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North Criminal Court acquits murderer of wife Roula Yacoub

1-11-2018

After the Cassation Court headed by Judge Joseph Samaha in January 2017 reversed an appeal filed by victim Rola Yaacoub’s husband accused of killing her five years ago and referred him to the North Criminal Court for causing her death (https://bit.ly/2QId2kv), the final verdict was issued yesterday acquitting the accused, her husband, Karam Bazi. Two judges, Khaled Akkari and Ziad Dawalibi, and due to insufficient evidence, sustained that Yaacoub, who was killed in front of her daughters, died naturally, ordering the immediate release of the culprit. The ruling also stated that the plaintiff waive his personal right and demands in line with the acquittal verdict, and pays all the court fees involved. On the other hand, the head of the court, Dani Chibli, opposed the acquittal which was based on a majority vote, confirming that the husband inflicted fatal injuries on his wife. He based his statement on the testimony of a woman who came to the victim’s house on the night of the murder and talked in private to the victim’s daughter who told her that her father has threatened them and beaten her mother to death. He also mentioned the testimony of a neighbor who said he heard screaming coming from the victim’s house before the incident. For his part, the victim family’s attorney, Raymond Yaacoub, said the prosecution department can appeal the verdict within two months from the date of its issuance, pointing out that the facts on which the final decision was based were inequitable, where the facts that condemn the husband were sidelined. The attorney said he regretted that the court relied on the daughters’ statements that their father did not beat their mother. He said he believed the testimony of the two girls came contrary to what they said on the day of the murder. Commenting on the ruling, Kafa organization announced that the case is not closed, and “we will appeal, hoping the trial will be fair and just.” (Al Akhbar, An Nahar, Al Mustaqbal, November 1, 2018)

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Israeli violations against Palestinian women prisoners

1-11-2018

The head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies, Rafaat Hamdouna, said the decision to move women prisoners from HaSharon to Damon prison reflects inability of the Israeli prison administration to handle the prisoners’ ongoing and escalating strike since September 5. The protest was sparked against the installation of surveillance cameras in the prison yard and the repressive conditions of detention, Hamdouna explained, saying the transfer action aims to circumvent the protest and impose a situation of confusion and instability. The prisons’ administration, Hamdouna went on to say, carries out untold violations, including medical malpractice, inspection and incursions, ill-treatment during interrogation and transportation. He pointed to the continuous harsh punitive measures against women prisoners like fines, ban of family visits, ferocious investigation methods, the cutoff of hot water with the approach of the winter season, significant reduction of the amounts of meat and vegetables, confiscation of books and prohibiting prisoners from sitting for the high school and university exams, in addition to the overcrowded conditions and isolation of prisoners near the criminal Jewish inmates that continue to aggravate them. Finally, Hamdouna appealed to international human rights and women’s affairs institutions to pressure the occupation authorities to stop the blatant violations and work to release the prisoners. (Al Hayat, October 31, 2018)

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Children’s Rights: Newborn outside a house in Akkar; no accurate statistics on child marriages

31-10-2018

A newborn was found inside a box in front of a house in Hay el Bahr area of Akkar in the North. A security squad arrived at the scene and transferred the baby to Halba Government Hospital where he was found in good health condition. Legal procedures are expected to take place in preparation to hand the child to a proper care center. On the other hand, the representative of UNFPA in Lebanon, Asma Kurdahi, told An Nahar newspaper that there are no accurate statistics on child marriage cases and birth rates in the country. She said the UN agency is working with community organizations to approve birth spacing, stressing that the issue needs perseverance and follow up through training and educating persons with communication skills to relate instructions to Lebanese and Syrian refugee women. Kordahi also drew attention to the contributions of health guidance programs to this effect, and efforts made in the area of the marriage of minors and the mounting need for family planning. “We have felt a positivity seeing a wife accompanied by her husband to one of the facilitation sessions…” said Kordahi. She revealed that a strategy is currently under preparation with the ministry for women and NCLW to launch the national action plan for the implementation of UN Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. (An Nahar, Al Mustaqbal, October 31, 2018)

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Draft bill for women’s quota in municipalities

