Subscribe to newsletter

Custom Search 1

You are here

Home

News

English

Cannabis prospers in Beqaa amidst calls for legalisation

17-10-2017

Al Diyar newspaper spotlighted today the vast plains cultivated with cannabis in East and West Baalbaq up to the North Beqaa and the remote areas of Jrud Hermel, as well as, on the sidewalks to the highway and the entrances to the villages and towns in the area. The visitor to the region, Al Diyar wrote, can clearly see cannabis growers racing to pick the harvest before the rain, knowing that the produce needs to be completely dry ahead of processing in the months of December and January. The cannabis crop has invaded the grasslands of Baalbaq-Hermel not because “we are outlaws but because of the collapse of the seasons”, said the mayor of Majdalyoun, president of the Syndicate of Potato Farmers in the Province of Baalbaq-Hermel, Talal Kheiriddine. Farmers chose to grow weed for several reasons, Kheiriddine stated. First, due to its low-cost production that barely needs any capital, and second, to compensate for the losses of the potato and apple season slump, the fact that drove farmers to uproot their trees and replace them with cannabis, Kheiriddine explained. To know more on the subject, Al Diyar spoke to a number of farmers. Wael Omar, for example, made obvious that all those plains of cannabis are a result of the State’s negligence and lack of interest in legalizing the cultivation of the plant which, as he said, raises its prices. Ali Arrar, for his part, said that rural inhabitants tend to grow hashish to alleviate the chronic poverty brought upon them by the lax attitude of the government towards the people of the area. The absence of a proper agricultural policy has driven farmers to grow weed, he added. Similarly, Mohamad Hazimeh, said that the government is not treating the subject seriously, pointing to the alternative agriculture project adopted since 1992, which he dismissed as a “joke”. (Al Diyar, October 17, 2017)

 

Previous related news: 
Cannabis growers in Beqaa slam the government


 

Share on

Bayt.com posts over 42,000 new jobs

17-10-2017

The leading job portal in the Middle East, Bay.com ( https://www.bayt.com/ar/lebanon/) concluded the third quarter of the year 2017 with the announcement of 42 thousand new jobs announced between July and September. This allows job seekers across the MENA region to explore the opportunities available on the website every day and apply online, a press release said. The number of new jobs advertised on Bay.com during the third quarter of the current year represents nearly 29.1% increase in online job postings compared to the first quarter of 2017 and a 13.72% against the second quarter, according to the press release, which added, that the number of jobs announced online increased by 21.25% overall. In this respect, the director of Bayt.com, Suheil Masri, said: “With some 30,000 résumés registered on our site, we step up our efforts and create novel strategies to generate new career prospects and make them easily accessible.” (Al Mustaqbal, October 17, 2017)

Share on

Egyptian universities ban students from wearing "indecent" clothes!

16-10-2017

In its issue of today, Al Hayat newspaper drew attention to the controversial issue of female university students attire. This, Al Hayat wrote, has driven the dean of agriculture at Alexandria University, Tarek Serour, during a tour to the campus, to ask students wearing indecent or provocative clothes that incite sexual harassment to leave. A statement by Serour identified the dress code which prohibits wearing ripped jeans, tight-fitting or revealing clothes. Defending his decision, the dean said it “seeks to prevent sexual sedition, harassment and arousing men’s instincts”. From Tanta, to Halwan and from the veil to the ‘jilbab’ (Muslim dress), an unending hullabaloo fueled only by female students’ outfits, AL Hayat said. The University of Halwan President, Dr. Majid Najm, confirmed above line of thought, and considered that the sanctity of the learning environment prohibits indecent dressing out of tradition and customs. But the issue, the newspaper went on to say, did not stop at the ripped jeans which allegedly arouses sexuality and jeopardizes the principles of morality, but also indexed the makeup. To this effect, the dean of the faculty of specific education at Menofiya University, Hanan Yashar, banned from entering the campus any female student wearing over-done makeup in addition to inappropriate clothes. (Al Hayat, October 16, 2017)

