أرشيف الأخبار

TEL AVIV: Israeli gays were in shock Sunday after a gunman killed two people, but some said such an attack in a country where homosexuals are often vilified by religious groups was only a matter of time. Saturday’s shooting at a community center for gay and lesbian teenagers in the heart of Tel Aviv sent fear coursing through members of the Jewish state’s vibrant homosexual community – but it also came as little surprise.

Noa Shalev was at a party nearby when she heard the news that two people had been shot and 11 others wounded by a black-clad and masked gunman at the Bar Noar (“Youth Bar.”)

RABAT: Two Moroccan magazines were taken off news stands on Saturday after they published an opinion poll on the 10 years under the reign of King Mohammad VI, officials said.

TelQuel and Nichane, which are among the country’s biggest independent publications, published a poll that was conducted with France’s Le Monde newspaper on the first decade of Mohammad’s rule.

Morocco’s communications minister said Le Monde would not be allowed to sell any edition with the poll.

“This poll reveals that 91 percent of Moroccans who were interviewed say that the performance of the reign of King Mohammad VI is positive or very positive,” TelQuel director Ahmad Benchemsi told AFP.

Despite Lebanon’s turbulent history, a study carried out last year by the World Mental Health Initiative has shown the prevalence of mental health problems in the country is similar to that of the United States and the United Kingdom. Should the Lebanese rejoice at their iron-will? Are they simply more resilient? If so, what role does conflict play in forming this resilience? The results of this study produce as many questions as they do answers. Perhaps the most obvious among these questions is how a country like Lebanon, whose recent history has been so marred by violence and destruction, can have the same proportion of mental health problems as domestically secure nations who have faced no such political upheaval.

Adel Nassar is 45, and knows more than most the strengths and pitfalls of the Lebanese mental health system. Since being diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1994, he’s seen almost as many therapists as he has years of his life. More often than not, being a veteran of the civil war in turn leads one to become a veteran of the Lebanese mental health system, as is the case with Adel.

He fought for the left during the civil war, a time he recounts “not with pride.” His condition is partly physiological, and partly a result of his years spent fighting.

“During the war there was a lot of stress and a lot of emotion, but I didn’t feel it as much as most because I was fighting,” he says.

Adel Nassar is 45, and knows more than most the strengths and pitfalls of the Lebanese mental health system. Since being diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1994, he’s seen almost as many therapists as he has years of his life. More often than not, being a veteran of the civil war in turn leads one to become a veteran of the Lebanese mental health system, as is the case with Adel.

He fought for the left during the civil war, a time he recounts “not with pride.” His condition is partly physiological, and partly a result of his years spent fighting.

“During the war there was a lot of stress and a lot of emotion, but I didn’t feel it as much as most because I was fighting,” he says.

Adel Nassar is 45, and knows more than most the strengths and pitfalls of the Lebanese mental health system. Since being diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1994, he’s seen almost as many therapists as he has years of his life. More often than not, being a veteran of the civil war in turn leads one to become a veteran of the Lebanese mental health system, as is the case with Adel.

He fought for the left during the civil war, a time he recounts “not with pride.” His condition is partly physiological, and partly a result of his years spent fighting.

“During the war there was a lot of stress and a lot of emotion, but I didn’t feel it as much as most because I was fighting,” he says.

Dar al-Ajaza hospital, like many of its patients, is no stranger to war. Situated not half a mile from the Sabra and Shatila camps in the neighborhood of Tariq al-Jadideh, this unfortunately positioned hospital has been subject to damage from artillery shells, phosphorus explosives, canon bombs, fire and demolition; its buildings have been destroyed and rebuilt, evacuated and renovated many times.

BEIRUT: The Delegation of the European Commission to Lebanon on Friday announced that it is now accepting grant proposals for projects aimed at strengthening the role of civil society in human rights and democratic reform in Lebanon. Proposals fall under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, which hopes to contribute to the development and consolidation of democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. – The Daily Star

DAMASCUS: Syrian authorities have charged a leading human rights lawyer of making statements that “weaken national morale” after he led calls for the release of political prisoners, rights defenders said on Friday. Mohannad al-Hussani, who has been overseeing defense of Syria’s most prominent opposition figures, was arrested on Tuesday by State Security, a intelligence agency in Syria.

An investigative judge later questioned Hussani, 43, about statements he made in public and in court in defense of his clients, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said.

LONDON: A Cayman Islands court has frozen $9.2 billion of assets belonging to Saad Group, the Saudi Arabian investment firm at the center of a financial scandal, including some of its equity stakes outside the Gulf. The ruling was in response to a complaint filed by indebted Saudi family conglomerate Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers Company (AHAB), which is locked in a legal tussle in the United States with the billionaire owner of Saad Group [SAADG.UL], Maan al-Sanea.

Companies included in the Cayman court ruling, seen by Reuters, include Cayman Islands registered Saad Investments Company Limited (SICL), owner of many of Saad’s equity investments outside the Gulf.

Bank lenders to SICL, owed up to $2.8 billion, are considering making a claim, Reuters reported last week.