President Michel Aoun and lawmakers reaffirmed their commitment to the Palestinian cause Wednesday, calling on Palestinian nationals to unite. During the morning parliamentary session Speaker Nabih Berri called on MPs to make recommendations on the stance of the Lebanese government toward Palestinian unity. “The Lebanese Parliament, which is meeting today, ... Read More »
The new tax hike law
Parliament approved a series of tax hikes to finance the new salary scale for public sector workers Wednesday in a heated legislative session that was adjourned before the agenda was completed. In the second day of a legislative session, held to discuss the 30-item agenda and chaired by Speaker Nabih ... Read More »
Contaminated blood scandal inquiry announced
A UK-wide inquiry will be held into the contaminated blood scandal that left at least 2,400 people dead, the prime minister has confirmed. A spokesman for Theresa May said it would establish the causes of the “appalling injustice” that took place in the 1970s and 1980s. Thousands of NHS patients ... Read More »
Khoury: Lebanon needs long-term plan to revive suffering economy
Economy Minister Raed Khoury called Tuesday for the drafting of a clear and comprehensive economic plan to be pursued by future successive governments. “We call upon the government, the Parliament and the private sector to draft a clear economic strategy which should be implemented by all future successive governments,” he ... Read More »
Paralyzed athlete launches North Pole expedition
“Disability is a state of mind,” declared the posters decorating the Grand Serail ballroom at Tuesday’s launch of paralyzed athlete Michael Haddad’s expedition to the North Pole, hosted by Prime Minister Saad Hariri. On the posters, Haddad wears a body brace, hangs from a massive boulder, and smiles. After a ... Read More »
Salameh: The Lebanese national currency remains stable due to the Bank’s monetary policy
Central Bank Gov. Riad Salameh Tuesday reassured the public that Lebanon’s national currency is still stable thanks to the monetary policy the bank has pursued. “The Lebanese pound is stable and will remain so. In June 2017, Banque du Liban has consolidated its foreign-currency reserves. This confirms that the Central ... Read More »
Donald Trump accused of inciting violence against journalists over video of him ‘body-slamming’ CNN
CNN accused President Donald Trump of encouraging violence against journalists after he posted a video on social media showing himself body slamming and repeatedly punching a man with the cable news network’s logo superimposed on his face. In the latest escalation of his war with the US news media the ... Read More »
Sony starts spinning vinyl after 30-year hiatus
Three decades after it abandoned vinyl production, Sony said it would start making records again on the back of surging demand for the retro music format. A factory southwest of Tokyo will be churning out freshly pressed records by March next year, Sony Music Entertainment said Thursday. The Japanese giant ... Read More »
Is war between rising China and dominant America inevitable?
let’s imagine a Chinese “applied history” project, similar to the one at Harvard’s Belfer Center that helped spawn professor Graham Allison’s widely discussed book “Destined for War.” Allison’s historical analysis led him to posit a “Thucydides Trap” and the danger (if not inevitability) of war between a rising China and ... Read More »
Tenants begin to leave properties under new rent law
Tenants under the old rent law have begun to leave the properties they have lived in for decades, following legislation passed in March that favored the rights of property owners. The law, which impacts approximately 200,000 apartments, mostly in Beirut and its suburbs, allows for an incremental increase in rents, ... Read More »