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 News

Rocket fired from south Lebanon misses target; hits Lebanon

Screen Shot 2014-07-25 at 10.18.15 AM(SIDON, LEBANON) — A rocket fired overnight Friday from South Lebanon towards Israel missed the target, army officials said.

The rocket was fired from the outskirts of Beit Lahya at 1:50am and landed near the Rashaya al-Fukhar town.

No one is reportedly injured. The army has deployed patrols in the area.

According to security sources, Israeli jets fired light bombs over the area in response to the incident.

A number of similar incidents have taken place recently in light of the Israeli campaign against the Gaza Strip that began earlier this month.

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 News

Air Algerie flight crashes with 19 Lebanese onboard

air-algerie(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The missing Air Algerie plane crashed on Thursday enroute from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers on Thursday with 110 passengers onboard. According to sources, 19 of its passengers were Lebanese, including three couples with 10 children.

Three of the Lebanese passengers were identified as Joseph Hajj and Fadi Rustom from Aintoura and Omar Ballan from Ghazir. Rustom and Hajj own businesses in Africa.

A source close to Air Algerie officials said families from south Lebanon were also onboard the plane, including Randa Bassma Daher and her three children, Ali, Salah, and Shaymaa. They were reportedly coming during the Eid al-Fitr break, according to the Daily Star.

Lebanon is expected to announce a day of national mourning for the 19 victims who died in the crash.

Officials say there are no more than a thousand Lebanese living in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, adding that Algiers was a transit point for Lebanese flying home to Beirut.

Almost half of the passengers were French citizens, an airline official said.

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 News

Rai calls for dialogue with ISIS

beshara-rai

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai called for dialogue with the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, also known as ISIS, on Wednesday.

“Humanity is the only thing we share with you,” said Rai in a speech to the Episcopal Media Committee. “Let’s talk and reach an understanding on this basis — you rely on the language of arms, terrorism, violence, and influence, but we rely on the language of dialogue, understanding, and respect for others.”

ISIS has strengthened its control over Iraq’s second largest city by imposing Sharia law and threatening Christians who won’t convert, forcing thousands to flee their hometowns.

Lebanese politicians from across the divide condemned the persecution of Christians by ISIS and Speaker Nabih Berri has called for a parliamentary session on July 26 in solidarity with Christians in Mosul.

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 Business

Cyprus takes control of Lebanese-owned bank over laundering concerns

FBME-LEBANON

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The Cypriot Central Bank (CBC) says it has took control of Lebanese-owned FBME Bank’s operations in Cyprus after the United States Treasury Department blacklisted it over money laundering concerns.

“The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) announces that, under the powers conferred by law, starting today (Friday), it has taken over the administration of the FBME Bank branch’s operations in Cyprus,” the CBC said in a statement.

FBME, formerly known as the Federal Bank of the Middle East, is based in Tanzania, but primarily operates in Cyprus as a subsidiary of the Federal Bank of Lebanon SAL.

The two banks are part of “Saab’s Financial Group.”

FBME is said to promote “itself on the basis of its weak Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls in order to attract illicit finance business from the darkest corners of the criminal underworld.”

In June, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously approved a sanctions bill that prevents any financial and logistic institutions from funding Hezbollah.

In 2013, Obama renewed a “national emergency” which imposes a freeze on assets of people linked to Hezbollah, stressing that they still “undermine Lebanon’s stability.”

In August 2007, President George W. Bush ordered a freeze on U.S. assets of anyone Washington deems to be undermining the Lebanese government.

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 News

Lebanon files United Nations complaint over Israeli actions

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanon filed a complaint with the United Nations Security Council on Thursday against Israel over bombarding southern villages in retaliation for rockets fired by “outlaws.”

“Upon receiving the required documents from the Army’s leadership and the Defense Ministry, the Foreign Ministry advanced a complaint against Israel in the Security Council over the dangerous and various Israeli violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and of the Security Council Resolution 1701,” a statement read.

The statement added that 516 Israeli violations to Lebanese territorial sovereignty had been recorded during the first five months of 2014.

The Foreign Ministry condemned the Israel offense on Gaza in the statement, saying that “Lebanon considers that launching rockets against the occupied Palestinian territories by some outlaw individuals or some margin groups is a condemned act.”

Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil had pledged to take such action earlier this week, saying that neither the rocket launching nor the Israeli retaliatory acts were acceptable.

U.N. Special Coordinator to Lebanon Derek Plumbly had condemned both the rocket attacks on Israel and the Israeli retaliatory action, saying that UNIFIL launched an investigation to prevent their recurrence.

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 News

Hariri proposes plan to safeguard Lebanon

Saad Hariri

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri proposed a plan to safeguard Lebanon from a governmental collapse on Friday in a televised speech to the citizens of Lebanon.

“I will propose a road map to protect Lebanon that should begin with the election of a new president given that such an issue is the priority over any other matter,” Hariri said, saying the presidential void threatened the “democratic foundations” of the country.

