The Daily Star BEIRUT: A shrine to Maronite Saint Charbel was inaugurated at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Saturday. Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai attended the inauguration ceremony, giving his blessing and a dedication. “St. Charbel now watches over you from 5th Avenue at St. Patrick’s Cathedral,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop […]
by Rick Liaz, Contributor – huffingtonpost.com — Lifestyle blogging has been wide spread among many Instagram accounts. It has become a trend, a popular platform for people to share all sort of experiences. But what happens when an Instagram account becomes a community by itself? Well, this Lebanese account — MAGLebanon — will explain to […]
by www.ncronline.org Washington — U.S. Vice President Mike Pence criticized the United Nations’ efforts to help persecuted Christians in the Middle East in a speech Oct. 25. Since the organization “failed” to help Christians and other minority religious communities, he said, aid from the United States from now on would be routed through the U.S. Agency for International Development and “faith-based and private organizations” to help those who are persecuted in the region.The vice president, who was the keynote speaker at the Solidarity Dinner for the Washington-based group In Defense of Christians, did not identify any of the faith-based or private groups that will receive the money, nor did he say how much they will receive, but instead criticized the U.N. saying it had denied help to faith-based groups.
“Christians and those who are persecuted in the Middle East should not have to rely on multinational institutions when America can help them directly and tonight it is my privilege to announce that President [Donald] Trump has ordered the State Department to stop funding the ineffective relief efforts of the United Nations and from this day forward America will provide support directly to persecuted communities,” he said. The vice president also announced that he will be making a trip to the Middle East in December but did not release details.”I promise you one of the messages that I will bring on the president’s behalf to the leaders across the region is that now is the time to bring an end to the persecution of Christians and all religious minorities,” he said.
Pence was introduced at the dinner by Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, CEO of the Knights of Columbus. The dinner was part of three days of prayer, workshops, meetings and a lobbying effort by the nonprofit In Defense of Christians organization, which advocates mostly for Christians in the Middle East but also calls attention to the plight of other minority groups in the region.The organization primarily aims to call attention to disappearance of Christians from their ancestral home, prompting Christians in the U.S. to do something to help them. The organization claims “over 200,000 volunteer citizen activists” in its ranks.
Pence said Christianity is facing “heartbreaking” acts of violence as well as an “exodus” from its ancestral home, but said the Trump administration is focused on destroying “the embodiment of evil in our time: ISIS.” He largely focused on the group as the source of the evils perpetrated on Christians who “are today the targets of unspeakable acts of violence and atrocities.”The vice president is correct that Christians are under particularly brutal pressure in countries where local branches of IS are active, such as Iraq, Syria, and Egypt,” said Michele Dunne, a senior associate at the Middle East Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
Peter Rutzler 8 hours Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/essentials/sport/rugby-league-fever-gripping-lebanon-eve-world-cup/ Peter Rutzler 8 hours Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/essentials/sport/rugby-league-fever-gripping-lebanon-eve-world-cup/ By Peter Rutzler –– Lebanon is not the first place that comes to mind when you think rugby league. But, thanks to the country’s Australian diaspora, the sport has found a foothold in the Middle East. Their return to […]
Peter Rutzler 8 hours Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/essentials/sport/rugby-league-fever-gripping-lebanon-eve-world-cup/ Peter Rutzler 8 hours Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/essentials/sport/rugby-league-fever-gripping-lebanon-eve-world-cup/ By Peter Rutzler –– Lebanon is not the first place that comes to mind when you think rugby league. But, thanks to the country’s Australian diaspora, the sport has found a foothold in the Middle East. Their return to […]
By Reuters – Beirut: The Lebanese central bank has the foreign-currency reserves it needs to keep the pound stable against the US dollar at its pegged rate for the foreseeable future, the central bank governor said on Tuesday. Riad Salameh also told Reuters in an interview that since June the central bank has been engaged […]
By Ashley Stilson – ksl.com SALT LAKE CITY — The head of the Maronite Catholic Church visited Salt Lake City on Friday, speaking with interfaith leaders about difficulties his country faces amid a surge in refugees. Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church in Lebanon, met with each Salt Lake […]
CI has also affirmed the ‘B’ foreign currency issue ratings and ‘Stable’ Outlook assigned to Lebanon’s $3 billion global notes issued in three tranches ($1.25 billion due in 2027; $1 billion due in 2032; and $0.75 billion due in 2037) earlier this year. The ratings’ affirmation reflects the relative stabilisation of domestic political risk factors following the end of a two-year political stalemate and the endorsement of an electoral law that is expected to pave the way for parliamentary elections in May 2018. The policymaking environment has also improved, with parliament recently passing the annual draft budget law for the first time in a decade. The ratings affirmation also takes into account Lebanon’s stable buffer of foreign exchange reserves, which provide adequate coverage of the country’s external debt.
