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'The Insult' tops box office in Lebanon

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by Chloe Domat- al-monitor.com When George Haddad left the film theater, he immediately sat down again lighting a cigarette. “Well, I hadn’t seen anything like that in a long time,” he told Al-Monitor. A few feet away, storekeeper Nour Khoder admitted she cried several times during the film. “The narrative is so strong, it really shakes you. It brought back memories of the war, the massacres, what my family went through. I'm very moved,” she said. Ziad Doueiri’s latest film, “The Insult,” was released three weeks ago and has been a box office favorite, taking almost 50% of total film admissions in Lebanon. It takes place in today’s Lebanon and tells the story of how a seemingly meaningless dispute between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian Muslim escalates into a national affair that plays out in the courts, political parties and the media.

“It feels so real,” said student Daniel Abboud. “What happens in that film — it could happen now, right now, in this street." The civil war of 1975-1990 is a difficult topic in Lebanon. Right after the fighting stopped, an amnesty law took effect in the name of national unity, with countless crimes and over 150,000 dead swept under the rug. At the same time, although there was no official reconciliation between the different factions, militia leaders turned themselves into elected politicians.Up until today, what happened during 15 years of armed conflict is hardly ever mentioned, let alone discussed. History books mostly ignore modern history. Yet many in Lebanon — like the two main characters in the film — still live with the memories of the war.

“Despite the disclaimer at the beginning of the screening which declared that the movie does not represent the current situation in the country, I think it actually does … the wounds of the civil war have yet to heal and this case does reflect in a way or another the feel that Lebanese have towards each other and towards Palestinian refugees,” blogger Najib Mitri wrote. For film critic Sandra Noujeim from the local daily L’Orient le Jour, the film goes even further. She wrote, “For the first time, the Christian community is portrayed as a victim. The film deconstructs the political demonization of Christians."Although "The Insult" does bring some new elements to the debate, one can’t deny that the civil war has been on the agenda of Lebanese cinema for a long time. Films such as “Where Do We Go Now?” (2011), “Zozo” (2005) and Doueiri’s masterpiece “West Beirut” (1998) are all about the civil war. “Cinema doesn’t have a great record in achieving national reconciliation. It is unlikely 'The Insult' can change that. At the end of the day a film is judged by other criteria,” wrote Jim Quilty from the local newspaper The Daily Star.

If “The Insult” is such a powerful film, it is first and foremost because it feels so real. The plot is inspired by a real story. A couple of years ago, Doueiri found himself in a dispute with a worker on the street. They started arguing, insulting each other and finally settled on good terms, but that’s when the director thought, “What would have happened if I had pushed it further? At what point would I have resorted to violence?" The choice of actors was also crucial in ensuring the film was as close as possible to reality. The two main characters — Tony, a middle-aged Lebanese man raised on Christian militia propaganda, and Yasser, a Palestinian refugee living in a Lebanese refugee camp — are played by actors who have been through similar life struggles. "Adel is Tony in a way — of course he wouldn’t do or say what Tony does, but he identifies with him, and that's what makes a strong act,” Doueiri told Al-Monitor. “I could not have played the character of Yasser. I'm a Lebanese Christian. I was raised with the Lebanese Forces, in the same neighborhood as Tony, actually. This is what I know best,” actor Adel Karam told Al-Monitor.

MAPPED: What internet censorship looks like around the world

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59 people are dead and more than 527 are injured after a mass shooting in Las Vegas

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khazen.org offers its prayers to the victims of Las Vegas. We pray for their family

