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 Entertainment

Shakira brings her children to Lebanon ahead of concert!

Shakira arrived at the Beirut International Airport Thursday with her two children ahead of her performance at the Cedars International Festival in the northern town of Bsharri.

The Colombian-Lebanese superstar is in Lebanon as part of her “El Dorado World Tour,” where she is set to perform before 14,000 people during the festival’s opening concert.

Shakira arrives at the Beirut International Festival. (Chamoun Daher/Cedars International Festival Facebook)
Shakira arrives at the Beirut International Festival. (Chamoun Daher/Cedars International Festival Facebook)

A swarm of fans and local media welcomed Shakira at the airport, where she was spotted with her two children Milan and Sasha.

“I am very happy to be here in Lebanon,” she said. “This is the land of my ancestors and I’m very proud of my heritage — my Lebanese heritage.”

A swarm of fans and local media greeted Shakira at the airport. (Chamoun Daher/Cedars International Festival Facebook)
A swarm of fans and local media greeted Shakira at the airport. (Chamoun Daher/Cedars International Festival Facebook)

Her son Milan echoed her sentiments.

“I am happy to be here in Lebanon,” Milan said.

WATCH: LBC-TV coverage of Shakira’s arrival to Beirut International Airport:

In a statement, festival organizers said they invited Shakira to “send a message of peace from the cedars and from Lebanon to the world.”

RELATED: Shakira to perform in Lebanon during Cedars International Festival

Music manager Wassim Slaiby, who directs the Anghami music distribution company, helped bring Shakira to Lebanon.

Shakira arrives with her two children Milan and Sasha. (Chamoun Daher/Cedars International Festival Facebook)
Shakira arrives with her two children Milan and Sasha. (Chamoun Daher/Cedars International Festival Facebook)

“We are confident that the concert will be exceptional,” Slaiby said. “We will continue to attract world stars through Anghami and allow them to enjoy Lebanon and the Middle East.”

The Cedars International Festival aims to honor Lebanon internationally through the beauty of the Lebanese cedars.

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 Lifestyle

Beirut named in world’s top 15 cities by Travel + Leisure magazine!

Beirut was named in the world’s top 15 cities Tuesday in a list released by the New York-based Travel + Leisure magazine.

The magazine ranked Beirut as the fifteenth best city in the world with a score of 87.04 out of 100.

The score took into consideration the city’s landmarks, culture, cuisine and friendliness, among other categories.

Beirut was named in the world's top 15 cities. (Travel + Leisure magazine)
Beirut was named in the world’s top 15 cities. (Travel + Leisure magazine)

“Jaw-dropping architecture, distinctive restaurants, a rich array of cultural offerings, and intriguing shops are a must,” Travel + Leisure wrote in the article. “A teeming street life, a friendly population, and a harmonious relationship with nature are equally essential.”

Magazine readers voted for their favorite cities from November 2017 to March 2018. The combined votes helped determine the list of world’s best cities, Travel + Leisure added.

FULL LIST:

  1. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
  2. Oaxaca, Mexico
  3. Udaipur, India
  4. Ubud, Indonesia
  5. Kyoto, Japan
  6. Florence, Italy
  7. Luang Prabang, Laos
  8. Hoi An, Vietnam
  9. Chiang Mai, Thailand
  10. Charleston, South Carolina
  11. Mexico City, Mexico
  12. Cape Town, South Africa
  13. Rome, Italy
  14. Istanbul, Turkey
  15. Beirut, Lebanon

In a previous article about the rankings, Travel + Leisure said its readers were drawn to Beirut despite Lebanon’s instability and challenges.

“Beirut’s food is unsurpassed,” said one fan, while another added: “The nightlife is the experience of a lifetime.”

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 News

Lebanese man accused of scamming World Cup fans out of $250k

A Lebanese man is accused of scamming World Cup fans from Saudi Arabia out of $250,000, the Russian news agency TASS reported.

The Lebanese citizen, who resided in Moscow, was charged with fraud in absentia for the alleged scam. The unidentified man is now on the run.

According to TASS, the Lebanese man told Saudi fans he would arrange a flight from Moscow to the southern city of Volgograd in return for 15.6 million rubles, or $252,000.

