(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The U.S. State Department has approved a $462 million deal to sell six military aircrafts to Lebanon to increase the country’s counterterrorism capability, according to a press release by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).
DSCA notified Congress about the sale on Friday, adding that delivery to Lebanon covers technical documentation and U.S. government training support to the Lebanese Army, which has been battling jihadists on the eastern borders of Lebanon.
Hezbollah has also been carrying out a military operation in eastern Lebanon, including a battle around Arsal’s outskirts which has escalated since May 4. The recent U.S. sales announcement comes five months after an annual security assessment issued by the U.S. National Intelligence removed Iran and Hezbollah from the list of U.S. terror threats.
The deal includes six A-29 Super Tucano planes, eight PT6A-68A Turboprop engines, eight ALE-47 countermeasure dispensing systems, 2,000 advanced precision kill weapon systems, and eight missile launch detection systems, among others.
DSCA said the principal contractors would be from Colorado, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Virginia, and Utah.
The deal will also see the delivery of non-selective Availability Anti-spoofing Module (SAASM) embedded global positioning system / initial navigation system (EGIs), spare and repair parts, flight testing, maintenance support, and support equipment.
The State Department said the sale would serve “U.S. national, economic, and security interests by providing Lebanon with airborne capabilities needed to maintain internal security, enforce United Nation’s Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701 and counter terrorist threats.”
The A-29 Super Tucano Aircraft is armed with two wing-mounted 12.7mm machine guns with a rate of fire of 1,100 rounds a minute and is capable of carrying general-purpose bombs and guided air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles.
Examiner StaffComments Off on U.S. approves $462M deal to sell aircrafts to Lebanon 2067
(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Abu Dhabi police recently purchased the $3.4 million Lykan HyperSport — the same vehicle that appears in the movie ‘Furious 7’ — from Lebanese car company W. Motors.
The Lykan HyperSport is a 770-horsepower supercar that can go from 0 to 100 kilometers/hour in just 2.8 seconds. The model is officially limited to 7 units, making it one of the most expensive cars in the world.
29-year-old Lebanese businessman Ralph Debbas is the mastermind behind the car, which was first launched at the International Qatar Motor Show in 2013. His company, W. Motors, was founded in Beirut in 2012.
“It is a satisfaction and pride to drive it around Dubai and see all heads turn in its direction when it hits the highway,” Debbas told Abu Dhabi’s The National newspaper. “People are starting to notice it more and more on the roads. They step aside to admire it and to take pictures.”
Lebanese-born businessman Ralph Debbas is the creator of the Lykan HyperSport. (Photo: Dubai Autodrome)
The Lykan HyperSport became internationally-known after appearing in ‘Furious 7’ as a vaulted supercar owned by an Arab billionaire. Actors Vin Diesel and Paul Walker manage to escape security and drive through a window at the Ethiad Towners in Abu Dhabi in the film.
“The producers and stunt coordinators needed a car that was really different from the ones used in all the previous Fast and Furious movies, something that they don’t see everyday,” Debbas added.
WATCH the Lykan HyperSport in ‘Furious 7’:
The Lykan features a holographic display with interactive motion and tactile interaction. LED headlights are made up of a Titanium blade encrusted with diamonds and the taillights with sapphires. A 24-hour concierge service is also available.
It is also the first car to have headlights with embedded jewels containing titanium LED blades with 15-carat diamonds, although the buyer has a selection of rubies, diamonds, and sapphires to be integrated into the vehicle’s headlights.
Critics are questioning why Abu Dhabi police would need a $3.4 million police car. But reports say Abu Dhabi police are envious of Dubai’s fleet of supercars, like a Ferrari FF, Bugatti Beyron, and Lamborghini Gallardo.
WATCH the reveal of Abu Dhabi’s new supercar:
When you’re uber-rich, why not?
Take that, Dubai.
