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Burkini banned in Tripoli

29-6-2017

Al Akhbar highlighted today the ban of Noura Zaim from swimming at the Mira Mar Resort Hotel and Spa in Tripoli for wearing the full-body burkini. The story sparked wide controversy which turned into a case of public opinion similar to the one instigated in some European countries, as if the discrimination bug has reached Lebanon, Al Akhbar sarcastically wrote. Viewpoints and attitudes on the issue were divided on the social media. While some supported the resort’s action as being subject to the owner’s position, others condemned it for contradicting the principles of equality and violating personal freedom. They further described it as a racist practice against ‘muhajabat’ (veiled women), comparable to the veto on the entry of domestic workers or brown-skin people to the majority of beaches in the country. Moreover, some expressed their denunciation of such measures for being enforced on ‘public spaces’ where the law clearly guarantees free access to public beaches. Al Akhbar said that in the midst of this mayhem, the government shies away from effecting the law. The minister of tourism has refrained from commenting on the matter, while the president of the owners of beach resorts backed the action taken by Mira Mar, which he maintained, has the right to impose its own system that conforms to the backgrounds and temperaments of its customers, Al Akhbar said. For his part, former minister of interior, Ziad Barud, voiced his objection to the way private institutions are enforcing their own private rules, stating that they have no right to force a dress code on people, except inside halls that fall within private property and outside public spaces. (Al Akhbar, June 29, 2017)

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Timmy Hayek emerging Lebanese fashion designer

29-6-2017

L’Orient Le Jour featured today the career path of emerging Lebanese fashion designer, Timmy Hayek. Despite her young age (28 years), the newspaper wrote, Hayek proved her talent in the industry. Since her study and graduation in fashion design in 2012 from the UK Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, Hayek did not have a day off. She was trained by famous designer Mark Jacobs at the Paris premises of Louis Vuitton back in 2011, and later by the renowned French Charles Du Castelbajac. For her graduation project, she moved to London to gain skill-based experience with Mary Katrantzou and Alexander McQueen, Hayek told the newspaper’s reporter. To recall, in 2010 Hayek won the prize of liberal art textiles and her design was sold to the legendary British store ‘Liberty’. Hayek disclosed that she launched her first women collection, carrying her name, with Stars Fashion Forward Dubai in 2014 and opened her first boutique shop in Beirut in 2015, located in Monot Street of Ashrafieh. (L’Orient Le Jour, June 24, 2017)

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Identifying youths’ talents and helping in realising their goals

28-6-2017

In its issue of yesterday, l'Orient le Jour wrote about a project entitled "Nawaya Network for Social Communication" (https://www.nawaya.org) which was launched by a young American-Lebanese, Zeina Saab. The project seeks to identify and support youth talents to reach their potentials. Saab told the newspaper that the idea of the project came up in 2009 when she was working with an international organisation in Shmestar. Then, she met with 19 young women who showed her various designs for dresses that they had created. Saab realised that these young women had a talent for clothing design but lacked the opportunity to find suitable avenues for their talents. This encouraged her to set up the network in 2012 with national and international funding including UNICEF, Patchi, Global Fund for Children and King Abdullah II Fund for Development . By 2015, she was able to help 300 individual in developing their capacities and reaching their goals. Currently, Nawaya is preparing to launch a new project, the Impact Lab, with funding from UNICEF. The project will help unemployed youth to engage in public life. Beneficiaries will be selected following week long field visits to various regions in Lebanon during which meetings will be held and discussions will take place with youth on how to solve problems facing their regions. (L'Orient le Jour, June 28th 2017)

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Paola Sakr, an engineer in recycling household wastes

28-6-2017

In its issue of June 20th, l'Orient le Jour wrote about the first experiments of 22 year old interior designer, Paola Sakr, who graduated last year from ALBA with high distinction with a focus on environment and social development in her projects. In her interview, Sakr spoke about her preferred designs namely special cutlery and crockery sets for visually impaired individuals. She was inspired to design this after speaking with a visually impaired artist who told her about the difficulties he faces on properly using cutlery and crockery. She also spoke about her series of cement vases which will be on display next week and which were made from recycled cement discarded by construction sites. Sakr also spoke about her experiences in upcycling coffee residues and old newspapers into canisters and kitchen utensils. (L'Orient le Jour, June 20th 2017)