After he collected the money, the man vanished and could not be reached.

Saudia Arabia team at the World Cup. (File photo)
Saudia Arabia team at the World Cup. (File photo)

“The police have found out that a Lebanese native registered in Moscow was behind this crime,” a source told the TASS news agency. “He has been charged in absentia, measures are being taken to detain him.”

Russian news agency Interfax reported that a Saudi man gave the suspect about 220,000 euros on June 24. The suspect said he would arrange for flights from the man and his friends.

The fans were set to travel to Volgograd to watch Saudi Arabia play Egypt in their final World Cup group phase match.

Saudi Arabia won the match 2-1.

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 Food & Drink

Pizza shop in California serves Lebanese garlic chicken pizza

A pizza shop in a suburb of Los Angeles is known for literally marrying the Lebanese and Latino cultures, and creating unique pizza dishes influenced by both cultures.

Lebanese owner Ali Chahine and his Hispanic wife Brenda Torres are the masterminds behind Big Al’s Pizzeria in Maywood, California.

The couple told KABC-TV the restaurant combines the best of both cultures, and draws foodies from Los Angeles and Orange counties.

“My parents are Lebanese and I met my wife about 17 years ago and I learned how to speak Spanish to get along,” Chahine told the ABC station.

WATCH: KABC-TV showcases a ‘fusion of Lebanese-Mexican cultures’

The restaurant is best known for their famous Lebanese Garlic Chicken Pizza, which features garlic pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, chicken, tomatoes, turnips, pickles, parsley and buttermilk ranch.

A pizza shop in California is known for its Lebanese garlic chicken pizza. (Facebook/Big Al's Pizzeria)
A pizza shop in California is known for its Lebanese garlic chicken pizza. (Facebook/Big Al’s Pizzeria)

Chahine said the pizzeria was recognized in Yelp’s Top 100 places to eat in the U.S. in 2015 and 2018.

“We got a lot of Latinos and Central Americans here in Maywood,” Chahine said. “Then Bell’s right next door and we got a lot of Muslim community, cause we cater the Halal meat to everyone.”

Big Al’s Pizzeria is located at 6044 Atlantic Boulevard in Maywood, California. For more information, click here.

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 News

Fire extinguished at American University of Beirut Medical Center

A fire at the American University of Beirut Medical Center was extinguished Tuesday, and operations returned to normal, officials announced.

In a statement, AUBMC said the blaze started on the second floor of the building, and was quickly contained.

“The fire occurred in the fiber scrubber outside the walls of the building,” the statement said. “Smoke was discharged directly into the open air.”

A fire was extinguished Tuesday at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. (Lebanese National News Agency)
A fire was extinguished Tuesday at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. (Lebanese National News Agency)

Administration officials said the AUBMC Plant Eningeering Team and Emergency Response Team were “very responsive in taking the necessary action to extinguish the fire promptly and secure the location.”

Operations were not interrupted, and hospital staff returned to business as usual, AUBMC officials added.

AUBMC is a 420-bed hospital and academic center that provides comprehensive medical care for patients in Lebanon.

The medical center is located on Cairo Street in Beirut’s Hamra area.

The center expanded in 1970 with a state-of-the-art medical center in Beirut. The building has an elaborate outpatient facility, an emergency department, research laboratories, classrooms and offices for academic staff, according to its website.

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 News

Beirut’s airport to receive simulation technology from New Zealand

Air traffic control at the Beirut International Airport will receive advanced simulation technology from New Zealand to better train its employees on air traffic protocol and flight data.

The International Civil Aviation Organization announced an agreement made between Airways New Zealand and Lebanon’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

The agreement includes a Total Control LC tower simulator and two radar simulators, which will be used by instructors to oversee air traffic in training scenarios, Airways New Zealand said in a statement.

Beirut's airport will receive simulation technology from New Zealand. (Airways New Zealand)
Beirut’s airport will receive simulation technology from New Zealand. (Airways New Zealand)

“We are proud to partner with (Lebanon) as they work to enhance their ATC training using our highly advanced simulation technology,” said Sharon Cooke, CEO of Airways New Zealand. “We’re equally proud to have Airways technology and expertise being installed in a region where air traffic movements are growing rapidly yet there’s a critical gap for the training of air traffic controllers.”