Examiner StaffComments Off on Abu Dhabi police buy $3.4M ‘Furious 7’ car from Lebanese company 9637
(DAMASCUS, SYRIA) — Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai arrived in Syria on Sunday for a pastoral visit to participate in Maronite and Orthodox celebrations in Damascus this week.
Rai accepted the invitation of Orthodox Patriarch Youhanna X Yazigi to witness the opening of the new Orthodox Patriarchate in Syria’s capital.
Walid Ghayyad, director of Bkerke’s media office, said Rai’s visit will not include any political meetings. He said the meeting has three objectives — inaugurating the Maronite Social Center, participating in a Christian spiritual summit, and attending the inauguration of the Orthodox patriarchate.
“We came for peace and for peaceful solutions in Syria and for the endurance of Syrians in their land, both Christians and Muslims,” Rai said, following a visit to a French hospital in Damascus.
LBCI television reported that Syrian Islamic Endowments Minister Mohammed Sayyed and a delegation of Muslim clerics met with Rai at the Maronite Archbishopric on Sunday.
He later delivered a sermon at the Maronite church in the Christian Bab Touma neighborhood.
“In this Levant, we are witnessing a strategy of absurd wars aimed at chaos, destruction and killing,” he said. “We demand an end to the injustice against our people, we demand peace, we demand an end to the war and we demand political solutions.”
Rai admitted that his previous visits to Syria have “(been criticized),” even though the Maronite church has churches and offices in Syria.
LBCI reports that Rai was welcomed by Maronite Archbishop of Damascus Samir Nassar and Greek Orthodox Vicar General Bishop Ephraim Maalouli at the Syrian border area of Jdeidet Yabous when he arrived.
Examiner StaffComments Off on Maronite Patriarch Rai on pastoral visit in Syria 2025
(DETROIT, MI) — A U.S.-based service organization is on a mission to raise $3 million to install water filtration systems in 1,200 Lebanese schools over the next three years.
A group of Rotary International leaders — in partnership with the Rotary of Lebanon and Troy Rotary Club in Troy, Mich. — are part of an effort to bring clean water into Lebanon’s public school system.
Nearly one in three Lebanese buy alternative sources of drinking water, usually from mobile water trucks or in bottles, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Lebanese public schools are in even greater need, according to USAID, because of the influx of Syrian refugees, who have added 200,000 Syrian children into an already crowded system.
“The water reaching Lebanese private and public properties is so contaminated, it is undrinkable,” said Fadi Sankari, chairman of the Lebanon Water Project. “It is important to engage in Lebanon’s humanitarian affairs because as U.S born Americans we are fortunate enough to have clean drinking water at our disposal.”
Contaminated drinking water affects 300,000 Lebanese children and 200,000 Syrian children, according to Sankari. Rotary International has developed working committees to examine the hardest-hit schools, and allocate the resources and volunteers to launch the undertaking.
“I’m happy to report that we have roughly $1.2 million raised and nearly 400 schools complete and 50 in the works,” Sankari added.
The committee is working in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, UNICEF, and the Red Cross, among others. It costs $2,500 to install a water tank and filter in each school.
Lebanese Health Minister Wael Abu Faour announced in early April a new campaign to address water sanitation in Lebanese public schools. Abu Faour said his office identified high levels of bacteria in water samples from nearly all public school systems.
According to the Lebanese National News Agency, 49 percent of samples failed to meet the necessary health standards of the ministry.
Rotary International leaders in Lebanon have met with Abu Faour to discuss upcoming plans and timelines for project completion.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
The Troy Rotary Club is hosting a fundraising gala on July 23 at Byblos Banquet Center in Dearborn, Mich. For more information call (248) 740-7151 — donations are tax deductible. The event flyer can be found at this link.
Examiner StaffComments Off on U.S. fundraiser aims to bring clean water to Lebanese schools 2452
(WASHINGTON, DC) — The International Association to Save Tyre (AIST) hosted a full-day symposium on Wednesday at the U.S. Library of Congress in Washington, DC to discuss the group’s efforts to protect the historic site.
