Six Noteworthy Stories You Might Have Missed in Lebanon This Past Week (3/16)
You’re busy, we get it. No sweat. Here’s a look at some of the most important news stories you might have missed from the past week.
1. Alawites Targeted in Spat of Tripoli Shootings (Photo Tweeted by @JeanAssy)
On Thursday morning, a man identified as Walid Barhoum was shot in the northern port city of Tripoli. The Lebanese Army was deployed shortly after. It’s not clear if Barhoum’s wounds were deadly. In recent weeks, Alawite residents of Jabal Mohsen have been the target of shooting attacks, with gunmen hitting a number of men in their legs.
An Alawite was shot dead in Tripoli’s Qobbe area on January 17, sparking a round of deadly sectarian clashes between the rival Sunni-populated Bab al-Tebbaneh area and the neighboring Jabal Mohsen.
2. Man Arrested for Trying to Smuggle Hash to Brother Inside Courtroom (Photo via 420hash.com)
A Lebanese man was arrested inside a Beirut courtroom Monday after trying to slip hash to his brother who was on trial for robbery and drug charges, security officials said.
According to Al-Akbhar newspaper), the man, identified by his initials, J.A., asked the judge if he could shake his brother’s hand at the end of the court session. The judge granted the request, allowing an unspecified amount of hash to be handed off. Police quickly realized what was going on and arrested the other brother.
Thirteen nuns who were kidnapped last year from the historic Syrian town of Maaloula were released late Sunday, according to the Daily Star newspaper.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television reported that the handover took place in the northeastern town of Arsal. The nuns were reported missing last year after rebel forces, seized the town of Maaloula, about 60 kilometers northeast of the capital of Damascus.
After their release, one of the Greek-Orthodox nuns thanked President Bashar al0Assad and Lebanon’s security agency for mediating the deal. She also thanked the Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani. She also said their kidnappers, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, had treated them well and denied rumors they were forced to remove their crosses.
5. LBC Protests Interrogation of Blogger Imad Bazzi with Blackout
LBC morning show Nharkon Saeed imposed a blackout Friday in protest after blogger Imad Bazzi was interrogated over statements he made in a blog post titled, “The Minister’s Mustache.”
In it, Bazzi accused State Minister Panos Manjian and his bodyguards of assaulting lawyer Jimmy Hadshiti in a traffic-related incident. Bazzi, who goes by the name “Trella” in the online world, wrote on his blog that Manjian is “not above the law and should shave his mustache because he’s a shame to mankind.”
Manjian’s people asked Bazzi to sign a statement promising he wouldn’t write about the minister anymore. Bazzi refused, but signed a statement never to physically assault Manjian.
6. UN Study: Female Political Participation in Lebanon Among Lowest in World (Photo via redlipshighheels.com)
Lebanon ranked 139 out of 145 countries in a study of female representation in politics, according to the UN’s Women in Politics Map 2014. There are currently only four women in the 128-member parliament just one woman in the government.
