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In the absence of a serious and workable government policy to address the waning agricultural sector, the joint parliamentary committee which met last Thursday headed by deputy house speaker, Elie Ferzli, formed a subcommittee for the legalization of cannabis. The said committee is led by MP Yassin Jaber, and the membership of MPs Nicolas Nahas, Assem Araji, Hussein Haj Hassan, Shamil Rukuz, Toni Habshi, Hadi Abul Hissen, Mario Aoun, and any other MP willing to contribute accordingly. The subcommittee was given a one month ultimatum to submit its report to the joint committees. On the other hand, the president of the Regie announced during a dinner held on Tuesday in honor of the media, that the state-run institution provides the national treasury with 7.5% of its annual revenues, pointing out that tobacco cultivation currently sustains 25000 households in the different Lebanese regions. The Regie activities, he said, have covered to date fifteen regions in Akkar, Bekaa and the South, and included environmental, economic, social and educational undertakings. Meanwhile, the minister of trade and economy in the caretaker government, Raed Khoury, issued a circular on Tuesday setting the start date for receiving the wheat and barley supplies from local producers and farmers for the current season of 2018, from 22/10/2018 to 15/12/2018 at the latest for all the governorates. (For more info, kindly visit the link below: https://goo.gl/iPJY7m). (Al Mustaqbal, October 11, 12, 17, 2018)

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Deputy prime minister, minister of public health in the caretaker government, Gassan Hasbani, launched on Friday the National Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign 2018 organized by his ministry, but which excluded non Lebanese women. In this respect, a number of Palestinian women complained that they have been notified by the government run hospitals that the campaign does not cover them, and is restricted to Lebanese women. On the subject, the Palestinian Democratic Women’s Organization (Nada), announced that, along with all Palestinian women in Lebanon, it was shocked with this vetoing of Palestinian refugees, denouncing what it described as a racist, discriminatory measure, and stressing that it comes in the framework of a similar prejudiced policy adopted by the Lebanese State. For its part, Al Akhbar newspaper wrote today, that after excluding non-Lebanese women from the above campaign, individual initiatives emerged as a temporary and alternative solution to the predicament. To this end, Dr. Jamal Qura, disclosed that it is offering Palestinian women refugees free medical examination and cancer screening. She said that she started her direct contacts with Palestinian women without any intermediary, explaining that any woman refugee can visit her clinic and will be referred from there to one of the mammography centers. (Al Akhbar, October 18, 2018)
 

In the latest incidents of violence against children and women, the government commissioner at the military court, Judge Peter Germanus, prosecuted a young woman, M.H on Tuesday for attempting to abandon her little girl and sell her to a family for adoption in return for money, and sergeant M.K for involvement in the case in clear violation to military instructions. Germanus referred the case to the first military investigative judge, Riad Abu Ghaida, requesting the issuance of two arrest warrants against the defendants, based on articles punishable by one to three years in prison. Recalling, the above case was uncovered during a television program. On the same day, the bodies of the young man, M.S and his fiancé S.N were found with multiple shots at the house of H.S in Nasriyeh, north of Hermel. Preliminary investigation showed that the young man has taken his life after he shot dead his fiancé.  (Al Mustaqbal, October 17, 2018)

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After a WHO report recently indicated that breast cancer incidence rates in Lebanon were the highest among West Asian countries in relation to population size (18.6% of the total new 3219 incidences (https://goo.gl/VBfxpU), An Nahar newspaper today asked why breast cancer is the most prevalent in the country. On the subject, Professor, head of AUBMC division of hematology/oncology, Dr. Nagi Saghir, pointed to a remarkable increase in breast cancer incidence rate, not only in Lebanon, but also globally. He said the WHO report is a warning signal on the gravity of the health reality at a global level. Saghir outlined several factors that are responsible for increasing the risk of cancer, notably: smoking, pollution, unhealthy and poor diet, lack of exercise and physical activity, overweight and certain infections. Breast cancer, Saghir said, tops the list of cancerous diseases in Lebanon, representing 35% to 40% of cancer incidences among women, warning that women under 40 are now facing cancer. Early diagnosis of cancer is a major breast cancer early detection strategy, he said. (An Nahar, October 17, 2018)

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For the first time in the history of the country, the Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, announced yesterday the formation of a small cabinet with women constituting half of its members. The Army Chief of Staff, Fitsum Arega, disclosed that women occupy key positions in the 20-minister government, including the newly-created ministry for peace to supervise the federal police and intelligence agencies. “Women will have key ministerial portfolios, including the ministries for peace, trade, industry and defense,” he tweeted. Aisah Mohammad will be the first woman to ever hold the post of defense minister of the country with a population of 100 million. Furthermore, it is to be noted that the former speaker of the house, Muferiat Kamil, was appointed as the new minister of peace, the first woman in the nation’s history to hold this position last April. Finally, it is also worth mentioning that the former Ethiopian cabinet consisted of 28 ministers, and included only 5 women. (Al Mustaqbal, October 17, 2018)
 