Founded in 1980 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, AIST’s primary mission is to raise awareness of the cultural site in south Lebanon, which dates back to 2750 BC.
“Although many may just consider Tyre another piece of real estate in Lebanon, there are critical interests at stake here – especially moral and cultural.” said David Killion, former U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO.
Tyre was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984, but developmental threats have long endangered the natural archeological history in the area.
Construction sites in 2011 came under fire for reportedly interfering with “archeologically-sensitive” areas in Tyre, including a highway project that would directly impact the site.
During the 2006 war, UNESCO’s director-general launched a ‘heritage alert’ for the site to prevent hostilities between Israel and Lebanon from damaging the ancient city.
The DC-symposium said Tyre was vulnerable to potential construction projects and future violence that could damage the city’s ancient ruins.
Dr. Maha el-Khalil Chalabi, who founded AIST, said preserving the Phoenician history of Tyre calls for global support.
“I will use my position as the head of the International Association to Save Tyre to preserve the city’s Phoenician legacy in every possible way,” she said. “This includes the rehabilitation and the promotion of its cultural and economic history.”
The ancient Phoenicians created one of the world’s first alphabets and the first democracy in the world with a parliament and senate elected directly by the citizens. Tyre is the legendary birthplace of Europa, the daughter of the King of Tyre, the namesake of Europe.
U.S. Representative Charles Boustany (R-LA) spoke at the symposium, which expected 1,000 guests from around the world. The five-day conference includes visits to the White House, and a private dinner hosted by Lebanese Ambassador to the United States Antoine Chedid.
Examiner StaffComments Off on Library of Congress hosts symposium to ‘save Tyre’ 3079
(DETROIT, MI) — Federal prosecutors are calling Michigan Lebanese cancer doctor Farid Fata one of the most fraudulent physicians in American history for allegedly misdiagnosing patients with cancer to bill their insurance companies.
The U.S. government says 553 patients were put through unnecessary treatments by Fata, who has pleaded guilty to fraud. This is the first time prosecutors assigned a specific number to the case.
In a sentencing memorandum from May 28, the U.S. Attorney’s office says Fata “is the most egregious fraudster in the history of the country, measured not only by the millions of dollars he stole but by the harm he inflicted on his victims, over 550 identified so far.”
Prosecutors are asking for life in prison — up to a maximum 175 years. Fata’s six cancer centers were closed in August of 2013.
“Rather than healing or easing the suffering of the cancer patients and other who sought his help, Fata administered thousands of unnecessary treatments — a variety of chemical infusions and injections, all with potentially harmful and even deadly side effects —to the patients who entrusted him with their care. He did it entirely for his own benefit,” prosecutors wrote.
Sources say his wife and children left the country and are currently living in Lebanon. His wife was the CFO of Fata’s medical company, but her name is not mentioned in the case.
Fata was reportedly looking at luxury investment opportunities along the Jounieh coastal area in Lebanon in 2010, according to released email exchanges between Fata and his financial advisor.
“I need a favor from you,” Fata wrote in one exchange. “My dad has a great deal on a castle all furnished in Adma/Lebanon!”
The castle was $3,000,000, according to email records. It is unclear whether he ever purchased the property, but investigators believe the alleged emails could trace to more information about his “numerous trusts.”
Prosecutors said Fata, who pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud, told “thousands upon thousands of lies” to “cajole, frighten, and deceive his patients.”
His case was also compared to that of notorious Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, but prosecutors said Fata’s crimes were worse, due to the “scope, duration, and enormity of the fraud.”
Fata’s sentencing hearing will take place before U.S. Judge Paul Borman on July 6. The hearing is expected to last more than a week.
Examiner StaffComments Off on Feds seek life in prison for Lebanese-American cancer doctor 6321
(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanon’s two main Christian political leaders held a historic meeting on Tuesday, in an effort to find common ground among two enemies whose rivalry has lasted for decades.
