Category: General

An Israeli enemy shell has reportedly landed between the areas of southern Lebanon’s Al-Dhaira and Alma Al-Shaab.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

Damascus: President Bashar al-Assad, the commander-in-chief of the army and armed forces, issued an administrative order that refers about seven thousand volunteers to the retirement upon their desire.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

The Samih Darwazah Center for Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship at the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business (OSB), American University of Beirut (AUB) held its annual Darwazah Startup Accelerate (DSAccelerate) awards event.

For the 10th year in a row, the Darwazah Center trains, mentors, and supports aspiring student entrepreneurs in their entrepreneurial journey-making the Darwazah Center motto a reality-“we build entrepreneurial capacity.’ Around forty applications were submitted, and through a highly competitive process, only seven reached the finish line. After two months of hard work and pivoting, the finalists got themselves ready to pitch their innovative start-up ideas in front of an audience of around 120 persons from diverse professional and academic backgrounds as well as ecosystem players.

Mariana Darwazah, representing the Darwazah family, Dr. Yusuf Sidani; dean of the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business; and Dr. Bijan Azad, director of the Darwazah Center and professor at OSB; spoke
at the event.

Mariana Darwazah, who is a former instructor at AUB as well as Jordan University, shared the story of her Lebanese roots and her family’s belief in education and their loyalty to AUB. ‘I have always loved AUB. Unfortunately, I could not join it as a student because of the war in Lebanon, but I was extremely happy to join it as an instructor after I obtained by MBA from California State University in Sacramento, USA,’ she said.

‘I am very impressed with this year’s pitches. I have attended the DSAccelerate winners’ celebration before, I sense a noticeable trend that the quality of startup pitches has gotten much better,’ she added. Darwazah also expressed her pride about the center’s successful initiatives saying: ‘I am honored to be representing the Darwazah family and getting a flavor of the impactful activities of the center. I truly enjoyed every moment today and I wish the future entrepreneurs the best of luck.’

Dean Yusuf Sidani spoke about OSB’s strategic imperatives and about offering
students a psychologically safe environment. ‘A culture where people can feel safe while speaking up and taking risks is a culture that ends up being innovative and entrepreneurial, and this is the link between OSB’s strategic imperative and the event of today,’ he said.

Sidani also highlighted OSB’s role in offering students a space that enhances learning outside the classroom through extracurricular activities, in order to enhance employability, leadership skills, and entrepreneurial skills.

The center’s director, Dr. Bijan Azad, showcased a few videos about the activities currently being held, the center’s pillars, the venture building practicum, and testimonials about the scaling-up program. Azad then noted, ‘While we are celebrating the hard work of startup teams, it is crucial to emphasize we are not in the business of building startups, because as a university-center of excellence we are in the business of developing the skills of entrepreneurs who then build great companies and grow our economy.’

T
wo previous DSAccelerate winners also shared their inspiring stories since winning the competition. Mohamad Abbas, co-founder of uPaint, winner of the 2022 competition, updated the attendees on uPaint’s growth since last year saying, ‘Not only did we 2xed our revenues during this year, but we were also lucky to participate in the Hero Training Program at Draper University in the Silicon Valley, USA.’ Abbas also expressed his intention to give back to the Darwazah Center and provide support and coaching to the students currently starting their entrepreneurial journey.

Ghassan Abi Fadel, co-founder of Moodfit, winner of the 2015 competition, shared the eight-year journey since the company’s inception, highlighting that there will always be ups and downs in business, but the most important thing for entrepreneurs is to enjoy what they do and to always have fun. He also mentioned that Moodfit is currently participating in the center’s scaling-up program called AUB-SPARK Scaling-Up of Startups Program.

Following
the stories, seven finalists of this year’s competition, Walleti, Kizana, Dental Companion, Safrati, Lancili, Seraaj and EaseUp presented their pitches.

The winners had been selected in part by the jury evaluations, including Dr. Khater Abi Habib, chairman and general manager of Kafalat s.a.l., Dr. Nabil Fahed, chief executive officer of Fahed Group, Lina Tannir, senior finance lecturer at OSB and founding member of Lush Cosmetics, Yusr Sabra, co-founder and ceo of Wakilni, and Pamela Saber, investment facilitation manager at Berytech.

Walleti, a cryptocurrency app and Kizana, a digital wardrobe platform, won the first prizes, $10,000 each. Safrati, an online travel support platform and Dental Companion, a dentists’ support app won the runner-up prizes, $1,000 each.

In addition to the cash prizes, the Darwazah Startup Accelerate winners will be admitted to the Venture Building Practicum course to accelerate their startup ideas and will receive support from the Darwazah Center to launch their businesses.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

Damascus: Prime Minister Hussein Arnous stressed the need to intensify efforts and double work to put government development and service plans, projects and programs into practice according to the specified time frames.

Chairing a weekly session of the Cabinet , Arnous attached great importance to the necessity of conducting an evaluation and review of the work of public agencies in the past year, setting achievable goals during the year 2024, avoiding weaknesses in government performance and enhancing its strengths, in a way that serves increased productivity and supports national the economy in general.