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Chez Maurice sex trafficker out on bail

23-6-2017

Nearly one year after the discovery of the most dangerous sex trafficking ring led by a Lebanese businessman MG owner of Chez Maurice and Silver nightclubs in Jounieh east of Beirut, who seized and forced more than 75 girls (mostly Syrians) into prostitution for years (news: http://www.lkdg.org/ar/node/14941), one of the enforcers, Imad Rihawi, was released from jail on Wednesday on bail (LBP 20 million). The next hearing was scheduled for July 7. On the release, Al Akhbar newspaper in its issue of today cited some jurists as saying that the Judiciary and the State were not serious in contending with such a grave criminal case. The Court, they believed, could have taken stricter measures, such as, setting a higher bail amount, holding questioning sessions to keep the convict in detention, or not deferring the court proceedings. On the subject, the head of the Trafficking and Exploitation Unit at KAFA, Ghada Jabbour, disclosed that “not one session of questioning has been held to date, which points to an absence of serious investigations that match the gravity of the case.” Jabbour voiced her fear over a possibility of procrastinating, and eventually laying the case to rest. In the same vein, the General Directorate of State Security busted yesterday a prostitution network in Zahleh, Bekaa, and arrested 4 Syrian girls and one Lebanese man following surveillance by security forces. Another underage Syrian girl who was present with them was referred to the Zahleh Police Station and declared as missing. The adult members of the ring were referred to competent judiciary for further questioning. (Al Akhbar, Al Diyar, June 23, 2017)

Related news:
Accusatory decision against ‘Chez Maurice’ human trafficking network in Junieh
75 Syrian girls freed from a Lebanese human trafficking mafia located in Jounieh

 

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World food tasting day in Zahleh

23-6-2017

The municipality of Zahleh-Moualaqa and Taanayel in the Beqaa organized on Sunday a festival to mark the International Food Tasting Day which falls on June 18 of each year. Under the motto ‘the art of tasting…a Zahleh inspiration’, some 40 tourism companies, professional chefs, Arak and wine producers, as well as, artists and musicians from Zahleh gathered to celebrate the day in the famous Poets Garden. The fiesta went on until late in the night where visitors relished the Bekaa town’s mouthwatering delicacies and saw the honoring of owners of some of the best Zahleh restaurants who introduced the famous mezza to the world more than 75 years back. To note, Zahleh has been selected as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy in the framework of the UN agency’s Creative Cities Network during the Beijing Conference, October 21, 2013, allying itself with some 17 other cities across the world. (Al Diyar, June 23, 2017)

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Business incubators needed in rural areas

22-6-2017

Entrepreneurship in Lebanon is mainly centered around, Beirut, contrary to rural areas which cannot host big conferences, business accelerators or incubators, or ambitious financiers who wish to invest outside the capital, according to Al Akhbar newspaper. The latter drew attention to the former Chouf Entrepreneur Association which has expanded to become Rural Entrepreneurs, which, Al Akbar wrote, decided to change the equation by inviting all the above to rural regions in order to create a technical, legal and financial friendly environment for entrepreneurs in the area. Two years after its inception, the Chouf Association noticed that the hitches and obstacles confronting local entrepreneurs could be streamlined to all remote regions in the country for they face the same challenges. The first of these challenges, Al Akhbar observed, is that Beirut seizes the entire components of the system embracing knowledge-based economy, like incubators and accelerators, investment funds and business centers. The second key problem is that local capital, if accessible, is channeled to traditional businesses due to poor vision and access to the technological future. This, the newspaper went on to say, has eventually kept back investment in technology and in the commonplace mobile applications. Also, the parental pressure on their children to pursue classical career options presents another impediment to setting up incubators in rural neighborhoods. Based on this reality, Al Akhbar concluded, Rural Entrepreneurs sought to act as a bridge to major relevant events held in Beirut and as a small platform for larger regional initiatives. As such, it focused on 4 programs to achieve its objectives, notably: capacity building, promotion of rural entrepreneurship, support of SMEs and activation of the role of women in entrepreneurship. (Al Akhbar, June 22, 2017)