Share on

NCLW calls for lifting CEDAW reservations on nationality

16-10-2017

In cooperation with ESCWA Center for Women, the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) organized on Friday a workshop entitled ‘International mechanisms for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women: Text and judicial application’. On the occasion, NCLW president Claudine Aoun Rokuz said gender equality in Lebanon, which is the first goal of the Commission, remains unfounded, due to injustices and prejudiced practices against women rooted in legislations inherited from a cumulative history of poverty, ignorance and oppression which are inferior to women. Aoun drew attention to some of the key existing mechanisms needed to realize above goals, including the Convention of the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The latter, Aoun reminded, has been ratified by Lebanon back in 1996 but with reservations on imparting equal rights a par with men to grant nationality to their children and “their status in the family as wife and a mother”. The NCLW, Aoun noted, strives to persuade members of Parliament to lift said reservations that are no longer useful to society, as she said. The sessions addressed many topics, namely, international mechanisms on the respect and protection of human rights; the role of the justice ministry in safeguarding human rights in general, and the rights of women; in addition to a brief on CEDAW provisions and Lebanon’s national responsibilities and commitments to this end. The workshop issued a number of recommendations binding criminal judges to use existing conventions in relation to cases of discrimination against women. On the other hand, the minister of state for administrative development, Inaya Izzedine, the only woman minister, disclosed to Al Diyar that she is working on the creation of a ‘citizen/State reconciliation’, because the relationship, as she said, is that of mistrust. Izzedine mentioned that this could be realized through several schemes, most notably the digital government project, but that requires a political decision. She also stressed the need for inter-ministerial cooperation to end corruption and all sorts of political and sectarian nepotism that serve like a buffer to perpetrators. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, October 16, 2017(

Share on

Coming up next: Saudi women as taxi drivers

16-10-2017

Following King Salman’s decree of last month that allowed Saudi women to drive within the country, (: https://goo.gl/yiALtz), and 8 months from implementing the Royal Order, a group of Saudi women are bracing up to sit behind the wheels as cab drivers. In this regard, some 30 housewives and female employees enrolled in an introductory recruitment session set off by the Khobar-based ride-hailing company, Careem, boasting a car rental with a driver service application. On the projected session, Nawal Abdel Jabbar told AFP that after the historic long sought-for decision by King Salman, “I wanted to come here and prepare myself to become a taxi driver (Captinah).” “It is a privilege and honor for the woman to be liberated and become self-reliant,” Jabbar said. The Royal decision, she added, will give go-ahead for more similar steps in defense of women, including combating harassment. For its part, Princess Nourah Bint Abdelrahman University, which presents itself as the largest university for women in the world, announced on Twitter the opening of a women-only driving school. Similarly, Saudi female activist Manal Cherif who for years advocated the rights of women to drive in the Kingdom, said she believes “the time when women were forced to remain silent has gone forever.” Cherif tweeted saying that she has woken up to what she described as a New Saudi Arabia. (An Nahar, October 13, 14, 2017)

Previous related news: 
It is never too late: Women in Saudia allowed to drive!
 

Share on

Demanding rights for rural women on their International Day

16-10-2017

On the International Day of Rural Women (15 October), Al Mustaqbal newspaper addressed the rural women of Lebanon currently engaged in picking olives and making olive oil to sustain their households and provide education for their children in schools and college. Despite the supportive roles of relevant international training programs and cooperative associations, rural women are in need of more empowerment in order to effectively contribute to sustainable development and to improve their livelihoods and communities, Al Mustaqbal wrote. This is largely needed in the agriculture, agro-food and crafts industries, Al Mustaqbal said, pointing out that the ideal method of backing is in confronting obstacles blocking their potential, namely in the acquisition of agricultural land, the activation of credit, marketing and mentoring services, in addition to the endorsement of laws that substantiate their rights, noting that provisions of Article 7 of the Labor Law have clearly excluded agricultural laborers. The newspaper cited an FAO report on the International Day of Rural Women which considered that the realization of the 2030 Development Plan, in which Lebanon is involved, depends on unleashing the hidden rural potential, and hence, helps transforming rural economies, rather than reinforcing migration to urban areas which are struggling to cope with record urban growth. (Al Mustaqbal, October 16, 2017)

Share on

Government’s actions in favour of apple wheat and barley farmers 

14-10-2017

Following the finance minister’s tweet mentioning the disbursement of the second LBP 20 billion installment in compensation to apple growers (https://goo.gl/uQsrS7), the president of the Lebanese Farmers Association, Antoine Howayek, said the allocated amounts have not been transferred to the farmers bank accounts, warning that the “government officials are not to be trusted.” The money, Howayek stated, has been delivered to the Higher Relief Council but not advanced to the farmers to date. He hoped there would be no deductions on the pledged compensations especially that farmers are anticipating new marketing difficulties concerning the current harvest that has been picked and rushed to cold storage. Meanwhile, the minister of trade and economy, Ra2ed Khury, issued a circular No. 1981/9 on Wednesday indicating the dates of delivery of the local wheat and barley supplies for the season 2017. The dates are as follows: South Lebanon and Nabatieh 17/10/2017 until 16/11/2017 and the Beqaa and Baalbaq Hermel, Akkar and the North from 17/10/2017 until 31/12/2017. (An Nahar, October 12, 2017)