After a previous similar attempt (check the following link: https://goo.gl/qPJbpR), the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced in a statement yesterday that, upon the instructions of ISF director general, Maj. Gen. Imad Uthman, it has launched a hotline, 1745, to receive complaints of domestic violence incidents in a professional and rapid manner. The hotline, which is directly linked to the operations unit, has started receiving complaints as of 1/10/2018, and has handled four such cases to date, the statement said, calling on citizens not to hesitate to report complaints to the above hotline. In a positive response to the ISF move, the minister of state for women’s affairs in the caretaker government, Jean Ogassapian, tweeted: ‘this is an essential step preparing the grounds for similar measures particularly related to refining laws towards a cultural environment that rejects and combats violence to eventually end it.” Ogassapian encouraged women in situations of violence to contact the hotline in order to get the required official assistance in this respect. (Al Akhbar, Al Mustaqbal, An Nahar, October 17, 2018)

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After the announcement of the reopening of the Nassib-Jaber crossing between Jordan and Syria (https://goo.gl/6QUyH5), Lebanon has been officially notified yesterday through General Security Director General, Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, of the opening of the crossing and Syrian territory for Lebanese exports. In the details, the head of the Beqaa Farmers’ Association, Ibrahim Tarshishi, cited Gen. Ibrahim’s confirmation of the launch of export activity from Lebanon to Arab countries via the above crossings. He said that, following his talks with the Syrian side, Gen. Ibrahim said the situation has been restored to the period before the border crisis in 2015. Tarshishi said the reopening of Nassib is a dream come true, pointing to the USD 2.6 billion in losses incurred over the past three years and which did not affect one sector only, but the whole nation. Meanwhile, while the minister of agriculture in the caretaker government, Ghazi Zeiater, maintained that the decision to resume the smooth and automatic movement of Lebanese trucks via Syria as a result of the Jordanian-Syrian agreement, the head of the Lebanese Truck Drivers Association, Shafiq Qassis, said the trucks have not started moving pending the implementation of the newly applied measures, notably the transit tax increase on the Syrian part. For his part, President Michel Aoun said the agreement would benefit Lebanon and restore links with the Arab community, stressing that the reopening of the vital crossing will revive the various productive sectors and reduce the cost of export to Arab countries. (Al Akhbar, An Nahar, Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, October 16, 2018)

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During a ceremony held last Wednesday at ESA, Beirut, and in the framework of supporting entrepreneurship, the 5th edition of L'Oreal-UNESCO under the title ‘For Women in Science’ honored six women researchers from Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Iraq and Palestine. The young laureates were among 100 candidates for this year, noting that L’Oreal program for women in science seeks to ensure that scientific research, no matter the field, is also the product of the intelligence, creativity and passion of women around the globe. The laureates are: Aseel Mahmoud (Iraq), Faten Abu Shoga (Palestine), Hanan Khalil and Shaza Abed (Jordan) and Maya Attiyeh and Leila Mousawi (Lebanon). (For more information, kindly visit the following link: https://goo.gl/DXVf54). Concurrently, Total Group launched its ‘Startupper Challenge’ 2018-2019, in over 60 countries around the world, as part of its efforts to support young people and encourage them to implement their projects in line with the theme, ‘Because ideas need energy to become something great’. The three winners will receive financial assistance and professional mentorship, in addition to a marketing campaign to promote their undertakings. And in a special initiative to support women entrepreneurs, Total introduced a top women entrepreneur category in each participating country to encourage larger involvement of women. Online registration for the competition has started on October 9 and continues until November 13 on startupper.total.com . (Al Akhbar, October 16, 2018)
 

The Syrian interior minister Mohamad Ibrahim Shaar announced yesterday that Syria and Jordan have agreed to open Nassib border crossing as of today, Monday October 15, after being closed for three years. Shaar, told SANA that the joint Syrian-Jordanian technical committee has convened at the Jordan Jaber border crossing checkpoint and agreed on all arrangements and logistics to this effect. In a related context, Al Diyar newspaper reported today that Lebanese trucks carrying made-in-Lebanon goods via Nassib through Syria into Jordan and the GCC countries will be denied entry because the Lebanese government and prime minister Hariri still refuse to sign an agreement with the Syrian government that regulates transit movement. On the issue of banana export to Syria, and after promises by the agriculture minister, Ghazi Zeiater’s to resolve the impasse, An Nahar daily said on Saturday that the Syrian authorities have agreed to re-import the Lebanese bananas into their markets starting October 15 based on a new import mechanism that enforces an extra import tax (between 60 and 65 Syrian Liras for each kilogram of banana, that is USD 130 for each ton). This is part of the so-called added tax for supporting the reconstruction and families of martyrs in Syria.  (An Nahar, Al Diyar, October 13, 15, 2018)
 
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