The new technology will imitate full air traffic control using the latest flight data in the region. There are also 3D graphic displays which allow employees and trainees to simulate weather events.

The Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport is Lebanon’s only operational commercial airport.

Lebanon’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation is responsible for operating air traffic control and controlling Lebanese airspace.

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 News

Lebanese marijuana among ‘best in the world,’ minister says

A Lebanese minister hinted that marijuana could bring a major boost to Lebanon’s economy, and stand out as “among the best in the world,” Bloomberg News reported.

Minister of Economy and Trade Raed Khoury said marijuana, which is illegal in Lebanon, could diversify the economy and open new markets.

“The quality (of cannabis) we have is one of the best in the world,” Khoury told Bloomberg News, adding that marijuana could become a one-billion-dollar industry.

Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade Raed Khoury. (Facebook/Raed Khoury)
Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade Raed Khoury. (Facebook/Raed Khoury)

In a plan to help grow Lebanon’s economy, the New York-based consulting firm McKinsey & Company suggested “quick wins” to help the country in the short term.

The plan reportedly included investing in prefabricated housing for reconstruction in Iraq and Syria, investing in tourism and growing two crops — avocados and cannabis.

RELATED: Officials: 15 tons of marijuana seized at Beirut paint warehouse

RELATED: LAU to study ‘potential medical value’ of marijuana in Lebanon

Khoury said implementing the McKinsey & Company report would substantially help Lebanon’s economy, which is the third most-indebted nation in the world.

He believes Lebanon, which has marijuana farms in the Bekaa Valley, could legalize the growing and exporting of the drug for medical treatment.

Khoury is not the first minister to stand by the legalization of marijuana. In 2015, former minister Walid Jumblatt suggested the economic impact would be significant for the region.

RELATED: Jumblatt renews call for legalizing weed in Lebanon

“Never in my life have I smoked marijuana, but I support growing cannabis for medical use and to improve the living conditions of farmers in north Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley,” Jumblatt previously told Al-Jadeed television.

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 News

Lebanese tourist accused of ‘insulting Egypt’ sentenced to 8 years in jail

A Lebanese tourist accused of “insulting Egypt” on a viral video has been sentenced to 8 years in prison by a Cairo court, Al Jazeera reported.

Mona El-Mazboh, 24, was arrested last month after posting a Facebook video complaining of sexual harassment and poor conditions in Egypt.

Egyptian authorities deemed the comments illegal, and transferred the tourist to jail pending a criminal trial.

El-Mazboh was sentenced with 8 years in prison with hard labor, and ordered to pay a $600 fine, the Egyptian Independent reported.

The profanity-laced video, which has since been removed, included comments that Egypt was a “lowly, dirty country,” and “Egyptian men are pimps and women prostitutes,” Al Jazeera added.

She also called Egypt a “son of a b—- country,” and said she “hopes God sends (Egyptians) someone more oppressive than Sisi,” referring to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The court argued that El-Mazboh deliberately spread “false rumors” that would harm society, and attacked religion and the Egyptian government.

Mona El-Mazboh responds to controversy in a second video posted to her Facebook. (YouTube screenshot)
Mona El-Mazboh responds to controversy in a second video posted to her Facebook. (YouTube screenshot)

Her attorney argued that she suffered from neurological and psychological disorders, including depression, which impaired her ability to control anger.

El-Mazbouh’s attorney Emad Kamal said he would appeal the sentence.

“Of course, God willing, the verdict will change. With all due respect to the judiciary, this is a severe ruling,” Kamal told Al Jazeera. “It is in the context of the law, but the court was applying the maximum penalty.”

Shortly after the first video went viral, El-Mazboh posted a second video apologizing to “respectable Egyptians” for her comments.

Egyptian rights activists believe the arrest and sentence is an intense crackdown of Internet censorship.

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 News

Councilwoman apologizes after comparing violence in Nashville to Beirut

A politician in Tennessee issued an apology after she compared youth violence in Nashville to Beirut during a public city council meeting.

