Bezos to step down as Amazon CEO

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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will relinquish his role as the retail behemoth's chief executive this summer, passing the baton to Andy Jassy, the current chief of Amazon’s hugely profitable cloud computing division. Bezos, who in recent years had already "stepped back from much of the day-to-day business," will take on the role of executive chairman once Jassy transitions into the CEO role. “Right now I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition,” Bezos told employees in a statement reflecting on his 27 years at the helm. Bezos says he will now shift his focus towards "new products and early initiatives." The pioneering founder will leave the job on the back of Amazon landing record quarterly sales from soaring online holiday shopping driven by a largely housebound customer base. The WSJ writes.

Shares of Amazon were up about 1% in extended trading Tuesday on the back of the earnings report and the C-suite news. The company’s stock has gained about 4% so far in 2021 and is up nearly 70% in the last 12 months. Amazon’s chief financial officer, Brian Olsavsky, said on a media call that the executive change was decided in consultation with Amazon’s board of directors. He said Bezos will remain very involved and have his fingerprints on lots of different parts of the company. Olsavsky said Jassy is a visionary leader who will bring his own skill set but that Amazon expects a lot of continuity with the transition.

Beirut explosion survivors endure psychological scars

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BEIRUT (AP) — Joana Dagher lay unconscious and hemorrhaging under a pile of rubble in her apartment after the massive Beirut port blast in August, on the brink of death. She survived because of the courage of her husband who got her out, the kindness of a stranger who transported her in his damaged car and the help of her sisters during the chaos at the overwhelmed hospital. But Dagher doesn’t remember any of that: The 33-year-old mother of two lost her memory for two full months from the trauma she suffered in the explosion, including a cerebral contusion and brain lesions. “I lost my life on August 4,” Dagher said. “I lost my house, I lost my memory, I lost two friends,” she added, referring to neighbors killed in the explosion. “I lost my mental health, and so I lost everything.”

The Beirut explosion, which killed more than 200 people and injured more than 6,000, caused wounds on an even wider scale on the mental health of those who lived through it. Dagher is gradually regaining her memory. But another kind of pain lingers. Though therapy now helps, she said she no longer feels the same. Dagher is usually a calm and independent person, her sister Jihane said. Now she experiences bursts of anger and stress, emotionally shutting down and at times getting aggressive — all signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to experts. “The past 6 months have been a purgatory,” Jihane said. “When you see someone you love suffer so much, everyone suffers with them, you are helpless.” The blast was caused by a fire that ignited nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a port warehouse. One of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, the force tore through the city, sending people flying across rooms and slicing them with flying glass. Windows and doors were blown out miles away from the epicenter.

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Lebanese army receives 100 armored transport vehicles from Britain

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BEIRUT, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese army received on Monday at Port of Beirut 100 armored transport vehicles donated from the British authorities, the National News Agency reported. Brigadier General Ziad Nasr, who represents Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun, thanked the British authorities for their continued support for the Lebanese army, noting that the vehicles will be distributed among land border regiments to carry out reconnaissance and security missions. For his part, British Embassy's Charge D'Affairs in Beirut Martin Longden declared that Britain has previously allocated more than 100 million U.S. dollars to help build watchtowers and train land border regiments. 

Israel says drone falls in Lebanese territory, Hezbollah says it brought it down

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by reuters -- BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Monday it brought down an Israeli drone that had entered Lebanese airspace, while the Israeli military said one of its drones had fallen inside Lebanon. Hezbollah said in a statement carried by Al-Manar television that it was now in control of the drone. The Israeli military said the drone had fallen in Lebanese territory during an operation near the border demarcation known as the Blue Line and that there was, “no breach of information.”

How Lebanon's poor are pawns in Hezbollah's game

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By DR. DANIA KOLEILAT KHATIB -- arabnews.com -- Lebanon’s capital of the north is burning. Tripoli has witnessed violent riots in the last few days. The city that was previously a cultural and trade hub has been suffering from poverty and neglect by the central government for decades. The irony is that Tripoli is the home of some of Lebanon’s richest politicians. However, these politicians, who have done well for themselves and become billionaires, have done nothing to lift the city out of poverty. Tripoli is one of the poorest cities in the Middle East, with 80 percent of the population living on less than $2 a day. The city that was already struggling with poverty was also hit hard by the coronavirus disease and those who were hardly able to make ends meet were devastated by lockdown. Those who live from day to day — taxi drivers, porters, street sellers and the like — found themselves without any income. Similar to all the government’s promises, the offer of support was never fulfilled.

Youngsters went all over the city; they were angry and hungry. Last week’s protests led to riots, resulting in 226 being wounded and one killed. However, the riots were expected. More than a year ago, a member of the Tripoli municipality complained to me about the deteriorating situation in the city and the north in general. He told me that people in poor areas surrounding the city, particularly Bab Al-Tabbaneh, threatened him and his colleagues that they would raid the city and take whatever they could if the government did not provide them with minimal relief. The riots did not happen as spontaneously as expected. They were, of course, fueled by the starving population. Nevertheless, outside forces contributed by steering the violence for political purposes. A contact in Tripoli told me of rioters who carried with them hundreds of sticks of fireworks and Molotov cocktails. How can someone who can’t afford to buy a loaf of bread afford such weapons? Another contact told me that he and his peers went to the protests but, when they noticed the violence organized by some elements, they immediately left.

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Beirut Art Film Festival Goes Virtual

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Beirut - By Vivian Haddad -- aawsat.com -- In the midst of lockdown that has been imposed on the Lebanese since January 14, 2021, museums, galleries, and even managers of film festivals are refusing to have their hands tied. Through weekly and monthly initiatives, they are trying to ease people's stress and boredom. People are enjoying virtual tours of museums and exhibits, as well as film screenings. In this context, the 6th edition of the Beirut Art Film Festival (BAFF) will screen movies on a Sunday evening every month, starting off this upcoming Sunday, January 31, with a documentary film about Winston Churchill, titled “Churchill & the Movie Mogul.” Winston Churchill was mad about films, more than any other politician in history. The true extent of his use of films as a propaganda tool has not been previously explored, the group says about the film.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Alice Mogabgab, the director of the Beirut Art Film Festival, says: “We wanted to screen this movie to indicate the importance of cinema’s role in the world of politics. Churchill used it to achieve his political objectives and influence his colleagues inside and outside Britain." "The movie will show how Churchill compelled the US to engage in the Second World War.” She adds that “the film also sheds light on the director Alexander Korda’s character. He produced many movies that had a great impact on modern cinema, like Gone with the Wind.” Mogabgab says that everyone needs to take a break from the situation of the pandemic that we are living today. "That is why we thought of holding the 6th edition of the festival virtually to screen famous works. After Churchill’s movie, we will share a list of new movies that will be screened once a month until next December, the date of the festival’s seventh edition.” After the movie ends, a roundtable discussion about it will be held.

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