Las Vegas Mandalay Bay shooting graphic BI in house

By Business insider- At least 59 people were killed and more than 527 were injured Sunday night in Las Vegas in the deadliest shooting in modern US history. A gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, aiming into a tightly packed crowd of thousands below who were attending a country music festival. The shooter, armed with what appeared to be at least one automatic weapon, used the elevated vantage point to fire into the crowds across the Las Vegas Strip at the Route 91 Harvest festival, where Jason Aldean was onstage. Officers identified the shooter as Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man from Nevada. They believe he was the only attacker, and that he killed himself before they arrived. Police completed a search of Paddock's hotel room and his home in Mesquite, Nevada, which is around 80 miles from Las Vegas. At least 16 rifles were found in the hotel room, law-enforcement officials said during an afternoon press conference. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said investigators recovered an additional 18 firearms at Paddock's home in Mesquite, Nevada as well as some explosives and "several thousand rounds" of ammunition. Investigators also found ammonium nitrate in Paddock's car at the Mandalay Bay, and tannerite was found in his home, Sheriff Lombardo said. A SWAT team was preparing to search another home in northern Nevada.

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Two broken windows near the top of the Mandalay Bay Casino, from which a gunman killed at least 50 people with an automatic weapon. AP/Business Insider

Soon after the shooting, which began at 10:08 p.m. PDT, a SWAT team stormed the building, forced their way into his hotel room, and found the gunman already dead. A statement from ISIS claimed that the attack was their doing, and that Paddock converted to Islam "a few months ago." The FBI contradicted this claim, saying that Paddock had "no connection with an international terrorist group." In a press conference Monday morning, Lombardo said the figures for the numbers dead and injured following the shooter may still increase.

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A makeshift medical center in the middle of the Las Vegas strip, with the Mandalay Bay visible in the distance. Reuters

Who was Stephen Paddock?

Stephen Paddock was retired and had no criminal record before the attack, Reuters reported. He used to work as an accountant, and his brother described him to CNNas "a wealthy guy playing video poker ... on cruises." A Washington Post report characterized Paddock as a quiet man who occasionally came to Las Vegas to gamble or catch concerts, was a former resident of Texas, and held a hunting license in Alaska. Eric Paddock, the shooter's brother, told CBS News that Stephen was "not an avid gun guy at all." "The fact that he had those kind of weapons is ... just ... where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that," Eric Paddock said. "He's a guy who lived in a house in Mesquite and drove down and gambled in Las Vegas." Paddock was divorced, according to CNN, and his ex-wife resides in Los Angeles. The two divorced 27 years ago after a six-year marriage and have not been in contact in years, the report said. Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, the shooter's father, was a well-known bank robber and on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list from 1969 to 1977, CNN reported. Benjamin Hoskins Paddock was a diagnosed psychopath, according to the FBI, and he was convicted of "bank robbery, automobile larceny, and confidence game." Eric Paddock said he died several years ago. The bureau's poster on the elder Paddock cautioned that he had committed armed robberies before, had "suicidal tendencies," and "should be considered armed and very dangerous." Stephen Paddock owned two aircraft and held a pilot's license, according to the "Today" show. Paddock had worked for a predecessor company of Lockheed Martin, the giant defense contractor that builds planes. Lombardo said officers had spoken to a woman, Marilou Danley, described as Paddock's roommate. She was outside the United States, he said, and officers believe she was not involved in the attack. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo told reporters. In a subsequent press conference, Lombardo said "I can't get into the mind of a psychopath at this point." The Daily Mail quoted Paddock's brother Eric as saying he and his mother were "in shock" and "dumbfounded" after finding out about the shooting. According to the Daily Mail, Eric Paddock described his brother as a normal guy who must have "snapped."

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Lebanese Designer Elie Saab

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Harlow looked stunning. (Instagram / winnieharlow)

by Al bawaba - Canadian darling, Winnie Harlow, looked stunning in her lace maxi gown by top Lebanese designer Elie Saab for his SS18 fashion presentation during Paris Fashion Week. The supermodel never fails to effortlessly grab everyone’s attention and have all eyes glued to her. Saab choosing Harlow as his model is a clear message to all of us that we are all beautiful and that we can accomplish anything.

