Author: Zayala

Two politicians have spent the night inside Lebanon’s parliament building in protest at MPs’ failure to elect a new president for the 11th time. Najat Saliba and Melhem Khalaf refused to leave the chamber after the latest round of voting, spending the night inside the darkened building. The outgoing president’s term expired on 31 October and a replacement should have been voted in before he left. But Lebanon’s various sectarian parties have still not agreed on a successor. “No-one tried to remove us,” Najat Saliba told the BBC. “On the contrary, the parliament staff were very helpful and even opened…

President Isaac Herzog issued a statement calling for political rhetoric to be toned down after MK Tzvika Fogel called for Opposition MKs Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz, Yair Golan, and Moshe Ya’alon to be arrested for “treason” and opposition MKs warned of a brewing “civil war.” “The values of the Declaration of Independence are the compass of our country – I will not allow them to be harmed. This is a sensitive and explosive period for the Israeli public. I am awake to the voices heard here and there, and to all the pains, worries and anxieties. It keeps me busy…

Rüya Bayegan using prime minister Barzani’s right hand – Rania Majeed – to elbow her way back to KRG? Ankara, Erbil (4/1 – 45). Rüya Bayegan, the CEO of BGN International and its Turkey-based subsidiary Bayegan Group, was once considered an instrumental member of the petrochemical industry in Turkey. However, as of at least October 2022, Bayegan and her husband, Ercüment Bayegan, have been under investigation by Turkish authorities on allegations of fraud, document forgeries and tax evasion as a result of their role in the disastrous Yurtgas scandal. The recent contract between BGN International with the Indonesian state owned oil and gas company Pertamina raises…

The 2022 holiday season is witnessing an optimistic change as the movement of people visiting is ever-increasing, providing good numbers in the tourism sector. According to comments by Lebanon’s Caretaker Minister of Tourism Walid Nassar the percentage of plane reservations for the Christmas and New Year season reached 85 per cent, from Lebanese expatriates and tourists of different nationalities, an increase of 16 per cent over last year. A high number of hotel and guesthouse reservations also promotes this optimistic movement. Nassar revealed to CNBC, a leading business news outlet, that it reached more than 80 per cent, which is…