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Young men subjectively banned from summer beach resorts

21-6-2017

The country is witnessing a new phenomenon with the start of summer, Al Akhbar daily reported. Some beach resorts in Lebanon have adopted a preemptive policy preventing the entry to its premises of any group of youth (males as compared to age group) on the pretext that “they could provoke troubles”, the newspaper wrote, noting that “to be a male no more designates strength or worth in a society which is still dominated by male chauvinism in many areas.” While sounding the opinion of a number of summer resorts, Al Akhbar noted many similarities. For example, Janna Sur Mer manager, Bashar Ghali, explained that the decision to bar entry of ‘men within a group’ is a precautionary measure to avoid any problems that might occur. “There is no absolute solid ground for their rejection. We are the ones to determine if a bunch of males can or cannot go in,” Ghali stated. For his part, Aqua Island owner, Abdallah Jurdi, pointed out that men alone are not allowed in the complex because “they provoke trouble, unless they were presentable and from a specific age group,” as he put it. On the subject, Al Akhbar spoke to the chief of syndicate of owners of beaches and resorts in Lebanon, Jean Beiruti, who did not deny these practices, noting that only 20% of resorts tend to apply them. “Such places might have their own privacy canons, like they could be family-only beaches,” he said, adding, that every institution has its own ‘made known’ policy in such that they do not surprise their visitors.” (Al Akhbar, June 20, 2017)

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APEAL grants scholarships to Gasparian and Dallal

21-6-2017

The Association for the Promotion and Exhibition of the Arts in Lebanon (APEAL) announced in a press conference yesterday Natasha Gasparian and Miriam Dallal as winners of APEAL/Maria Geagea Arida scholarships for 2017. The laureates were reportedly selected for their academic and professional accomplishments as well as for their distinctive oral presentations. On the occasion, APEAL secretary and scholarship committee member, Nada Bulos Asaad, said this year’s awards have a special significance. For besides Dallal’s felicitous scholarship to follow-up her doctoral degree at the French Sorbonne University, Gasparian will be among the first students to enroll in the master’s program in art history and curating at AUB this fall. Asaad pointed out that the initiative by a number of universities in Lebanon to introduce new curricula to arts is “great news for the country.” “It falls in line with APEAL’s undertakings and objectives,” Asaad said. Promoting arts and artists, she added, will motivate Lebanese youth to pursue higher studies in the field. (An Nahar, June 21, 2017)

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Ray Daher cultivates olives, contributes to eco-tourism

21-6-2017

In its edition of June 16, L’Orient Le Jour featured the career life of Ray Daher who owns and cultivates vast olive orchards, as well as manages guesthouses of her own design, in the northern town of Arjis, Zghorta. The 24-year-old engineer, daughter of LBCI director general, Pierre Daher, who holds a degree in architecture and interior decoration, told the newspaper that she did not want to work in the field, and chose instead to become an economic analyst at the TV station. Later on, she decided to kick off her own business and revive the forsaken family legacy in her home village which includes 5 deserted houses and some 70,000 meters of olive plantations. The idea, Daher boasted, started with the need to protect a total of one thousand olive trees and plant 201 olive seedlings. She bought the agricultural machinery and tractors to this end and hired assistants to keep the job, Daher explained to L’Orient Le Jour reporter. In the first year, production reached nearly 19 thousand kilograms of olives that were directly sold to olive oil producers, she said. As for the remaining olives tossed on the ground, Daher explained that she recruited skilled village women for making soap from olive oil. On the uninhabited abodes, Daher pointed out that she used one to house the oil press and the others as hostels to promote eco-tourism. (L’Orient Le Jour, June 16, 2017)

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