News updates

In its issue of June 9, Al Akhbar spotlighted artist Fatima Abdallah who creates small miniature paintings on pebbles she collects from Beirut shores. All artworks are marketed via her social media ‘Art and More’ page. The idea, Abdallah boasted, came up with the start of the compulsory quarantine and the lockdown imposed due to the corona pandemic. When gift and gadget shops closed, Fatima said, she decided to use her drawing talent that is diverse compared to the hardest drawing techniques or painting styles. She opted to start with small stones or pebbles, and moved to small wooden keychains for doors and cars. Speaking to Al Akhbar, Abdallah stated that the dire economic conditions have limited the purchasing power of people and their ability to buy expensive gifts which prompted her to find a substitute that fits all budgets. After being disinfected and packed as a gift, pieces are sold online at prices that vary from LBP 5,000 to LBP 10,000, plus of course the cost of delivery. (Al Akhbar, June 9, 2020)
 

Notwithstanding the easing of the lockdown due to Coronavirus around the world, Kuwaiti- Lebanese film director, Farah Al-Hashem Saturday met the public in a live broadcast via CAP Culture Instagram account. The director of ‘Tarweeqa in Beirut’, talked about producing films on a tight budget. Noting, that CAP Culture is virtual Kuwaiti platform for technical, cultural and intellectual events that contributes to creating a virtual space for reading and dialogue. (Al Akhbar, June 13, 2020)
 

In its issue of today, Al Akhbar reported that the number of Ethiopian migrant domestic workers staging a sit-in at their country’s embassy is increasing. Ethiopian MWDWs, to recall, are protesting against the consulate’s decision forcing them to pay for the 14-day quarantine( https://bit.ly/2YqbZep). The rise in the number of protestors, Al Akhbar wrote, is not due to the growing number of supporters to those workers, but rather to the fact that many “sponsors” or employers have relinquished their MWDWs and left them to their fate. This came in the wake of the unprecedented surge in the exchange rate of the US dollar and the resulting incurred costs on the workers, and on employers who are now unable to pay their salaries in the dollar. On the subject, Al Akhbar spoke to the lawyer of Human Trafficking Section at Kafa organization, Mohanna Isaac, who stated that if “only 5% of a total of 250,000 MWDWs had to put up with unwanted residency or housing troubles, it will be a humanitarian disaster,” as she said. She warned of the dire consequences in this regard, noting that the calamitous situation is forcing a large number of the migrant domestic workers to choose between staying with their employers and forcibly renewing their contracts or ending up in the streets. This, Isaac maintained, will eventually cause tension between the two parties, leading sometimes to ill-treatment of the workers or to a rise in the incidence of suicide, violence, homelessness or emotional disturbance. (Al Akhbar, June 12, 2020)
 

Hearst Magazines publishing company announced on June 9 the appointment of Lebanese journalist Samira Nasr as the new editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar US to succeed Glenda Bailey, according to US-based Arab News. Nasr will be the first Lebanese to hold this post in the history of the 153-year old publication, and is expected to start her new job as of July 6 where she will manage digital and print publishing. Recalling, that Nasr has served as the executive fashion director at Vanity Fair magazine. On her new role, Nasr boasted: “As a proud daughter of a Lebanese father and Trinidad mother, I have an all-encompassing view of the world anchored in the conviction that representation counts.” “My lens is by nature colorful, hence it is crucial to begin a new chapter in the history of Bazaar by spotlighting all inspiring voices of our time,” Nasr added. In conclusion, she pledged to work to give all voices a platform to recount stories that were not told, as she put it. (Liban 24, June 10, 2020)
 

In a statement yesterday, the media office of the president of the council of minister categorically denied all that was circulated on social media that PM Diab’s wife Nuwwar Mawlawi is receiving a salary for her appointment as VP of NCLW and in the higher committee for education. Mawlawi, the statement clarified, has volunteered for the two tasks out of conviction in the positive impact these posts can have on the country. (Al Diyar, June 10, 2020)
 

Renowned Chilean writer Isabel Allende said that the coronavirus pandemic has exposed blunt inequalities that are currently fueling protests in the US and around the world. She said it is up to the younger generations to build a post-Corona world based on gender and racial equality. “The pandemic is teaching us to look at our priorities and face our reality. It is teaching us that we are all one big family, and that what happens to one human being in Wuhan touches the entire planet and all of us (…). There are no walls that separate people,” Allende maintained. “The patriarchal system will come to an end. For these brutish men ruling the world will be drained and a new world will arise in which men and women equally share running the planet,” she added, concluding: “We should not let violence and greed rule the world, but solidarity, compassion and hope. This is the world that we crave for.”(An Nahar, June 10, 2020)
 

The minister of labor, Lamia Yamin, disclosed on June 8 that she was keen on reforming the Kafala (sponsorship) system in Lebanon. Yamin, who was speaking after a meeting with the EU Ambassador to Lebanon, Ralph Tarraf, pointed out that her ministry has taken the necessary measures to start the said plan. These include the following: completion of a unified work contract; launch of a hotline to receive and address migrant workers’ complaints; preparedness to conclude agreements with labor-sending countries to regulate foreign labor force and combat trafficking in persons, and introducing amendments to the labor law to include the MWDWs’ work as part of the decent work strategy. Other steps will follow accordingly, Yamin confirmed. In turn, Tarraf stressed EU readiness to provide support needed to ensure the success of above measures. (NNA, June 8, 2020)