“To hold the presidential election hostage to regional changes with the hopes of refloating the Syrian regime risks the power-sharing formula and coexistence as stipulated by the Taef Accord.”

Former President Michel Sleiman ended his six-year term on May 25 and lawmakers have failed to elect a president since.

In the speech, Hariri also highlighted the need for what he called an “emergency plan” to address the refugee crisis that has burdened the country’s infrastructure and contributed to a deteriorating economy and security situation.

The former PM also accused Hezbollah of having a role in the continuous air raids on Lebanese border towns as part of the resistance group’s battle alongside Syrian troops, which Hariri described as a “crazy endeavor.”

“We witness daily aerial Syrian bombardment of the Lebanese territories under the pretext of supporting the confrontations of Hezbollah in the border areas.”

Hariri also rejected claims that the Sunni community in Lebanon was providing a safe haven for terrorist cells operating in the country, saying such allegations only reinforced Hezbollah’s justification for fighting in Syria.

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 Entertainment, News

Clooney attends Alamuddin cousin’s wedding in Italy

(CHIANTI, ITALY) — Actor George Clooney and his Lebanese fiancée Amal Alamuddin are back in the tabloids, this time after the human rights lawyer officiated at her cousin’s wedding in Chianti, Italy, last week.

U.S. magazines and international media reports published a photo Wednesday showing Clooney and Alamuddin posing with her cousin, Tarek Miknas, in a town near Florence after his wedding.

Wearing a long purple dress, the 36-year-old officiated the ceremony, which took place at Villa Mangiacane, a 15th century hotel built by the Machiavelli family located in the small town of San Casciano, according to US Magazine.

The Daily Mail has reported that the couple plan to wed Sept. 12 in a small Italian town as a way to avoid the media horde.

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 News

Walid Jumblatt offers presidential compromise

walid-jumblatt

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt presented a compromise on Tuesday to end the presidential void, offering to withdraw the nomination of Henry Helou.

“I don’t mind withdrawing the nomination of MP Henry Helou if the others withdraw their candidates to facilitate a settlement that would end the presidential vacuum,” Jumblatt said.

He urged the various political leaders to put national interests above their own.

“We should seek to fortify the country politically through putting national interests above all else and this translates into speedy concessions by everyone, all the way to the election of a consensus president who can manage the crisis,” Jumblatt said.

He warned of the growing dangers on Lebanon of the fast-moving events in Syria, Iraq and recently the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Lebanon has been without a head of state since former President Michel Sleiman’s term ended May 25 with MPs botching several attempts at electing a new president over lack of consensus.

While Jumblatt has supported Helou, from his parliamentary bloc, for the presidency, March 14 MPs have backed Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.

March 8 lawmakers have boycotted the election sessions, refusing to attend until a consensus candidate is agreed upon by the political parties. Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun is widely viewed as the March 8 candidate, though he has refused to announce his candidacy unless the parties agree on him as a consensus candidate.

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 Business, News

Bassil calls for free trade pact with Brazil

gebran-bassil-ani(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil called for an increase in Lebanese exports to Brazil on Saturday, urging other South American countries to adopt free trade agreements with Lebanon during his visit to Brazil.

“Lebanon’s exports are in 11th place out of Arab countries exporting goods to Brazil, instead of being the first, considering the country exports its most valuable resource – which is you,” Bassil told an audience of Lebanese diaspora during a luncheon with the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.

He left Beirut on Tuesday for the outreach trip.

Bassil said Lebanon exports a meager $2 million or good annually to Brazil, compared with $360 billion from the entire Arab world.

Bassil discussed the issue of flights between Lebanon and Brazil with the Brazilian foreign minister, suggesting that Brazilian airlines begin direct flights to Lebanon.

“The Arab- Brazilian Chamber of Commerce should encourage the movement of trade and exports between Lebanon and Brazil, in cooperation with embassies and consulates and concerned ministries, especially the Economy and Trade Ministry,” Bassil said.

Bassil is in Brazil to discuss relations between the two countries, meet members of the Lebanese diaspora, and watch the World Cup final games.

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 News

Rockets from Lebanon hit north Israel

Screen Shot 2014-07-12 at 8.58.54 PM

(TYRE, LEBANON) — Three rockets fired from south Lebanon hit Israel on Saturday, triggering artillery fire on the village of Zebqin, according to security sources.

“Two rockets fired from Lebanon hit uninhabited areas in the Nahariya region,” a coastal town around 7 miles from the border with Lebanon, an army spokeswoman told AFP.

Sirens blared across the Nahariya region of Israel after three rockets were fired from the valley of Qulalyeh. The incident came one day after rockets were fired from the southern region of Hasbaya.

The Zebqin and Qulayleh towns house two Palestinian refugee camps, Bass and Rashidieh.

No casualties were reported in Lebanon or Israel.

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