When I first read the title, I thought it was terrible news but then I checked the source (Addiyar) and I started laughing. I am not sure how Addiyar newspaper didn’t turn yet into a film production company because the stories and conspiracies they come up with are fascinating!

It’s like they have nothing to write about, so they come up with a shocking story to frighten the Lebanese without any proof or proper sources to back it up. In fact, if you read the article closely, it says a major disaster took place in the last 24 hours in the US when a group of Lebanese students were no longer reachable by phone or internet due to the storm. How exactly did they assume they were missing? Just because they were unreachable? Aren’t Addiyar aware of the electricity outage that hit NewYork and other cities?

حصلت كارثة كبيرة في ال24 ساعة الاخيرة خاصة في صفوف الطلاب اللبنانيين من شباب و صبايا, بقيت خطوط الانترنت تعمل في نيويورك وظهر ان 98 لبنانياً هم مفقودين لايردون على نداء الانترنت و ليسوا في منازلهم و طبعاً لا تعمل اجهزتهم الخليوية مما يعني انها معطلة و الاسماء هي التالية فاذا عرفتم عنها اي شيء فالرجاء ابلاغ الجهات المسؤولة لطمأنة اهلهم : الان زغبي – ريما كرم – احمد كركي – جورج الياس بشير – جورج كرم – روزيت كرم – ديما و ريما و طوني كرم و هم اولاد عائلة كرم المفقودة – انطوان شديد – جورج قرداحي – بدري فغالي – مروان فغالي – جوزيف فغالي – انطوان ابو معشر – ادوار نصار – جورج نصار – جوزيف معلوف – محمد عيتاني , هذه الاسماء و المطلوب عند معرفة اي شيء عنها ابلاغ الجهات المسؤولة اضافة الى انهم من الجالية اللبنانية التي تعاني الان في نيويورك [Link]

Needless to say, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour denied the story today stating that he contacted Lebanon’s permanent representative to the United Nations, who informed him that all the Lebanese expats are well.

I don’t know how our permanent representative to the United Nations made sure that all Lebanese are all well, nor why the Lebanese Ambassador in the U.S wasn’t contacted, but I don’t expect much from Adnan Mansour whose last count of Lebanese expats eligible for voting was a pure joke.

Having said all that, it would have been better for our dear Foreign Minister to question Addiyar over their sources than just deny such reports, and punish them if needed. Spreading fake news and fabricating stories have become a trend lately in Lebanon that has to be stopped at any cost, even if it means closing down a newspaper or TV.

Only a week ago, Ehad al-Azzi almost started a war in Beirut after he fabricated a story about Sunnite Extremists cutting off his fingers in Tariq Jdide. The story spread because it was published in many renowned local media sources, mainly Annahar, Lebanon’s leading newspaper.

The electricity boats were supposed to provide an extra 500 MW during the summer season, however it’s almost winter and nothing has happened.

Meanwhile, owners of generators are still increasing the price of 5 amps that has reached 150$ in some areas in Lebanon. Of course there are more imminent matters at hand at the moment, like the salary increase for Lebanese MPs and Ministers.

Update: LBC news reported the news to be false saying Metropolitan hotel will deny it officially during the day. Noting that I based my post on 3 sources, Mustaqbal, Lebanonfiles and MTV, I will update it as soon as it’s confirmed it’s wrong.

Update2: Metropolitan Hotel administration denied the news officially. That’s good news for a change.

Lebanon’s tourism season is the worst we’ve had since 1974 according to some reports as Hotels have cancelled around 50% of their bookings after the Achrafieh bombing and the recent events in Lebanon and Syria. Buddha bar shutdown its doors a week ago and Hilton Beirut Metropolitan Palace is closing down as well. I was told another big hotel will be closing down very soon as well.

The economic situation as a whole is no better and Lebanon’s Economic Committees are describing it as a disastrous one. Given those facts, I keep wondering why no measures are taken to help those hotels and businesses such as lowering the absurdly high rental prices in Beirut and even outside it. I only ask the Minister of Tourism to stop living in lalaland and realize how serious this problem is.

Buddha Bar Beirut

Check out what he had to say about the tourism season back in June:

Lebanon’s tourism minister said the crucial summer tourism season would not be badly damaged by growing domestic unrest and turmoil in neighbouring Syria, and forecast revenues this year of about $7 billion, similar to last year.

Fadi Abboud shrugged off concern that tourism could take a heavy hit and said he expected 1.8 million visitors this year, despite an almost complete absence of overland travelers. [Link]

I know it’s not his fault and the situation as a whole is messed up but he needs to take drastic measures to save whatever is left because there are hundreds of families at stake. If there’s a crisis, let’s accept that fact and handle it as such.

Le Castel was one of the oldest restaurants in Kaslik. It was mostly frequented by older generations and was famous for its mussels. It will be replaced by Lord of the wings.

Bufori is a company founded in 1986 by Gerry Khouri , a second-generation Lebanese expatriate living in Australia and now owned by the Khouri brothers (Anthony, George & Gerry). Bufori cars are custom-made automobiles, ranging from sports cars to luxury cars. There are around 500 Bufori cars in 40 different countries throughout the world, but none in Lebanon even though Gerry Khouri visits Lebanon almost every 2 years.

The Bufori prices range from 151,000$ for the La Joya, till 340,000$ for the luxurious Geneva.

I have to admit I haven’t heard before about Bufori cars until I read about them in the DailyStar yesterday.

Here are more details on the Bufori cars that you might find interesting:

Both inside and out, the cars exude a unique luxury, with V6 and V8 engines, good fuel consumption, the capability to go from 0-100 mph in 6.1 seconds, and the option of supercharging for more power.

The body is both lightweight and durable, made from a combination of Kevlar and carbon fiber, and is fitted with numerous airbags. For the finishing touches, there’s no task too tall for their discerning clientele.

“When a customer comes to us with a crazy idea, we take on the challenge,” Khouri says. “We’ve done tea and coffee sets, mini bars, make-up boxes, hot and cold water machines and multimedia systems.”

According to the Bufori website, options also include silk Persian carpeting, precious stones mounted into the interior of the car and a gold emblem.

All Bufori cars come standard with two iPads, 30,000 watts of power, blind-spot detection and adaptive cruise control. [Article]

Bufori stands for B – Beautiful U – Unique F – Funtastic O – Original R – Romantic I – Irresistible.

I am not really posting about the visit as I couldn’t care less, but about the picture shown above. Did you notice the AK47s in the back?