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Under the patronage of MP Ziad Hawat and in cooperation with the Municipality of Jbeil and Bank of Beirut, the old harbor of Byblos saw on Friday the opening of the 5th edition of the Byblos en Blanc et Rose (BBR) wine festival. On the occasion, the general director of the ministry of agriculture, Louis Lahoud, boasted the high standards and quality of the Lebanese wine which promoted it to the level of ambassador to world capitals of Europe and the US, and China, soon. This, Lahoud maintained, is a result of the perseverance of local wine producers, who despite difficulties, managed to force their presence locally and internationally. Hawat, for his part, declared from Jbeil the launch of the wine tourism initiative, with this year’s slogan being, ‘supporting wine tourism in Lebanon’. This initiative, Hawat stressed, shall offer visitors the chance to explore all the Lebanese provinces, hence bolstering the wine sector. This year, Hawat said, the Lebanese wine will land in Denmark between November 4 and 7, given the importance of the Scandinavian markets, in addition to upcoming exhibitions in August over all Lebanese territories.  (Al Diyar, July 7, 2019)
 

In its issue of today, An Nahar shed light on the work of the Legal Movement NGO which provides services to marginalized groups in both Mount Lebanon, the North and Akkar, covering around 76 morally and physically vulnerable cases. Among services offered by the association, the executive director, Antonia Malfi, mentioned protection, legal counseling and judicial representation, pointing out that services are not restricted to helping marginalized Lebanese women and girls, but also extends to provision of protection to LGBT persons and migrant domestic workers. Malfi distributed the cases as follows: 66% of the cases are females, 34% males, 3% children, 79% adults, 19% racial discrimination, 75% personal status cases and 10% slavery and forced labor. She highlighted a few examples treated by her association, including the case of a Lebanese mother who, with her husband and 9-year old boy, are considered stateless persons. The woman, Malfi said, is subjected to verbal and physical violence from her in-laws which forced her to leave her house and reach out to the association. The latter filed a lawsuit and won an alimony for the battered wife, in addition to the custody of her child. Another case relates to the rape of an Ethiopian MWDW, where the association filed a grievance to the prosecution on charges of rape and sexual abuse. (An Nahar, July 8, 2019)
 

The ministry of social affairs, jointly with the Union of Municipalities of Baalbaq, and in cooperation with the Baalbaq and Surroundings Development Association, kicked off on Friday the Flowers and Crafts Festival 2019. The 3-day event titled, ‘our joy is a flower not a bullet’, was held in Ras el Ain under the patronage of Baalbaq -Hermel mayor, Bashir Khodr, and included workshops (embroidery, pottery and accessories) for kids and women. The minister of tourism, Avedis Guidanian, toured the participating pavilions, as well as the cafes, recreational parks and restaurants sitting along the banks of Ras el Ain River. “We are prepared to face all challenges and to announce that tourism… shall live on, and so shall coexistence,” Guidanian said. On the impact of the state’s austerity scheme on planned festivals, the minister explained, “the state and festival organizers might be experiencing a financial emergency, but I repeatedly say that festivals are a key catalyst for internal tourism. Likewise, Khodr maintained that this year’s motto should be ‘restoring confidence in Baalbaq”, hinting to the improved security demonstrated by the beautiful flowers fair we are inaugurating today, as he said. (Al Diyar, July 8, 2019)
 

The plight of Lebanese truck drivers at the border crossing with Syrian an Jordan remain. The latest disturbing news, was the death early this week of Lebanese trucker, Hassan Janbeyn, on the Jordanian border after ten days of awaiting, a development which triggered the outrage of the Union of Syndicates of Land Transport.  It is to be recalled that the crisis within the land transport sector because of high transit fees at the Syrian border, was festering, thus earlier prompting the Union to decide to take to the streets last week and to close the Lebanese-Syrian borders at the Masna3 border crossing, according to An Nahar newspaper. The protest subsequently postponed to pave the way for further negotiations. The announcement by Syrian prime minister Imad Khamis last April on reduction of the cost of land transport for Lebanese trucks (https://bit.ly/2XltOJa ), failed to calm the situation as An Nahar today reported that the fees are have not changed since then. Yesterday, the land transport union met urgently at the Labor Union premises to announce a strike for Thursday, July 11, if no action was taken by the government to resolve the impasse with Syria and Jordan.. (Al Diyar, An Nahar, July 5, 2019)
 
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In a special feature today, Al Akhbar highlighted the issue of child marriage which is rampant within Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon. The phenomenon, Al Akhbar wrote, is not a novelty in the Syrian community. But the curse of war has aggravated the situation raising the rate from 3% to 13% in the beginning of this year, according to the First Sharia Judge in Damascus, Mahmoud Ma’rawi. The majority of child marriage cases are completed in accordance with ‘private (‘urfi) contracts’, Al Akhbar said, adding that the rates appear to be greater among displaced Syrian communities in the camps on Lebanese territory. For more insight, Al Akhbar spoke to Hayat Mirshad, the campaigns and communications officer at the Lebanese Democratic Women’s Gathering, who, citing UNICEF figures, estimated the marriage rate of minors in the Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon at 27% between 2017 and 2018, pointing to the current year’s rate of 41%. For her part, the social activist, Rawda Abdel Kafi, explained the reasons behind the rising number of girl minor marriages, including fear from harassment combined with the difficult economic conditions. The concerned parents believe their daughter’s marriage could mean an upgraded life compared to life in the tent, Abdel Kafi said. She pointed out that in the event of the death or absence of the father, the mother is forced to marry her daughters to alleviate the burdens of the household. (Al Akhbar, July 5, 2019)

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