border-control personnel to work without resorting to a full state of emergency. By Hanin Ghaddar Hezbollah has been under serious scrutiny by the Lebanese people in the past …

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will pardon 10,000 prisoners including political ones in honor of the Iranian new year on Friday, state TV reported. “Those who will be pardoned will not return to jail … almost half of those security-related prisoners will be pardoned as well,” judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein …

by: Dr. Haytham Mouzahem | Today, Lebanon is witnessing an escalating Socio-economic crisis and financial collapse, in light of ongoing protests for two months and of the government’s resignation while disputes continue about the Prime Minister and the government form, as most of the protesters demand a government of technocrats. …

The U.S. Treasury added three top Hezbollah figures to its list of sanctioned individuals on Tuesday, including two members of the Lebanese Parliament and a security official responsible for coordinating between Hezbollah and Lebanon’s security agencies. It was the first time the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had …

Lebanon will not be lured by a U.S. plan to invest billions in the country in return for settling Palestinian refugees, its parliament speaker Nabih Berri said on Sunday. U.S. President Donald Trump’s blueprint for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, set to be presented by his son-in-law Jared Kushner at a conference …

Gunmen in Nigeria’s oil-rich Rivers state kidnapped two Lebanese workers helping to build a road, a police spokesman told Reuters on Sunday. The workers were abducted on Friday from a site in the Andoni local government area, Rivers state police spokesman Nnamdi Omoni said. “Some people have been invited for …

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah pledged on Friday to confront the U.S. Middle East plan that President Donald Trump has touted as “the deal of the century.” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the heavily armed Shi’ite movement, said it was unlikely Washington and its allies would launch a war against Tehran …

By: Ibrahim AL Alou*   The sisters of Noah, Lebanon. They witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations, stood against plagues and epidemics, greeted the sun rising and setting down over thousands of days, yet stood defiant in glory and glamour. These are the oldest olive trees alive bearing their soulful …

Lebanese exporters hoping to send their goods to the lucrative Gulf market through the reopened Syrian-Jordanian border are grappling with higher Syrian customs duties and competition from producers who have taken their place. The Oct. 15 reopening of the Nassib border crossing holds out the prospect of a much-needed boost …

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday the differences blocking a deal over a new national unity government were “not easy” and signaled he was at odds with his ally Hezbollah over the last outstanding issue. Five months since an election, prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri has been unable to clinch …

Beirut – By Niyazi G. Atay* — EU Delegation in Lebanon organized a public event in Beirut Hippodrome to raise awareness on the importance of green spaces in the city. It was one of the sunniest days of Beirut autumn. Before the stormy rain season starts, probably the best day …

by Roudi Baroudi   It is now a very safe bet that the seabed off Lebanon’s coast and onshore Lebanon contains enormous amounts of oil and gas, and sound management of this resource could power a new era of unprecedented socioeconomic development. It’s not just scientific studies of our own …

Fifty thousand Syrians have returned home from Lebanon so far in 2018 and the number could reach 200,000 in a year’s time if it continues at this rate, a top Lebanese official said on Tuesday. Major General Abbas Ibrahim, head of Lebanon’s General Security directorate, told Reuters his security agency …

PRESS RELEASE – September 18, 2018 Under the Patronage of the Minister of Culture H. E. Dr. Ghattas Khoury, BEIRUT ART WEEK (September 18-25) was launched, continuing its annual tradition of bringing contemporary art to the heart of Beirut. BEIRUT ART WEEK is a unique offsite program of BEIRUT ART …

srael is building a massive wall along its northern border, saying the barrier is needed to protect civilians from Hezbollah attacks, but the project has raised tensions with Lebanon, which fears the fence will encroach on its territory. The Israeli military insists the entire barrier is being constructed in Israeli …

The UN Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to renew for another year the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. The measure backing the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) calls on the Lebanese government to boost its naval capabilities, with the ultimate aim of drawing down …

By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz East Meredith, New York   This week a Swiss delegation led by President Alain Berset is visiting Lebanon to strengthen “bilateral relations”. The team is also discussing the pressing issue of the Syrian refugees. Lebanon hosts the largest refugee population in the world, per capita; and …

The renowned architect and urban planner Patrick Boustani has been assigned the design and layout of the 9th edition of BEIRUT ART FAIR, which will take place in Hall 3 of the Seaside Arena (formerly BIEL) during the September 20-23, 2018 period. Adopting the «mise en abyme» (city within a city) …

Press Release: BEIRUT ART FAIR 9th edition was announced during a press conference at Hotel Le Gray in the presence of the minister of Culture Dr. Ghattas Khoury, Gordon Campbell Gray, founder and chairman of CampbellGray Hotels, Zeina Zamel, Head of Marketing and Communication at Bankmed, the fair’s official partner, …

Environmentalists dumping 10 old army tanks off the coast of a city trying to deal with a massive rubbish problem may seem counterintuitive. However, that is exactly what one group in the Lebanese city of Sidon have done in the hope it will not only attract tourists to the region, …

An Egyptian court sentenced a Lebanese tourist to eight years in prison on Saturday after she posted a video tirade on her Facebook page that Egyptian authorities claimed had insulted the country and its leader. The news website Ahram reported that Mona el-Mazbouh was initially handed an 11-year sentence and …