 Previous related news: 
Compensation to apple farmers finally released

 

Share on

17% quota for women in Social Economic Council

14-10-2017

After 14 years of suspension, the Cabinet appointed on Thursday the 71 new bureau members of the Social Economic Council representative of various productive sectors. The prime minister Saad Hariri noted an activated role of women in the revived Council with the naming of 12 females in the Bureau, making up 17% of the Council. The appointed women are: Samira Hussein Assi representing the publishers; Marie Nicola Nassif for the tenants; Liliane Ghazi Jaber and Zahia Rizk Franjieh for the charities and social institutions; Fatmeh Iqbal Murad and Wafaa Halim Abed for women unions; Noura Gobril, Marie Louis George Baboyan, Ghina Ahmad Mawas and Greta Habib Saab for the intellectuals and specialists in the social, economic, cultural, environmental and artistic fields, and Hala Reymond Hariz representing the Lebanese expats. For the complete list of names, please visit the following link: http://www.almustaqbal.org/node/98335. The minister of state for women’s affairs, Jean Ogassapian hailed the high share of females achieved in the Council, stressing efforts to raise the representation in the different public institutions until realizing the anticipated women’s quota in the Legislative. Likewise, the president of the Lebanese Chambers, chief of the Chamber of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, Mohamad Choukeir, commended the appointment of 12 women in the Council, and pressed the need for a larger share in the next appointments to be made by the government. (Al Mustaqbal, An Nahar, Al Diyar, October 13, 2017)

Share on

Male dominance in LU student councils

14-10-2017

In its issue of today, Al Akhbar newspaper drew attention to student elections absent for 9 successive years at the state-run Lebanese University (LU). Despite the unjustified suspension, Al Akhbar wrote, some student councils at various branches of the LU are elected every year influenced by ‘favoritism’ and 'nepotism', the Lebanese style. The irony, the newspaper said, is that the overwhelming majority of the ‘heirs’ in the councils are males, or as some female students like to describe as ‘male supremacy’, while noting that the intensity of dominance varies from one university to another. The newspaper pointed out that in the last university elections before the ‘comatic’ disruption, the percentage of females did not exceed 25%, which reveals the size and nature of female student political engagement then. On the subject, Al Akhbar spoke to Farah, a female student at the first branch of the LU who has been appointed by the president of the student council to be responsible for ‘the sisters’ section inside the 14-member council. The most disturbing thing, Farah told the reporter, is discrimination and male favoritism, in addition to centralized decision-making and preponderance of males on the council membership. Members, Farah explained, are selected annually in an ambiguous manner in the absence of elections. “The situation will not change until legitimate and standard elections are made that impart female students the right to run for the council’s membership and presidency, thus breaking the status quo,” said Farah. (Al Akhbar, October 13, 2017)

Share on

Lebanon, Egypt strive to protect children from early marriage

12-10-2017

The problem of child marriage continues to haunt the Arab communities. The Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering (LWDG) launched during a press conference at the Beirut Bar Association yesterday a campaign entitled ‘Yes for a law to protect children from early marriage’. In her address, LWDG chief Leila Mroweh stressed the legal protection against forced child marriage for girls under 18 years, and mentioning risks associated with that, in the forefront of which is the violation of their innocent childhood. For her part, the president of the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) Claudine Aoun Rokuz considered the marriage of minors as a form of white slavery or human trafficking for it constitutes a sexual abuse or exploitation of the underage girl’s body. Rokuz disclosed that the NCLW, in cooperation with the minister of state for women’s affairs and involved civil society group, have decided to continue dialogue with religious leaders and scholars to persuade them to adopt a unified minimum age for marriage which is 18 years for both males and females. She also underlined the importance of national awareness raising cautioning against health risks related to child marriage, as well as campaigns targeting the Legislative in the direction of endorsement of a law that bans the marriage of minors. In the same vein, Al Hayat newspaper brought light to the endemic phenomenon of child marriage in rural Egypt, and in the poor neighborhoods and slums. Nearly 18.3 million persons are married under the age of 18, making up 14% of the total marriages in the North African state annually, Al Hayat reported. These shocking figures prompted the Egyptian President, Abdul Fattah Sisi, to order a survey of the phenomenon and ways to confront it, Al Hayat wrote. (Al Hayat, An Nahar, Al Mustaqbal, October 12, 2017)

Share on

Pages


Subscribe to RSS - News