Former Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, on Friday received at his Bliss office, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, with whom he discussed the current situation and general developments.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

The post Siniora broaches developments with UN’s Wronecka appeared first on Lebanon News Gazette.

Judicial investigator probing the Beirut port blast, Judge Tarek Biyar, has come to his office at the Beirut Justice Palace, our correspondent reported on Wednesday.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

The post JUDGE BITAR ARRIVES AT HIS BEIRUT JUSTICE PALACE OFFICE appeared first on Lebanon News Gazette.

MPs have walked out of the Justice Ministry after a brawl broke out during their meeting with Minister Henry Khoury, our correspondent reported on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, MP Adib Abdel Massih said that during the meeting, law enforcement personnel inside the Ministry assaulted the lawmakers. He said they hit MP Waddah Sadek.

Meanwhile, protesters are trying to remove the metallic gate of the Justice Palace.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

The post MPS WALK OUT OF JUSTICE MINISTER’S OFFICE FOLLOWING BRAWL appeared first on Lebanon News Gazette.

Protesters have set tires ablaze and blocked the Old Sidon-Chiyah road in both directions, in objection to the ailing economic situation and the skyrocketing USD exchange rate against the Lebanese pound, our correspondent reported.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

The post PROTESTERS CUT OFF OLD SIDON-CHIYAH ROAD WITH BURNING TIRES appeared first on Lebanon News Gazette.

Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Monday met at the Grand Serail with United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka.

“We’ve discussed the role of the UN and the activities it could carry out this year, as well as what is required of it,” Wronecka said on emerging.

“The election of a president will have a positive impact on all issues in Lebanon, and we hope that will happen as soon as possible,” the UN diplomat added.

Mikati separately had an audience with President of the General Labor Confederation (GLC) Bechara Asmar.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

The post UN’S WRONECKA VISITS MIKATI, STRESSES POSITIVE IMPACT OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN LEBANON appeared first on Lebanon News Gazette.

Minister of the Interior and Health in the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was dismissed from his position on Sunday, in compliance with a decision issued by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, following his conviction of tax evasion, according to the “Agence France Presse”.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office addressed to the Minister of Interior and Health, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Aryeh Deri, said, “With a heavy heart and great sadness … we are forced to remove you from your position as a minister in the government.”

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

The post NETANYAHU DISMISSES MINISTER OF INTERIOR AND HEALTH, IN COMPLIANCE WITH SUPREME COURT’S DECISION appeared first on Lebanon News Gazette.

House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Friday called on the Finance and Budget, Administration and Justice, Public Health and Labor, and Social Affairs Parliamentary Committees to a joint session on Thursday, January 26, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. to study a draft law within decree No. 13760, which aims at amending some provisions of the Social Security Law and establishing a retirement and social protection system.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

The post BERRI CALLS FOR JOINT SESSION ON THURSDAY TO DISCUSS AMENDMENTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY LAW appeared first on Lebanon News Gazette.

Qatar’s foreign minister said his country should not be dragged into a cash-for-influence corruption scandal at the European Parliament with investigations still ongoing, rejecting allegations of Doha’s involvement as having “no basis”.

“As (the) State of Qatar, we are 100% sure that this premise has no basis. We didn’t see anything (from Belgian authorities). There’s an ongoing investigation. We have to see; we have to wait until the investigation is over,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told CNBC this week.

“This problem is a problem that is happening in Europe for a European institution. It is better for them to look at their own institution and do all the steps required for them and not to drag our country’s name in such a situation,” he added.

Sheikh Mohammed said the Gulf Arab state, one of the world’s top gas exporters, was “disappointed” by and disagreed with a vote by the European Parliament last month to suspend all work on legislation involving Qatar and to bar Qatari representatives from its premises.

“The engagement with the European Union and European Union institutions have been ongoing on geopolitical issues, on energy issues, on a lot of other issues and these kind of resolutions … it’s going to affect the conversation,” he said.

He stressed that Qatar, a major producer of liquefied natural gas, would not politicise energy supplies to Europe under commercial deals with state-owned QatarEnergy.

“We have a track record that we have never missed any shipment, we have never politicised our energy or weaponised our energy as a tool for threatening any other country,” the minister said.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

The post QATAR SHOULD NOT BE DRAGGED INTO EU CORRUPTION SCANDAL, MINISTER TELLS CNBC appeared first on Lebanon News Gazette.

Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros al-Rahi, on Sunday, strongly condemned the arrest of prominent port blast case activist William Noon, saying his detention proved that the judiciary “has become a tool for vengeance, malice and hatred and that security agencies are carrying out police state practices.”

“Aren’t they ashamed of themselves after they requested the arrest of William Noon, the search of his house and his imprisonment, not caring for his tragedies and the tragedies of his family?” al-Rahi said in his Sunday Mass sermon.

Turning to the presidential file, the Patriarch called on lawmakers to “stop destroying the country and its institutions and impoverishing citizens” and instead to “elect a president according to the constitution.”

The new president “must come to give, not to take,” he added.

“It is shameful that Arab and foreign countries are holding meetings and consulting in order to help Lebanon and elect a president while parliament is preventing voting, hiding behind the heresy of securing a prior agreement on the president,” al-Rahi went on to say.

“They are stabbing our democratic parliamentary system in the heart,” the patriarch decried.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

The post AL-RAHI: NOON’S ARREST SHOWED THAT JUDICIARY HAS BECOME TOOL FOR VENGEANCE appeared first on Lebanon News Gazette.

Hilton Metropolitan Palace hosted last night local senior officials, foreign dignitaries, celebrities and key representatives from the local press to the occasion of the hotel’s recent re-opening.

Accompanied by live musical performances, guests were invited to enjoy a selection of food and beverage options curated by Hilton’s world-class chefs.

Hilton Beirut Metropolitan Palace is owned by Al Habtoor Groupand is located in the heart of Lebanon’s cosmopolitan capital of Beirut, in Sin El Fil district.

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Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

The post HILTON BEIRUT METROPOLITAN PALACE MARKS RE-OPENING WITH CELEBRATORY EVENT appeared first on Lebanon News Gazette.