31-10-2018

The minister of state for women’s affairs in the caretaker government, Jean Ogassapian, disclosed on Friday that his ministry has submitted an amendment to the municipality law requiring the adoption of a women’s representation quota in municipal councils. The ratification of said draft, Ogassapian said, could be achieved with less effort compared to the parliamentary elections law. The minister was speaking during a round table discussion organized by UNESCO and the Hariri Foundation, in collaboration with the Lebanese University, under the title, ‘Gender equality: Cultural and societal drawbacks’. Ogassapian explained that the law is one of seven draft bills and several recommendations referred by his ministry to the end of promoting the status of the Lebanese woman. It is not only about the law, he said. The law alone is not enough, and neither is changing the outdated mindsets. The cultural and legal sides should combine to realize the desired change, Ogassapian maintained. Justice and equality must be streamlined in all Lebanon to emphasize the pivotal role of woman in bringing up a family away from extremism, illiteracy, terrorism, idleness and joblessness, as well as, working to build healthy societies up to contributing to the making of political and strategic decision at the level of the nation. (Al Mustaqbal, October 31, 2018)

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Former Mufti of the Republic intervenes to cancel LGBT party

31-10-2018

The former Mufti, Mohamad Rashid Qabani, appealed yesterday to the heads of cabinet, parliament and republic and to the AUB administration to ban and stop an LGBT dating/mixer night planned by the University’s Gender and Sexuality Club on October 30. Describing the event as a disgrace to all Lebanese that could bring about the Divine destruction of Lebanon, Qabani called for closing Madame Om Hamra venue, arresting the organizers and punishing the concerned interior ministry officer who gave the OK. In the footsteps of the Mufti, Dar al Fatwa reminded that it has always been “against all those who violate religious teachings and moral values of the holy books on which our society based its mores,” as he put it. Dar al Fatwa warned that it will prohibit homosexual persons from acting contrary to moral values. For its part, the AUB club announced on its Facebook page the canceling of the event, noting that it will issue a detailed statement on the subject later. On the other hand, Al Akhbar newspaper reported that the Lebanese State Security yesterday arrested HIV patient, Richard G. on charges of providing tattoo services in a beauty clinic in the Beirut neighborhood of Verdun, sealed the center with red wax. Al Akhbar pointed out that the law is not clear in banning an HIV positive person from practicing any profession, even a medical related profession, citing human rights jurists who questioned the right of the State Security department to expose or reveal the medical file of a detainee. Is this apparatus now hunting HIV/AIDS patients as dangerous criminals in a country lost between the rule of law and the confessional law, they asked. (Al Akhbar, Al Diyar, October 31, 2018)

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BLOM Bank supports youth education and entrepreneurship

30-10-2018

The chairman of BLOM Bank, Saad Azhari, said on Tuesday that the bank has adopted the fourth SDG goal ‘Quality Education’ to become in the core of its activities in the social responsibility area. Azhari was speaking during the opening of the 8th Annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Lebanon Forum held in Beirut under the title, ‘SDGs and Millennials: Leaders of Sustainability’. Azhari mentioned four pioneering programs combining the millennial generation and quality education. These are: Blom Shabeb program, which directs and guides students to university disciplines and matching jobs (320,000 beneficiaries); Protect Ed program, mentors school students on how to live in a society free of violence, drugs, racisms and abuse (100,000 beneficiaries from 167 schools); Hult Prize, sponsors innovation competition for social profit projects among college students. The winner receives USD 250,000 for starting up his enterprise; the fourth pioneering program is Virtual Stock Exchange which includes virtual competitions among students of business and economics from 8 universities in Lebanon on maximizing the returns on stock and bond markets. (Al Akhbar, October 30, 2018)

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Apple growers protest official neglect, US support Bsharri producers

30-10-2018

The US Ambassador to Beirut, Elizabeth Richard, inaugurated a new apple sorting and packaging facility in the Northern town of Beit Munzer, in the caza of Besharri. A statement by the embassy said the ‘Cedrine’ facility, first of its kind in the country, was completed with funding from USAID through the Lebanon Industry Value Chain Development (LIVCD) project, and in partnership with the local private sector company, Shabash, specialized in processing and storing fruits. As a marketing center for apple farmers in the area, ‘Cedrine’ will sort and pack the produce of some 200 apple growers this season, and is expected to support around 1000 farmers over the next five years, producing 17,000 tons of apples every year. On the same front, Al Diyar newspaper wrote that despite the meagre government compensation to farmers for the 2017 harvest and which did not exceed the cost of production, the weather and temperature fluctuations wreaked havoc on a substantial part of the apple trees. A number of farmers who spoke to the newspaper criticized the unfair compensation, saying it would be better to leave the fruits to rot on the trees. They also complained that, the current high prices of fertilizers and pesticides, coupled with the fierce competition of US apples, climate change, and the absence of State’s support, farmers opt for alternative crops. Meanwhile, the minister of economy in the caretaker government, Raed Khoury, met yesterday with a delegation of the Dairy Farmers Association and promised to protect the domestic dairy industry, especially milk producers suffering from poor marketing of their products. Khoury also discussed with wheat farmers in North Beqaa and Akkar the repercussions on the 2018 production, stressing the payment of compensation to farmers after the delivery of supplies in the Central and West Bekaa regions is completed. (Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, October 26, 28, 30, 2018)