Nashville councilwoman Erica Gilmore said her comments were meant to address issues of youth violence in the Tennessee capital.

“My comment was not meant to disparage Lebanon or to imply any negativity regarding the wonderful people of Lebanon,” Gilmore said in a statement. “I have always held Lebanon and its citizens in high regard and even lived there during my study at the American University of Beirut.”

During a televised meeting, the councilwoman said youth poverty and violence has become a crisis, and the issues compare to the challenges facing an underdeveloped nation.

Gilmore apologized after comparing violence in Nashville to Beirut. (EricaGilmore.com)
Gilmore apologized after comparing violence in Nashville to Beirut. (EricaGilmore.com)

“People do not recognize there are kids out there that are in such poverty that we are like a third world country,” she said during the meeting. “I feel like I was in Beirut.”

RELATED: Tennessee politician compares violence in Nashville to Beirut

Gilmore responded to Lebanese Examiner’s story three days later with a statement posted to Facebook.

“I hope this situation can be turned into a positive for both cities of Nashville and Beirut. Both cities are beautiful and have great people that live there.” Gilmore added. “However, we can always do more to improve the lives and safety of our great cities.”

According to her online biography, Gilmore completed a study-abroad program at the American University of Beirut while studying at Howard University in Washington, D.C.\

READ FULL STATEMENT HERE:

Recently, I made a comment comparing the prevalence of violent crime in my hometown of Nashville to similar situations in Beirut Lebanon. My comments were based on U.S. State Department travel advisories to Lebanon and news reports regarding increasing violent crime rates in Beirut. My intention was only to create attention regarding issues of violence to my hometown so that we could begin to more proactively address this serious matter. My comment was not meant to disparage Lebanon or to imply any negativity regarding the wonderful people of Lebanon. I am sorry that some have mistakenly believed that my comment was intended to disparage Lebanon. I have always held Lebanon and its citizens in high regard and even lived there during my study at the American University of Beirut. I had a wonderful experience and was treated with kindness and respect by the Lebanese people. I will forever cherish my time in Beirut and the people that were so generous to me.

I hope that this situation can be turned into a positive for both cities of Nashville and Beirut. Both cities are beautiful and have great people that live there. However, we can always do more to improve the lives and safety of our great cities. I wish the people of Beirut all the best in their efforts to elevate the lives of its fine citizens, and I will continue every day trying to elevate the lives of Nashvillians the best that I can. May God bless our two great cities and our people.

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 News

Tennessee politician compares violence in Nashville to Beirut

A politician in Tennessee compared youth violence in Nashville to Beirut during a public city council meeting, according to CBS-affiliate WTVF-TV.

Nashville councilwoman Erica Gilmore said youth poverty and violence has become a crisis, and the issues compare to the challenges facing an underdeveloped nation.

UPDATED: Erica Gilmore issued an apology after Lebanese Examiner’s story about her comments.

“People do not recognize there are kids out there that are in such poverty that we are like a third world country,” Gilmore said. “I feel like I was in Beirut.”

According to her online biography, Gilmore completed a study-abroad program at the American University of Beirut while studying at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Tennessee politician Erica Gilmore compared youth violence in Nashville to Beirut. (YouTube/Metro Nashville)
Tennessee politician Erica Gilmore compared youth violence in Nashville to Beirut. (YouTube/Metro Nashville)

In reported crime rates, Beirut ranks at 36.84 — a lower score than Nashville, which ranks at 49.11, according to two independent crime databases.

A study at the American University of Beirut found that disadvantaged Beirut neighborhoods, which have higher crime rates, are more likely to have problems with youth violence.

“Lebanon has a history of civil and cross-border war, which may influence the production of violence at the individual level,” the study said.

Gilmore pointed to a lack of respect among Nashville youth as a contributing factor to the violence. FOX-affiliate WZTV-TV reported that youth violence has been increasing in some Nashville neighborhoods.

“We’re seeing so much violence in the neighborhoods amongst the youth that I’m really concerned. The other day I was walking down Pearl Street and there were about 60 kids in the middle of the street. They were throwing bricks at one another. And I tried to get them to stop, and I could not get them to stop.”

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