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 News

Lebanon elects Michel Aoun as president; ends two-year stalemate

(BEIRUT) – Lebanon’s parliament elected former General Michel Aoun as president Monday, after a 29-month vacuum plunged the country into a political crisis and left citizens questioning the effectiveness of their government.

The 81-year-old Aoun secured 83 votes in the 128-seat chamber, giving him a majority to prevail against opponent Suleiman Franjieh, a fellow Maronite Christian.

Fireworks echoed across Beirut after the results were announced in a television broadcast from parliament. In his acceptance speech, Aoun called for the establishment of fair electoral law, and the implementation of the Taif accord to normalize Lebanese institutions.

In an unlikely agreement, Aoun was backed by many of his March 8 allies and former enemies, including Sunni leader and former Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, a March 14 ally.

Under the agreement with Aoun, Hariri, whose business in Saudi Arabia is struggling, will likely become the country’s next prime minister.

Hariri said the endorsement came after he had exhausted all other options and was intended “to preserve the political system, reinforce the state, relaunch the economy and distance us from the Syrian crisis.

The unforeseen endorsements of Hariri, wartime enemies Samir Geagea, a rival Christian, and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, gave Aoun enough votes to secure the race.

But Aoun had powerful adversaries opposed to his election, including Parliament Speaker and Shi’ite leader Nabih Berri.

Aoun notoriously led a “war of liberation” against the Syrian army in Lebanon in 1989-90, but reconciled with the Syrian leadership in 2005 after Syria pulled out of Lebanon.

He has been a strong supporter of Hezbollah’s involvement on the side of Assad in the neighboring country’s civil war, now in its sixth year.

“Aoun’s election is a clear victory for the pro-Iranian axis in the Levant and another climb down for Saudi Arabia,” wrote Paul Salem, vice president for policy and research at the Washington-based Middle East Institute.

Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Sleiman stepped down at the end of his term in May 2014, without an agreement on a replacement.

Aoun has been a running candidate from the beginning, and has refused to stand down in favor of  other candidates. Parliament has met more than 40 times since then, each time failing to elect a president because of a lack of quorum.

Many Lebanese citizens hope the election will reactivate the country’s political institutions and parliamentary restrains, which have been paralyzed by the crisis. The crisis has forced parliament to extend its own term twice, with the current one running until May 2017.

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 News

Three-year-old Beirut bombing victim to meet Cristiano Ronaldo

(BEIRUT) — Three-year-old Haidar Moustafa lost both of his parents on Nov. 12, following the double suicide bombings in Beirut which killed at least 43 people and wounded more than 239 others.

Haidar’s story captured media attention when he told reporters he witnessed his mother burning, and father bleeding from the head, according to Maya Cheatani, who set up a fund to raise money for Haidar’s medical expenses and future education.

And now thanks to an army of social media users, Haidar will meet his favorite football player, Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo.

According to journalist Rana Harbi, the hashtag #CristianoMeetHaidar was trending on Twitter just one day after the campaign first began.

“I’m out of words. Can’t believe Haidar will actually meet Cristiano Ronaldo,” Harbi tweeted. “Thanks everyone. Never underestimate the power of a tweet.”

The twin suicide bomb attack struck the southern Beirut suburb of Burj al-Barajneh during rush hour. Media outlets report at the time of the bombing, Haidar’s family were heading to buy bread.

Haidar was reportedly sitting in his mother’s lap when the first bomb detonated on the passenger side of their car.

Cheatani, a Lebanese-Canadian, set up a GoFundMe page on Nov. 16 called “Fund for orphan Haidar Mustafa.” She said since crowdfunding sites are not widely available in Lebanon, she will forward 100% of the donations to Haidar’s close family.

“Nothing will replace the presence of the orphan’s young parents but our humanity can help make his life a little easier,” Cheatani wrote. “Contributions are all welcomed, big or small, we thank you for the helping hand.”

More than $17,000 has been collected so far. To donate, visit gofundme.com/HaidarOrphan.

(Photo via @RanaHarbi/Twitter)

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 News

Saudi prince caught with two tons of drugs at Beirut airport

(BEIRUT) — Saudi prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz and four others were arrested on Monday in the largest drug bust in the history of the Beirut airport, according to a security source.