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Domestic violence has stronger impact on individuals than war

30-10-2018

During a conference held in collaboration with St George Hospital University Medical Center, Ashrafieh, Beirut, IDRAAC association revealed a study covering Syrian and Lebanese students in a number of Lebanese schools which indicated that the impact of domestic violence on individuals is stronger than post war effects. The president of IDRAAC, doctor Elie Karam, said the study has shown the domestic abuse Syrian refugee children might experience produce results that can negatively affect their mental health, and is greater than the psychological trauma from war. He underlined the need for providing a healthy home environment in order to improve the refugee child’s mental life. For his part, the director of Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Richard Mollica, presented a new approach that should be adopted in the case of refugees. This does not only secure children’s essential needs, of food, drink and shelter, but also focuses on the rehabilitation of their shattered psychological condition in order to enable them to recuperate and recover from stress. Mollica stressed the need to prepare refugees to return to their country from the first day of their displacement. (Al Akhbar, October 30, 2018)

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Honoring Amani Kabara Shaarani

30-10-2018

The Lebanese Media Foundation- Ruwad Min Lobnan honored on Friday the head of the Lebanese Council of Women, Dr. Aman Kabara Shaarani, for her contributions in the national, social and feminist fields and was handed the Shield of Ruwad as a pioneer figure in education and social work. On the occasion, the media coordination office, Mariam Beydoun, praised Kabara giving a synopsis of her career life. Kabara, Beydoun said, is a former professor at the Faculty of Education- Lebanese University. She was appointed director of the department in 1978, and chaired LCW from 1992 to 1996 and from 2008 to 2012. She headed the National Committee for the Follow-up on Women’s Issues (1996-2008) and represented LCW in many committees. She represented the Lebanese University at the Parliament and at several local and international conferences and lectured in various educational and women related matters, in addition to publishing a number of books and publications. Shaarani in turn, said her honoring in these circumstances is a joy to her, adding that her involvement in feminist action is an achievement which sought to blend in the various social groups in one national initiative. “One should admit the abilities, competencies and contributions of women in society as active and equal components on par with men,” Shaarani concluded. ( Al Mustaqbal, October 29, 2018)

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New criticisms to IDAL maritime export bridge after Nassib reopening

29-10-2018

Al Akhbar newspaper featured in its issue of October 27, the maritime export bridge launched by IDAL, September 2015, five months after the closure of Nassib Crossing, describing it as an unviable alternative to the land exportation. The bridge, the newspaper wrote, has become a ‘private taxi’ for the government imposing its conditions on exporters over the past three years but has not succeeded in restoring the export activity prior to 2015. On the subject, one owner of an agricultural export refrigerated truck, Mohamad Araji, said the reopening of Nassib crossing on the Jordanian-Syrian borders relieved him from dependence on the operators of the maritime bridge to approve loading his trailers anchored in Jordan for over a year now to return them to Lebanon. Araji told Al Akhbar reporter that he had to pay transit parking tariffs for the Jordanian authorities for each day on the Kingdom’s territory. He revealed that, in addition to the land transport fees, he paid the shipping agency the freight of his trucks by sea to the Port of Aqaba. The agency, he said, received from IDAL around USD 3,000 for each truck as a subsidy from the Lebanese government, adding that if his trucks had returned, it would have received an additional USD 3,000. What Araji and other Lebanese truck owners faced in Jordan, Al Akhbar wrote, was repeated at the Saudi Port of Dabba which has become a leading maritime export destination. Citing Omar Ali, chief of the Owners of Refrigerated Trucks in Lebanon, Al Akhbar said the export activity was restricted to two shipping containers whose owners have close ties with the Future Movement. They are suited for the transport of livestock and not for agricultural goods! The maritime export program, Ali added, has turned into an agency for robbing exporters and owners of containers by controlling prices and transport dates, pointing to the complete absence of IDAL and the Directorate of Sea Transportation at the ministry of public in this respect. More on the subject on the following link: : https://al-akhbar.com/Community/260524. (Al Akhbar, October 27, 2018)

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