Five Noteworthy Stories You Might Have Missed in Lebanon This Week (6/14)
You’re busy, we get it. No sweat. Here’s some of the most important news stories you might have missed from the past week.
1. Massive Shark Caught on Tripoli Coast (Photo via The Daily Star)
A local Tripoli fisherman caught an 800kg shark in the sea off the coast of Tripoli on Tuesday, the Daily Star. The fisherman, Yahia Saidawi, took that shark back to his fishery in the Mina region.
2. Presidential Elections Postponed to June 18 (Photo via The Daily Star)
Speaker Nabih Berri postponed the Lebanese presidential election to June 18 after Monday’s parliament session, the sixth attempt to elect a president, failed to assemble due to lack of quorum. Former President Michel Sleiman’s term ended May 25.
3. Lebanese Teen Rapes and Kills Five-Year-Old Boy Stock photo of Akkar. (Photo via ugo.cn)
A 17-year-old boy in North Akkar raped and killed a five-year-old Syrian child last Sunday, June 8 before dumping his body in a dumpster, the Daily Star reported. The victim’s body, which had been stabbed five times, was found in a box, his head covered with a black bag. The teenager confessed to his father of committing the crime. A suspected accomplice to the killing was taken into custody on Monday. Police have not released any more information.
In an unrelated incident, two Syrian brothers identified as allegedly Adel and Nader Abdul-Qader al-Turk reportedly strangled their 24-year-old sister to death in what was said to be an “honor killing.”
An official in Tripoli told the Daily Star that the brothers – ages 13 and 16 – “claimed to have strangled their sister because she would constantly leave the house at night without them knowing where or who she was seeing.”
4. Jounieh Municipality Rejects “Floating Island” Resort (Photo via The Daily Star)
Plans for the world’s “first floating island,” which was to be located in the Jounieh Bay and launched in summer 2015, have been rejected due to incompatibility with the seaside town, reported the Daily Star. Municipality officials expressed concerns over the population density, infrastructure, and the environmental issues the project would cause.
5. Woman Refuses to Sell House, Crane Plows Into It (Photo via Facebook)
According the group, Save Beirut Heritage, a construction crew plowed through a Mar Mikhael woman’s home after she refused to sell it to a developer and move out. The developer is destroying a home next to the woman’s building and wanted to add hers to the project. Despite two walls on the upper floor of her house being torn down, the woman remains in the building, according to the Beirut Report blog.