Battle over Beirut landmark demolition raises bigger questions about city's fate

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The Grande Brasserie du Levant, built in 1933, is seen here on March 27, 2017, shortly after demolition work had begun. David Enders for The National

by David Enders --For a brewery that has been closed for more than 30 years, the Grande Brasserie du Levant has received outsize attention in recent months as activists and the famous architect working on its redevelopment trade barbs over its fate. In March, demolition of the five-storey building began in order to make way for luxury apartments. Mar Mikhail, the traditionally working-class neighbourhood in east Beirut where the brewery is located, has been gentrifying for a decade. But the brewery and its striking façade, built in 1933 to produce Laziza beer, had remained a local landmark, as well as a canvas for street artists.

In April, activists from Beirut Madinati, a group that advocates for greater transparency in Lebanon’s governing institutions and sustainable urban development, convinced the city’s governor to halt the demolition after raising several concerns. Not only had the building's facade been pulled down despite architectural renderings that suggested it would be saved and incorporated into the new structure, the activists said, but they also questioned the effect the demolition would have on the local neighbourhood and whether enough had been done to preserve the building as a historic landmark. The activists also raised concerns that sufficient safety measures had not been put in place before demolition work began. Ghassan Salameh, an activist with Beirut Madinati, said officials should have held "some sort of town hall or neighbourhood committee meeting ... to tell the people what is happening, because this is a project which drastically changes the neighbourhood". “When you bring this luxury villa project, you immediately raise the price of rents" in the area, he added. "Landlords are going to raise the rent or start kicking out tenants.”

Lebanese govt to announce solution to tax crisis on Friday

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BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Lebanese government will announce on Friday how it will resolve a legal dispute over taxes to fund a public-sector pay increase, the information minister said after a cabinet meeting on Thursday. "The atmosphere is very positive and tomorrow we will announce the legal measures to deal with the matter of the (public sector pay rise) and the tax law," Information Minister Melhem Riachy said, the National News Agency reported. Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri's government is looking for a way to approve the taxes needed to finance the pay rise that addresses legal objections raised by the constitutional council.

Lebanese cleric Ahmad al-Assir sentenced to death over Sidon clashes

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by Middle East Eye-

Lebanese Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir was sentenced to death by a military court for his role in deadly clashes between his supporters and Lebanese soldiers in the southern city of Sidon in 2013. At least 18 soldiers and 13 armed men died in fighting that erupted when supporters of Assir opened fire at a military checkpoint in June 2013 amid sectarian tensions in Lebanon heightened by the civil war in neighbouring Syria. Assir is a strong opponent of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militia that has been a staunch military ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He was arrested at the airport in Beirut in 2015 while trying to flee Lebanon with a fake Palestinian passport. He had changed his physical appearance by shaving his beard and sporting a moustache with large eyeglasses.

He rose to prominence when he started calling for protests in support of the Syrian uprising and was joined by Fadel Shaker, a famous singer who quit music to become a full-time vocal supporter of Assir. The Sidon sheikh used his sermons and media appearances to increase the rhetoric against Hezbollah and Assad at a time when Saad Hariri, the most popular Lebanese Sunni leader, was outside the country because of security threats. Assir criticised Hariri’s party on several occasions. On Thursday, Shaker was sentenced in absentia to 15 years with hard labour. He is said to be hiding in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh near Sidon.

Assir refused to acknowledge the authority of the trial when it began two years ago, saying: “The court is under Iranian control, and anything it decides is illegitimate.” Assir’s backers first clashed with Hezbollah supporters in the mostly Sunni city of Sidon. He had complained about Hezbollah-owned apartments in the city that he said were transformed into military bases by the group. In an interview with Al Jazeera from prison earlier this year, the militant sheikh claimed that Hezbollah used its influence in the state to pit the army against him. He said he received a call two hours before the final clashes from then-interior minister Marwan Charbel, telling him that a decision had been taken to "finish" him. Two other defendants and five fugitives involved in thecase are still at large, including Assir's brother, and they were also sentenced to death, although Lebanon has not carried out a death sentence since 2004. Thirty other defendants were handed life sentences. Assir's lawyers can appeal the sentence within 15 days. Supporters of Assir gathered outside the court carrying banners saying: "Trial without witnesses, trial without lawyers, conspiracy."