أرشيف الأخبار

BEIRUT: The gowns are cut low in the front, slashing down to the navel, or low in the back, swoo­ping below the waist, inset with delicate see-through fabric. They couldn’t be further from the modest dress generally worn by women in the Muslim Arab world. Yet these fashions come from Lebanon, a tiny Arab country of 4 million on the Medi­terranean. This nation better known for military conflicts than the arts has produced an impressive crop of designers, such as Reem Acra and Elie Saab, whose work is showcased at celebrity events such as the Oscars and the Golden Globes.

SHAIZAR CASTLE, Syria: Only a few decades ago, fish were plentiful in the Orontes River which for thousands of years has provided water to the lush Syrian plains, at the crossroads of the ancient world. These days the Orontes’ 12th century norias, enormous water wheels famous for their distinctive creak, barely turn in the weak tides. Algae covers the river’s surface and the desert has been closing in.

“The river has become so polluted. The quality of our produce has suffered and there is barely enough now to feed my family,” said 80-year-old farmer Mohammad al-Hamdo.

BEIRUT: The Nation Brand Perception Index (NBPI) ranked Lebanon in 174th place among 200 countries around the world and in 15th place among 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region in the second quarter of 2009, as reported by Lebanon This Week, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group.

Lebanon also came in 35th place among 39 upper-middle income countries (UMICs) included in the survey.

The NBPI represents the first scientific basis for analyzing international perceptions of a country’s brand. It covers the tone, whether positive or negative, and frequency of mentions in the international media. It said the number of times a country is mentioned reflects the strength of the brand, but not necessarily its quality.

Alfred de Montesquiou

Associated Press

RABAT: From the western edge of the Muslim world, the King of Morocco has dared to tackle one of the most inflammatory issues in the Middle East conflict – the Holocaust. At a time when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s dismissal of the Holocaust has made the biggest headlines, King Mohammad VI has called the Nazi destruction of the Jews “one of the most tragic chapters of modern history,” and has endorsed a Paris-based program aimed at spreading the word among fellow Muslims.

Kurdish opposition groups complained of widespread violations in Saturday’s Kurdistan elections but Iraq’s electoral commission said voting was largely sound. The Change list, which is headed by independent Noshirwan Mustafa, said the authorities had executed a “premeditated plan to change the results for its own benefit.”

“In the afternoon a campaign of violations began on the orders of the officials on the ground of the party in authority in all towns,” the Reform and Services opposition list said in a statement late on Saturday.

The region’s ruling parties – the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), led by Barzani, and the Democratic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd – ran jointly against more than 20 alliances of smaller parties.

Natalia Nasser

Regional Press Network

BEIRUT: Saudi tourists contributed over 20 percent of all tourism spending in Lebanon in the first half of 2009, showed a recent report by research firm Global Refund. Emirati and Kuwaiti citizens came second after Saudis contributing an equal 12 percent of total money spent. They were followed by Egyptian tourists who came third in terms of spending at a rate of 8 percent, and tourists from Jordan who accounted for 7 percent of total money spent.

GENEVA: The United States has largely prevailed in a trade dispute with China over restrictions on the sale there of American CDs, DVDs, books and computer software, two officials familiar with the ruling have told The Associated Press. The confidential verdict from the World Trade Organization (WTO) victory comes as the administration of President Barack Obama is being pressed to be tough over trade rules with China, whom many Democrats in the US Congress blame in part for America’s soaring trade deficits and lost manufacturing jobs.

BEIRUT: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Lebanon mission firector, Denise A. Herbol, attended the results ceremony for the “Profiling Expatriate Prospects for Local Development Partnership” project, a US Embassy statement said Friday. This $15,000 USAID project, implemented by Relief International in partnership with the Lebanese Emigration Research Center, is part of USAID’s $19.9 million “Municipal Capacity Building and Service Delivery” program. The project empowers Lebanese municipalities by creating a database of Lebanese living abroad who are interested in establishing economic partnerships with their home villages. Over 150 emigrants have already contributed or are willing to contribute to their villages’ economic development.

When the CIA’s alleged assassination program surfaced this month, the first reports focused on what hadn’t been done: Congress hadn’t been briefed, supposedly on orders from Vice President Dick Cheney, and the program hadn’t actually resulted in any “hit team” attacks on Al-Qaeda operatives.

The first failing upset House Democrats, and they demanded an investigation. But the second issue is in some ways more interesting for what it reveals about the bureaucratic and legal culture in which the CIA operates.

Natacha Yazbeck

Agence France Presse

BEIRUT: Even before the next Lebanese cabinet takes shape, it faces a considerable hurdle: a staggering national debt that will top $50 billion this year. “The next government in­herits a dual legacy,” said economist Charbel Nahhas. “On the one hand, it is inheriting a massive rise in liquidity, so it will not face immediate financial stress or be in need of external financing,” he told AFP.

“On the other hand, it will also inherit a massive public debt and structural problems linked to public deficit, low investment and the high rates of migration of skilled people.”