Lebanon’s ratings are fundamentally supported by: adequate international liquidity; a remarkably reliable (though undiversified) investor base and strong donor support; and an unblemished record of meeting debt obligations, even during difficult times. The ratings are constrained by: heavy indebtedness and large financing needs; a weak budget structure and limited fiscal flexibility; socio-economic challenges; the slow pace of economic and fiscal reforms; and local and regional political risks. Economic activity has picked up modestly in 2017 but remains relatively weak, with real GDP growth expected to reach around 2.1 per cent, driven by domestic consumption and a rebound in tourism. The short to medium-term outlook has improved slightly, supported by the prospect of a more stable domestic political climate and efforts to restore relations with GCC member states in order to attract tourism, inward investment and boost expatriate employment.
As a result, CI expects real GDP growth to increase to 2.4 per cent in 2018-2019. On the downside, the conflict in Syria continues to weigh heavily on the performance and stability of the Lebanese economy. The influx of refugees, who now comprise around one-third of the population, is placing significant pressure on the country’s limited resources and creating significant social challenges. The public finances remain weak, with the central government budget deficit expected to decrease to 7.9 per cent of GDP in 2017 from 9.7 per cent in 2016 due to a decline in the treasury transfers to municipalities. The primary budget surplus is expected to improve to 1.8 per cent of GDP in 2017, compared to less than 0.1 per cent in 2016, as the government has managed to secure its financing needs at more favourable rates. Public debt remains high and is expected at around 148 per cent of GDP in 2017. Refinancing risk remains significant, with the government’s gross financing requirement likely to exceed 35 per cent of GDP in 2017.
WAM (Emirates News Agency) – BEIRUT- Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Joseph Khalil Aoun, has praised the critical and constructive role the UAE in Lebanon, especially the support provided in demining the country’s southern region and the provision of military assistance. During his meeting with Hamad Saeed Sultan Al Shamsi, UAE Ambassador to […]
khazen.org congratulate court decision for sentencing the criminal and terrorist Habib Shartouni and Nabil Al Alam to death.
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s top court on Friday sentenced Habib Shartouni to death for the 1982 assassination of president-elect Bashir Gemayel, an event that was a turning point in Lebanon’s 15-year civil war. Shartouni, a member of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party (SSNP), admitted his part in the bombing in the 1980s and was tried in absentia after escaping from prison in 1990 following eight years in detention.
The Judicial Council, Lebanon’s highest state security court, on Friday sentenced Habib Chartouni and Nabil al-Alam to death in absentia in the case of the 1982 assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel. The Council also stripped Syrian Social National Party members Chartouni and Alam of their civil rights. The in absentia trial had kicked off on November 25, 2016. During that session, the Judicial Council called on Chartouni — who confessed to planting the bomb before escaping prison — to turn himself in. It also decided to launch in absentia proceedings against the other suspect in the case, al-Alam, after media reports said he had died of illness in Brazil in 2014.
L’orient-lejour –Le 14 septembre 1982, Bachir Gemayel, élu président de la République 22 jours plus tôt, est assassiné peu après 16 heures dans une explosion qui détruit les locaux de la permanence du parti Kataëb dans le quartier beyrouthin d’Achrafieh. L’attentat coûte la vie au fondateur des Forces libanaises et à 32 autres personnes. Vendredi 20 octobre 2017, la Cour de justice, présidée par Jean Fahd, condamne à mort Habib Chartouni, militant du Parti syrien national social (PSNS, pro-Assad), et Nabil Alam, ancien haut responsable du PSNS, pour l’organisation et l’exécution de cet assassinat.Retour, 35 ans après sa mort, sur la vie de Cheikh Bachir, dont l’héritage politique perdure jusqu’à aujourd’hui.