The prince was allegedly attempting to “smuggle about two tons of Captagon pills and some cocaine,” a security source told AFP.

“The smuggling operation is the largest one that has been foiled through the Beirut International Airport,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

Captagon pills, which typically contain amphetamine and caffeine, is the brand name for phenethylline, a synthetic stimulant. The drug has been manufactured and distributed in Lebanon and Syria.

Reports said the banned drug has been widely used by fighters in Syria, and its manufacturing has become a gateway for distribution in the Gulf.

According to the security source, the drugs were packed into cases that were waiting to be loaded onto a private plane headed to Saudi Arabia.

The Lebanese National News Agency reports the private plane was headed to Riyadh and was carrying 40 suitcases of the drugs.

In April 2014, security forces foiled an attempt to smuggle 15 million capsules of Captagon hidden in shipping containers full of corn from Beirut’s port.

The U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime said in a 2014 report that the amphetamine market is on the rise in the Middle East. There have been busts mostly in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria accounting for more than 55 percent of amphetamines seized worldwide.

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 News

Heavy rainfall triggers flooded trash streams in Beirut

(BEIRUT) — Heavy rainfall triggered streams of trash to flow through Beirut’s streets on Sunday, causing traffic congestion and widespread rivers of garbage.

Lebanese #YouStink activists posted photos and videos on social media showing piles of trash scattered through side streets and around cars.

The garbage has occupied Beirut’s streets for months now after the government shut down the country’s main landfill in Naameh without finding an alternative.

Over the last few months, #YouStink campaign officials have led historic protests against the government, demanding basic services and trash pickup.

The cabinet approved a plan in early September which would temporarily reopen the Naameh landfill while the government searched for new sites. But many locals voiced concern over that plan, causing the government to reconsider other alternatives.

Several government officials are concerned that solutions to the trash crisis have reached a dead end, indicating the failure to provide the most basic services to residents.

According to the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, a ministerial source said Prime Minister Tammam Salam would not remain in office if the trash disposal plan of Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb is not adopted.

The plan – announced after six hours of deliberation between the Lebanese cabinet – aims to decentralize waste management by giving municipalities the responsibility.

On Sunday, Minister of Transportation and Public Works Ghazi Zoaiter took blame for the rivers of trash, citing a failure by the government to act swiftly.

“I assume responsibility in my position as minister of public works, but I have for months warned of an environmental disaster after the first rainfall,” he told Voice of Lebanon Radio (93.3).

Zoaiter urged the ministerial committee assigned to the trash crisis to make a , “because we are only at the beginning of the winter season.”

According to Beirut’s Civil Aviation meteorology department, widespread showers are expected to continue until Thursday.

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 Success Stories

Lebanese teen developer wins scholarship from Apple

(LOS ANGELES) — 14-year-old Lebanese student Jake al-Mir was the youngest iOS developer to receive a scholarship from the tech giant Apple Inc., according to a report published Thursday in Lebanon’s An-Nahar.

The newspaper said al-Mir was awarded the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference scholarship for developing an app to combat speeding. The scholarship includes complimentary admission to the developers conference, which takes annually place in San Francisco, California. It is normally $1,599 to attend.

al-Mir’s creation, registered as NoSpeed in the App Store, aims to decrease car accidents by alerting drivers when they exceed a set speed limit. A posted YouTube video shows how the app sounds an alarm warning drivers to slow down.

The young developer said he was inspired to create the app in response to the large number of car accidents in Lebanon. However, he hopes the app can be beneficial to users worldwide.

Most traffic accidents in Lebanon were caused by the drivers themselves, a 47 percent majority, according to a study conducted by Dr. Elias Choueiri of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

al-Mir said it took him nine months to develop the app, which was later registered through the iOS Developer Program. The ambitious teen, who attends school at Collège des Saints-Coeurs Kfarhbab, also developed a game called Emoji Escape when he was 12-years-old.

“I would like to have my own company, not just aimed at developing apps, but also at manufacturing technological products,” he told Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Anba. “I would also like to work for Apple.”

al-Mir is among 350 scholarship recipients in all, a jump from 200 offered last year. Developers must be 13 or older to enter the scholarship program, according to Apple’s website.