Hala hugged her 10-month-old baby close as she sat in the front seat of the pickup truck piled with the family’s few possessions — thin mattresses, blankets, a small suitcase — as she waited to cross into Syria. She had dressed neatly for the journey, in a carefully pinned maroon …

When Syria’s Bashar al-Assad met ally Vladimir Putin in Sotchi last week, the Russian leader said all foreign forces would be pulling out Syria’s deputy foreign minister said Wednesday Damascus did not envisage Iran and Hezbollah participating in the withdrawal of foreign forces from the war-torn country as announced last …

Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, and a senior Lebanese economic delegation, led by Mohammad Shuqair, chairman of the Lebanese Economic Authorities, discussed the ongoing economic and commercial ties between the UAE and Lebanon across a range of sectors. as well as their potential future development. They also …

The UAE Cabinet on Thursday added nine Iranian individuals and entities to the approved list of terrorism supporters. The move, which was taken according to the Cabinet decision No.24 of 2018, comes in line with the UAE’s keenness to target and disrupt networks associated with terrorist financing and activities. Individuals …

The Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah and its political allies looked set to win more than half the seats in Lebanon’s first parliamentary election in nine years, according to preliminary results cited by politicians and Lebanese media. The result, if confirmed by the final count, would boost Hezbollah politically, with parties …

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah announced from Bekaa that votes in the upcoming parliamentary elections shall preserve the achievements and sacrifices of resistance martyrs in face of regional and international conspiracies. “The victories and achievements for which a very high cost was paid should be protected with your votes,” …

The voter turnout in the UAE for the Lebanese elections — held overseas for the first time on Friday — was the highest in six Arab countries where they were held, a media statement said. Lebanese expatriates flocked to their missions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on Friday and made …

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince sounded the alarm to the international community that if action is not taken soon to rein in Iran’s mischief in the region and world, that war is inevitable. He called on world leaders to help check Iran’s blatant violations by squeezing it economically and politically. “If …

George Nader, a mysterious business executive with links to the United Arab Emirates and a key figure in Trumpworld, seems to be popping up more and more in reports about the Russia investigation. Nader, a Lebanese American who has acted as a mediator and back-channel diplomat in Middle Eastern affairs …

The head of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement says the Saudi regime had told Syria that it is ready to stop supporting the militants wreaking havoc in the country and give Damascus hundreds of billions of dollars for reconstruction if it accepted to cut ties with Iran. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said …

There is a serious lack of quality Arabic literature for children, which needs to be addressed quickly, renowned children’s authors said during an interactive session at the 10th Emirates Airline Festival of Literature on Wednesday. Speaking during a session titled “What Children Want to Read,” Emirati children’s author Marwa Al …

Gross commercial long term borrowings of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) governments are expected to come down by 15 per cent this year to $68 billion (Dh250 billion) from $80 billion in 2017, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor’s. S&P anticipates sovereign borrowing in the Middle East and North African …

It seemed like one big noisy party on Monday when the partners in the Israeli gas fields Tamar and Leviathan announced an agreement to export gas to Egypt. Their shares skyrocketed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the deal was lauded by none other than the prime minister. But …

The shift from covert attacks to open fighting between Iran and Israel illustrates that the regime in Tehran feels emboldened enough to confront and provoke its enemy, according to analysts. Last weekend’s clashes involving an Iranian drone launched from Syria, a downed Israeli jet and retaliatory airstrikes may also signal …

A Lebanese judge has accepted to look into a lawsuit against Saudi Minister of State for Persian Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan, who was in charge of the Lebanon file during Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s shock resignation late last year. Lebanon’s state-owned National News Agency (NNA) reported on Wednesday that Beirut First Examining Magistrate …

Syria said Wednesday it has responded to “a new Israeli aggression” after aircraft targeted a military outpost near Damascus, claiming its air defense system destroyed most of the missiles. State news agency SANA said air defenses confronted the Israeli planes, which it said were flying over Lebanese territory when they fired …

The Lebanese army has censured an Israeli plan to build a wall along Lebanon’s southern border, saying the structure will be a violation of the country’s sovereignty. On Monday, senior Lebanese officials and Israeli army officers held a meeting under the supervision of the UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) at the Lebanese …

Taking aim at Iran’s global footprint, the Trump administration on Friday hit six people and seven businesses linked to Hezbollah with terror sanctions, calling it “the first wave” in a pressure campaign that will escalate throughout the year. The sanctions aim to squeeze Hezbollah financier Adham Tabaja, who is already …

Hezbollah has slammed the US government’s interference in Lebanon’s banking system, after an American delegation was sent to the Mediterranean country on a mission to probe the resistance movement’s finances. “We condemn the work of the investigating American delegation in Lebanon and its interference in the Lebanese banking sector,” Member …

By Mohamed Mohamed It is regrettable that the most basic human needs of millions of Palestinian refugees are now being used as a weapon in the Trump administration’s political assault on Palestinians. On January 16, the administration decided to withhold $65 million of a planned $125 million in US funding for the …

Nine Syrians froze to death crossing into Lebanon when an icy storm hit a smuggling route in the mountains near a border post with Syria, the Lebanese Army said on Friday. The army rescued six others from near the Masnaa border crossing, one of whom later died in hospital, an …

A car bomb has targeted an official with the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas in southwestern Lebanon, injuring him. The explosive went off in the Bustan al-Kabir neighborhood in the east of the city of Sidon on Sunday, Lebanon24 news website reported. It said early reports indicated that the target …