The Prime Minister explained the importance of developing a work policy for each ministry and presenting it to the relevant ministerial committees so that they can formulate and develop implementable sector policies.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has issued a second official notification to the US administration, demanding arbitration over the killing of Iran’s top anti-terror commander, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

Tavakkol Habibzadeh, the head of the Iranian President’s Legal and International Affairs Center, made the revelation on Monday, stating that the second notice was composed and delivered after the US failed to react to the previous one on conducting talks, according to Press TV.

Last month, an Iranian court ordered the US government and other individuals and entities to pay a total of $49.77 billion in damages to claimants in a case related to the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani by the US in January 2020.

The notification requesting arbitration was drafted in accordance with the Protection of Diplomats Convention, a 1973 United Nations anti-terrorism pact aimed at preventing and punishing crimes against internationally protected individuals, including diplomatic agents.

According to Article 13 of the convention, the first notice seeking negotiation is delivered to the opposing party, and if it does not answer, the second letter requesting arbitration is issued.

If the US does not respond within 6 months, the third step is to refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice, Habibzadeh explained.

The US administration has until the end of April to react to the first arbitration demand issued a month and a half ago.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

Damascus: Prime Minister Hussein Arnous stressed the need to intensify efforts and double work to put government development and service plans, projects and programs into practice according to the specified time frames.

Chairing a weekly session of the Cabinet , Arnous attached great importance to the necessity of conducting an evaluation and review of the work of public agencies in the past year, setting achievable goals during the year 2024, avoiding weaknesses in government performance and enhancing its strengths, in a way that serves increased productivity and supports national the economy in general.

The Prime Minister explained the importance of developing a work policy for each ministry and presenting it to the relevant ministerial committees so that they can formulate and develop implementable sector policies.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

Israeli occupation forces embarked today on excavating a Palestinian-owned land and uprooting trees in the village of Beit Safafa, located south of occupied Jerusalem, according to local sources and witnesses.

Eyewitnesses informed WAFA correspondent that Israeli forces, accompanied by two bulldozers, stormed agricultural land belonging to the Alian family in Beit Safafa. The forces started excavating the land and uprooting olive trees surrounding the family’s homes, signaling the initiation of a project to construct a settler-only road.

Um Muhammad Alian, one of the landlords of the targeted land, clarified that the targeted land spans an area of 20 dunams, and that Israeli authorities have been attempting to seize it for the benefit of the Givat Hamatos colonial settlement established on the lands of Beit Safafa.

She added that Israeli authorities previously attempted to obtain court decisions for the land’s acquisition, but those efforts were unsuccessful. Today, they returned with a show of force to s
eize the land.

Um Muhammad pointed out that Israeli occupation forces also stormed one of the Alyan family’s homes located on the targeted land. During the incursion, they physically assaulted several young men and arrested two of them.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

An Israeli airstrike occurred around 2:15 pm on Tuesday, targeting the vicinity of a cemetery in the southern Lebanese town of Yaroun in the Bint Jbeil district. Reports indicate that two guided missiles were launched towards the area, resulting in a fire outbreak in the region.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

Israeli enemy artillery shelling is currently targeting southern Lebanon’s Saddaneh Hills between Shebaa and Kfarchouba.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

An Israeli airstrike occurred around 2:15 pm on Tuesday, targeting the vicinity of a cemetery in the southern Lebanese town of Yaroun in the Bint Jbeil district. Reports indicate that two guided missiles were launched towards the area, resulting in a fire outbreak in the region.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

The price of gasoline 95 and 98 octane has witnessed a hike in Lebanon on Tuesday by 9,000 Lebanese pounds, while the prices of diesel and gas remained unchanged. The current prices are as follows:

– Gasoline 95 Octane: LBP 1,498,000

– Gasoline 98 Octane: LBP 1,538,000

– Diesel: LBP 1,475,000

– Gas: LBP 944,000

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

Muscat: The total issuance of Government Treasury Bills amounted to RO 9 million. The value of the allotted Treasury bills amounted to RO 9 million, for a maturity period of 28 days. The average accepted price reached RO 99.590 for every RO 100, and the minimum accepted price arrived at RO 99.590 per RO 100. The average discount rate and the average yield reached 5.34464% and 5.36665%, respectively.

Treasury Bills are short-term highly secured financial instruments issued by the Ministry of Finance, and they provide licensed commercial banks the opportunity to invest their surplus funds. The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) acts as the Issue Manager and provides theadded advantage of ready liquidity through discounting and repurchase facilities (Repo).

It may be noted that the interest rate on the Repo operations with CBO is 6.00% while the discount rate on the Treasury Bills Discounting Facility with CBO is 6.50%.

Furthermore, Treasury Bills promote the local money market by creating a benchmark yield curve for
short-term interest rates. Additionally, the Government may also resort to this instrument whenever felt necessary for financing its recurrent expenditures

Source: Oman News Agency