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 News

U.S. presidential candidate worked in Lebanon during civil war

(NEW YORK) — U.S. presidential candidate and former U.S. Senator Jim Webb won an Emmy award in 1983 for a special report he produced in Lebanon during the country’s civil war.

The former Democratic senator from Virginia is virtually invisible from media coverage of the 2016 presidential race, pulling in only 2 percent of support among Democrats, according to a CBS poll.

But his history offers an interesting perspective on the U.S. role in international conflicts. The 1983 report, which aired on “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” was introduced as a “personal commentary.”

Webb, who graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center, previously served as Secretary of the Navy, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, and as a Marine Corps officer.

PBS sent Webb, a former journalist, to Beirut to examine the disconnect that can exist between decision makers in Washington, and military officials who implement policies on the ground.

“The military does not make policy. That responsibility belongs to members of Congress and, of course, the President,” he said in the video essay. “The military simply implements their policy, often at great cost. A politician might suffer bad press or a lost election if things go wrong. The military man suffers the loss of his friends, early and often.”

His extensive reporting brought him back on PBS to comment on the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, which killed 241 American military servicemen that year.

Today, Webb offers an interesting prospect on conflicts in the Middle East, warning against adding boots on the ground in Syria.

“We need to be very careful,” Webb told The Washington Post in a September 2014 interview. He compared the situation in Syria to the civil war that raged Lebanon and drew U.S. involvement, calling Syria “Lebanon on steroids.”

WATCH Webb’s 1983 report from Beirut:

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 Entertainment, News

Lebanon elects new ‘Miss’ but still no president

(BEIRUT) — Oh, the irony!

A new Miss Lebanon for 2015 was elected on Monday, proving that some elections do actually exist in Lebanon!

While the presidential palace in Baabda remains empty, a panel of judges somehow managed to appoint a new Miss Lebanon to represent the country in the upcoming Miss World and Miss Universe competitions.

Clearly, representation at these pageants is far more important than representation at international security meetings and among world leaders.

The beauty is Valerie Abou Chacra, a 23-year-old student at the Lebanese American University, who received the crown from Sally Greige, Miss Lebanon 2014.

Abou Chacra beat out 13 other women with the judges’ votes, including Josline Mosleh and Cynthia Samoeil, who were first runners-up. Nour Nasrallah and Maria Tannous came in second and third place, respectively.

Greige presented Abou Chacra with the Miss Lebanon crown during a live pageant broadcast on LBC. Unlike Lebanon’s own leaders, Greige cannot extend her own term.

Political quarrels have created a stalemate in Lebanon, which has left the country without a president for over a year. President Michel Sleiman’s term expired in May 2014.

So here’s an idea — elect Valerie as president! You don’t have enough women in politics, anyway.

Once again, Lebanon proves to be the land of irony.

Abou Chacra earned a majority of points from the judges. Josline Mosleh and Cynthia Samoeil were first runners-up, and Nour Nasrallah and Maria Tannous came in second and third place, respectively. (Photo via LBCI)
Abou Chacra earned a majority of points from the judges. Josline Mosleh and Cynthia Samoeil were first runners-up, and Nour Nasrallah and Maria Tannous came in second and third place, respectively. (Photo via LBCI)
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 Success Stories

Lebanese-American engineer receives White House honor

(WASHINGTON, DC) — A Lebanese-American engineer will be honored at the White House on Tuesday for inventing a composite arch bridge system, known as the “Bridge-in-a-Backpack.”

Dr. Habib Dagher, founding director of the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, will be recognized as a “2015 White House Transportation Champion of Change.”

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx will recognize 11 of the nation’s top transportation innovators for their exemplary leadership in advancing transportation in the country.

“Maine has benefited in so many ways from Habib Dagher’s leadership at the university’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center,” U.S. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, said. “From Bridge in a Backpack to the VolturnUS wind-power project, the brilliant innovations he has developed are opening many economic opportunities for the state’s future.”

Dagher, who was nominated by the American Society of Civil Engineers to receive the award, has been named on 24 patents with 8 more pending.