Michel Aoun and Samir Geagea, who fought each other during the Lebanese Civil War from 1975-1990, are both candidates for the Lebanese presidency which has been vacant since Michel Sleiman’s term expired a year ago.
But the rare meeting, which was held at Aoun’s home in Rabieh, left political quarrels behind and instead focused on a landmark declaration of intent between the two rivals.
Aoun and Geagea prepare to speak to the media during a joint press conference at Aoun’s home in Rabieh on June 2, 2015. (Photo: Aldo Ayoub)
The Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement parties have been in talks for months now, ushered by FPM MP Ibrahim Kanaan and LF media officer Melhem Riachi.
Aoun called the meeting a “gift” to Lebanese Christians who were concerned about the political and security climate in Lebanon.
“The decision is in our hands and not in the hands of any other party,” Aoun said, referring to the influence of the regional power-players Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The agreement on a new president is widely seen as a broader deal requiring a Saudi-Iranian blessing.
Aoun is an ally of the Shiite Iranian-backed Hezbollah, while Geagea backs the Sunni Saudi-backed politician Saad Hariri.
The two leaders issued a joint statement calling for the election of a “strong president” which would be supported by a majority Christian population and capable of working with Lebanon’s other religious sects.
The declaration of intent was negotiated between FPM MP Ibrahim Kanaan and LF media officer Melhem Riachi. (Photo: Aldo Ayoub)
Geagea said the purpose of his visit to Aoun’s home was to gather the two main Christian parties to discuss the ongoing political climate for Christians in the country. He said he “wished the meeting took place 30 years ago.”
“(LF and FPM) are two political forces which — if they agree — can have a positive impact on Lebanon,” Geagea said in comments published by the Lebanese National News Agency. “Our meeting today is the beginning of dialogue, because the previous months witnessed preparations that paved the ground for this meeting.”
The declaration of intent calls for peaceful interaction between the two parties, including mutual support to “principles of sovereignty” and “the approach of dialogue.”
“The two parties agree to strengthen state institutions and resort to the law to resolve any sudden dispute. They agree not to resort to arms or violence and to support the army because it is the institution that can preserve sovereignty and national security,” the declaration of intent reads in-part.
Aoun and Geagea echoed support for coexistence among Lebanon’s religious groups, including an electoral law that respects equal power-sharing between Muslims and Christians.
Geagea visited FPM leader Michel Aoun at his home in Rabieh on June 2, 2015. (Photo: Aldo Ayoub)
On the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, both parties called Israel an “enemy” and called for a two-state solution. They also issued a mutual statement rejecting the naturalization of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
The agreement also mentions the Syrian crisis and its impact on Lebanon, adding that they will “not allow” the Lebanese border to be used for the smuggling of militants.
“We call for finding a solution to the Syrian refugee crisis, which is a time bomb at all levels and we call for securing their return to safe areas in Syria,” the document said.
The agreement also made a brief mention of Lebanese emigrants, adding that the two rivals will exert “joint efforts” to approve laws that protect property ownership and naturalization of Lebanese emigrants.
Examiner StaffComments Off on Lebanese Christian rivals hold rare meeting 2426
(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The U.S. government delivered a shipment of anti-tank missiles and launch pads to the Lebanese Army on Sunday, in the latest demonstration of support to fight what the U.S. calls a “common enemy.”
The Lebanese Army command announced they received the shipment on Sunday evening, which included an undisclosed number of BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles and their launch pads.
First produced in 1970, the TOW is one of the most widely used anti-tank guided missiles. The weapon was spotted as early as April 2014 in at least two videos that surfaced showing Syrian opposition forces in the Syrian Civil War using BGM-71 TOWs.
The Israel Defense Forces also used TOW missiles during the 1982 Lebanon War, when they ambushed Syrian armored forces and destroyed 11 Syrian Soviet-made T-72 tanks.
