أرشيف الأخبار

BEIRUT: A ceremony to mark the end of a social reconciliation program among Lebanese youth was held at UNESCO Palace Saturday. Youth Building Reconciliation 2 (YBR) was a two-month-long program aimed at encouraging dialogue among students from different backgrounds with team-building exercises and community projects.

The ceremony included a documentary chronicling the work of the YBR team of 14 volunteers who led the program from late April to May. The program, which was held at Beirut Arab University, Saint Joseph University and the town of Damour, was part of Naseej, a community program sponsored by the Ford Foundation and administered by Save the Children US.

BEIRUT: The Lebanese American University (LAU) graduated 1,456 students on Thursday and Saturday in separate ceremonies in Byblos and Beirut. Caretaker Education Minister Bahia Hariri and MP Nouhad Machnouk were among a number of politicians who attended the commencement ceremonies. Caretaker Minister of State Kha­led Kabbani also attended on behalf of President Michel Slei­man, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Speaker Nabih Berri.

DAMASCUS: Iranian pilgrims pray beside Arabs at the 8th-century Umayyad Mosque, one of Islam’s grandest sites. Down a nearby alley, European tourists watch restoration work at an Ottoman-era palace being converted into a hotel. “I’ve not seen such contrast between image and the reality,” said German tourist Anna Kopola, looking at Syrian art on display in a gallery in the capital, Damascus. “Syria is portrayed as a center of terrorism in the West but it’s peaceful and modern.”

While many tourists tend to travel in their droves to see Egypt’s pyramids, tense ties with the West made Syria a no-go zone for decades.

BEIRUT: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged the new Lebanese government to implement the remaining conditions of Paris III donor conference in order to reduce the public debt and overcome all the negative effects of the global credit crunch. These remarks came in a report by the IMF’s Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance (EPCA) which assessed the Lebanese government’s efforts to tackle the fiscal deficit.

“The new government should strive to quickly restore the fiscal consolidation agenda set out under Paris III. Further postponement of this agenda would risk seriously undermining its credibility,” the report said.

It added that top priorities include a reduction in the need for budgetary transfers to Electricité du Liban (EDL) and an increase in the VAT rate.

BEIRUT: The scene unfolds with a video camera running shakily down a dirt road. The camera stops at a crumpled car and hovers over the drooped figure of a fresh, bloodied corpse. An explosion rings out and the camera swivels around with a start. Welcome to Carol Mansour’s chilling documentary, “A Summer not to Forget.”

BEIRUT: Volunteers from the Joy of Giving organization (Farah al-Ata) have launched an ambitious project to upgrade facilities at the Tibnin prison complex in Lebanon’s southern city of Bint Jbeil. During a news conference held at the prison on Friday, Joy of Giving spokeswoman Therese Aoun told reporters that restoration works aimed to better the living conditions of prisoners, so as to prevent the spread of diseases.

“The renovation works aim to turn the prison from a place short on air and light to a facility that safeguards human needs,” Aoun said.

Aoun also thanked the Interior Ministry for its support, adding that restoration works were in cooperation with the Internal Security Forces.

BEIRUT: The American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) and Nursing Services celebrated on Wednesday the granting of AUBMC the first Magnet designation in the Middle East at the Habtoor Grand Hotel in Sin al-Fil. The event was attended by Health Minister Mohammad Ja­wad Khalifeh, the former vice-president for Medical Affairs and dean of the Faculty of Medicine, professor Nadim Cortas; the de­puty dean of the Faculty of Medicine, professor Ziyad Ghazzal; assistant hospital director for Pa­tient Care Services and director of Nursing Services Gladys Mou­ro; AUBMC director Mun­thir Kuzayli; AUB president Pe­ter Dorman, and a host of leading experts in the fields of medicine and nursing.

BEIRUT: The process of forming Premier-designate Saad Ha­riri’s new cabinet has entered the end of its third week since Hariri was nominated for the post at the end of June. The effort has yet to yield tangible results, but has been referred to by Hariri and government officials as free from regional influence and a purely Lebanese affair. But a report released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) at the end of June presents a much less independent picture of the government.

Lebanon has had a long history of foreign occupation and influence and the UNDP National Human Development Report claims the country is still dominated by foreign states that are tied to sectarian parties who profit from keeping the state weak.

BEIRUT: The secretary general of the Higher Council for Privatization (HCP) Ziad Hayek said the public and private sector should work closely to secure an additional 600 MW of electricity. Hayek’s remarks came in a report on the current state of electricity in Lebanon and the best solution to solve the chronic problems of this sector, which has literally exhausted the financial resources of all successive governments.

At present, all of the existing power plants in the country, some of which date back more than 40 years, have a combined maximum capacity of 1,500 MW while the country’s actual need is more than 2,300 MW.

Lebanon has been experiencing severe electricity rationing due to the limited capacity of the power plants.

BEIRUT: The secretary general of the Higher Council for Privatization (HCP) Ziad Hayek said the public and private sector should work closely to secure an additional 600 MW of electricity. Hayek’s remarks came in a report on the current state of electricity in Lebanon and the best solution to solve the chronic problems of this sector, which has literally exhausted the financial resources of all successive governments.

At present, all of the existing power plants in the country, some of which date back more than 40 years, have a combined maximum capacity of 1,500 MW while the country’s actual need is more than 2,300 MW.

Lebanon has been experiencing severe electricity rationing due to the limited capacity of the power plants.