“In his 30 years at the University of Maine, Habib has embodied the teaching, research and community engagement efforts at the heart of Maine’s research university,” Susan Hunter, University of Maine president, said. “In all these efforts, he has engaged hundreds of students — tomorrow’s workforce — and created jobs.”

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The Composite Arch Bridge System is a lightweight, corrosion resistant system for short to medium span bridge construction using composite arch tubes that start out flat and packed in a bag.

The tubes are inflated and bent to any curvature over a mold and infused with a resin. The tubes can cure in three hours, resulting in a lightweight curved hollow arch twice as strong as steel, which is then filled with concrete on site.

UMaine has licensed the composite arch bridge technology to a private start-up company, Advanced Infrastructure Technologies (AIT), who designs and builds these bridges.

Some roadway bridges have been built in less than two weeks, including the time it takes to remove the existing structure – this means less road closures and traffic disruptions.

In 2014, the Composite Arch Bridge system was approved in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) bridge code, the first FRP composite bridge system to be approved in the US bridge design code.

The White House Champions of Change Program honors Americans who are empowering and inspiring other members of their communities.

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 News

Thousands of Lebanese rally for Christian politician Aoun

(BEIRUT) — Thousands of Lebanese rallied at the presidential palace outside Beirut on Sunday in a show of support for Christian politician Michel Aoun, pressing their demand for him to fill the presidency vacant for over a year.

Waving the orange flag of Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), they packed streets in the Baabda district that houses the headquarters of the presidency.

The presidency is set aside for a Maronite Christian but has been unoccupied due to a political crisis stoked by regional conflicts including the war in neighboring Syria.

“The president of the republic shouldn’t be just any person who fills the post, as some people want him to be,” Aoun told the crowd as his supporters shouted, “Aoun for president of the republic!”

“It should be someone who is like you, who reflects you and who rejects oppression and stands up for your rights,” he said.

The rally was called to mark events in October 1990, near the end of the Lebanese civil war, when the Syrian army captured Baabda and many Lebanese soldiers loyal to Aoun were killed.

Aoun – head of one of two rival administrations at the time – was forced out of the presidential palace and later into exile.

Aoun, an ally of the powerful Lebanese Shi’ite Muslim movement Hezbollah, has made clear he would like the presidency, but he lacks the backing of a rival alliance led by Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri.

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That bloc includes prominent Christian rivals to Aoun, notably his civil war enemy Samir Geagea, who also seeks the presidency.

Aoun, who has argued that Christians are being politically marginalized in Lebanon, has said the president should be elected in a popular vote if parliament cannot agree.

Resolving the deadlock over the presidency has been complicated by regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia, which backs Hariri, and Iran, which supports Hezbollah.

Aoun has taken aim at the national unity government led by Prime Minister Tammam Salam, saying it has usurped the powers of the presidency. FPM ministers have not, however, quit the government.

Salam’s government, formed with Saudi-Iranian blessing, has spared Lebanon a complete vacuum in the executive arm but has been unable to take any major decisions due to a lack of consensus.

Lebanon’s political paralysis has fueled a broader wave of discontent that has touched off sometimes violent protests over failing public services in recent months. Anger came to a head this summer over a crisis over trash disposal that left piles of refuse mounting on Beirut’s streets.

REUTERS

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 Lifestyle

Lebanese couple engaged after meeting for first time

(BEIRUT) — A Lebanese couple who connected on Facebook and had a long distance relationship for 10 months met face-to-face for the first time in Beirut, and were engaged moments later.

Ramez Yassine, who lives in Lebanon, and Inaam Allaham, who lives in Dearborn Heights, Mich., spent months dating through online video chats.

But when Allaham flew to Lebanon to meet Yassine for the first time, Yassine had other plans. This wasn’t just a meet-and-greet; Yassine staged a full-blown engagement party in the Beirut International Airport parking lot.

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“I’ve never seen her or felt her hand, or even smelt her scent,” Yassine said, in a YouTube video posted on Oct. 5. “But somehow I’ve never felt more in love with a person like that before.”

Moments after Allaham landed in Beirut, she was engaged!

“Today is going to be the first day I ever meet her,” Yassine said, before heading to the airport. “We chatted on Skype, Tango, and every possible video audio chat you can ever think of.”

WATCH the proposal:

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