The Lebanese Army added in its statement that it received an improved version known as BGM-71C, or TOW II, created in 1983 with a range of up to 3.75 kilometers.
The U.S. has donated over $1 billion in aid to the Army over the last decade, but most previous donations had been non-lethal equipment, including armored personnel carriers, lightaircraft and communication systems.
In February, a U.S. weapons shipment included over 70 M198 Howitzers as well as 26 million rounds of ammunition including small, medium and heavy artillery rounds.
In January, the U.S. delivered dozens of armored Humvees.
Examiner StaffComments Off on U.S. donates missiles, launch pads to Lebanese Army 1704
(LARNACA, CYPRUS) — Cypriot authorities detained a Lebanese national on Thursday after finding in his possession a large quantity of ammonium nitrate fertilizer which, police said could case widespread damage if used in an explosive mixture.
A public prosecutor, asking for court proceedings to be held in camera, said the case raised questions of state security.
Police said they had discovered two tonnes of ammonium nitrate at premises used by the 26-year-old in the coastal town of Larnaca on Wednesday night.
Ammonium nitrate is a fertilizer but in large quantities can be mixed with other substances to make a powerful explosive.
The find is unusual in Cyprus, which despite proximity to the Middle East has not seen a major militant incident since 1988 when a car packed with explosives blew up on a Nicosia bridge, killing 3. The car was meant to target the Israeli embassy.
Police declined to speculate on possible motives for hoarding the substance, found in more than 400 boxes in the basement of a home in a residential neighborhood of Larnaca. It was still being searched on Thursday.
The suspect, who a police source said also holds a Canadian passport, arrived on the Mediterranean island about a week ago.
“This is a very serious case,” a police spokesman said.
Judicial authorities accepted a police request that proceedings be held behind closed doors.
“This is a case which pertains to the security of the state and public disclosure could possibly adversely affect those interests,” a public prosecutor told the judge.
The suspect, a young man of medium build with short cropped hair, was led handcuffed by police into a courtroom. He sat emotionless in a grey t-shirt and jeans.
Cypriot media carried unsourced reports that the individual maintained to police the ammonium nitrate was not his.
Source: Reuters
Examiner StaffComments Off on Cyprus holds Lebanese-Canadian man over possible bomb material 1388
(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale announced on Wednesday a plan to build a new $1 billion embassy in Awkar, which will give more space to “deepen ties” between the two countries.
“The new facilities, which will be located next door to the current embassy in the town of Awkar, is just one more example of the enduring partnership that exists between the United States and Lebanon,” said Hale during a press conference at the Foreign Ministry.
“It will reflect a continued American commitment to and investment in Lebanon.”
Hale said the design of the facility is being built to be sustainable and eco-friendly, utilizing Lebanon’s “mild Mediterranean climate” to reduce energy consumption.
“Our priority on energy-savings and sustainability will mean that the new embassy will reduce its environmental impact while enhancing the space around it,” he said.
Hale added that the facilities will include water-saving native planting, natural vegetation, and sculpted pre-cast concrete and stone. American and Lebanese art projects will be installed in public green areas.
The new Awkar facility is located next door to the current U.S. operations. (Photo: U.S. Embassy Beirut)
This is the second time the U.S. changes its embassy location since the deadly bombings of the U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut 30 years ago. The U.S. Embassy, which was located in Ain al-Mreisseh at time time, was hit by a suicide bomb on April 18, 1983, which left 63 people dead.
After the attack, the U.S. relocated its operations to its current location in Awkar, which has multiple layers of security detail.
Hale said the new facility represents a long-lasting American-Lebanese partnership.
“America will be here for years to come to work with the Lebanese people for a secure, stable, prosperous, sovereign, and free Lebanon,” he said.
Examiner StaffComments Off on U.S. announces plan to build $1B embassy in Awkar 2593
