
Parliament approves banking secrecy and money and credit laws
Parliament on Thursday approved the new banking secrecy law and the new money and credit code.
Speaker Nabih Berri meanwhile promised that the issue of amending the municipal elections law to ensure Muslim-Christian parity in the Beirut Municipality would be discussed during the session.
The session has 23 items on its agenda, mainly related to economic, monetary and social issues.

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Israeli army chief visits south Lebanon post, says 'won't allow threats to grow'
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Grave by grave, a new project in divided Cyprus tries to mend mistrust
by Naharnet Newsdesk 14 August 2025, 16:28 On opposite sides of ethnically divided Cyprus, even the resting places of the dead haven't been spared the fallout of war. Shattered granite crosses are strewn about the weed-choked Greek Cypriot cemeteries in the island's northern third that's in Turkish Cypriot hands. In the Greek Cypriot south, Muslim headstones in Turkish Cypriot cemeteries are concealed by overgrowth. Until 2003, no one could cross a United Nations-controlled buffer zone to place flowers at loved ones' graves. In the five decades since a Turkish invasion, vandalism and the ravages of time have transformed hundreds of Cyprus' cemeteries into evidence of the geographic and political rift. But even as chances for bilateral talks to end the divide appear bleak, Greek and Turkish Cypriots have teamed up to mend mistrust and push for peace, one grave at a time. Restoration is underway at 15 civilian cemeteries on each side of the so-called Green Line cutting across the Mediterranean island. Expansion of the roughly 700,000-euro project ($815,000) to more cemeteries is being considered. "The maintenance and restoration of cemeteries constitutes one of the most symbolic and morally pressing acts for a place that strives for reconciliation," said Sotos Ktoris, a Greek Cypriot member of the committee from both communities overseeing the work. The consequences of war Turkey's 1974 invasion, triggered when Athens-backed supporters of uniting Cyprus with Greece mounted a coup, prompted some 160,000 Greek Cypriots to flee their villages to safety in the south, where the internationally recognized government is seated. Some 45,000 Turkish Cypriots moved north, where authorities declared independence a decade later. To this day, only Turkey recognizes Cyprus' northern authorities. Among the displaced were the custodians of places of worship and cemeteries, both Orthodox Christian and Muslim. Churches in the north were vandalized and looted. Mosques in the south fell into neglect and decay. As part of U.N.-mediated efforts to achieve a peace deal, both sides have found ways to address past wrongs, including the restoration of churches, mosques and other monuments by the committee. Earlier this year, Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar expanded the committee's work to cemetery restoration, with European Union funding and U.N. support and assistance. Work began in May. Seeking mutual respect Greek Cypriot workers last month were rebuilding the 100-year-old stone wall at one Muslim cemetery in Tochni, a village nestled in hilly countryside near the southern coast. Turkish Cypriot residents had outnumbered Greek Cypriots here by nearly three to one until they were transferred north a few months after the Turkish invasion ended. Many Turkish Cypriots from the north are now visiting the village to reconnect with their past, find family homes and honor their ancestors, according to Tochni's Greek Cypriot community leader, Charoulla Efstratiou. "Just as we demand that they respect us, our dead, our religion and so forth, I believe that we owe the same respect to them," Efstratiou said. At the Tochni cemetery, a small patch of crimson flowers emerged from the parched soil atop the grave of a man who died 65 years ago, planted recently by his descendants. Putting up crosses In the village of Palaikythro that Turkish Cypriots have renamed Balikesir, broken crosses at the Greek Cypriot cemetery have been set upright again until they're fully mended. Virtually nothing was left intact. Turkish Cypriot contractor Recep Güler said it wasn't easy to restore the external walls and gate. Mürüde Erzen, the village's Turkish Cypriot community leader, said the cemetery is part of shared cultural heritage. "When I saw this place, I was very upset, wondering why it had become like this," Erzen told the United Nations Development Program in footage shared with the AP. Turkish Cypriot authorities had denied the AP access. When Erzen became community leader, she resolved to do something about it. Sotiroulla Mina Iniati, the Greek Cypriot community leader of Palaikythro, said the cost of full restoration of crosses will be borne by families or the community council. Greek Cypriots continue to elect their own community leader to affirm their claim to their lost lands and preserve their memory. "For us, this is a sacred place," Iniati said. "We feel that in this way, the souls of our dead who have for 51 years remain neglected, will be able to rest." 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Qatar sentences the country's Baha'i leader to 5 years for social media posts
by Naharnet Newsdesk 14 August 2025, 15:29 The leader of the small Baha'i community in Qatar was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for social media posts that allegedly "cast doubt on the foundations of the Islamic religion," according to court documents obtained by an international Baha'i organization monitoring the case. A three-judge panel of Qatar's Supreme Judiciary Council issued the verdict against Remy Rowhani, 71, who has been detained since April, according to documents provided to The Associated Press by the Baha'i International Community office in Geneva, Switzerland. The judges rejected a defense request for leniency on grounds that Rowhani suffered from a heart condition, according to the documentation. Saba Haddad, the Geneva office's representative to the United Nations, depicted the verdict as "a serious breach and grave violation of the right to freedom of religion or belief and an attack on Remy Rowhani and the Baha'i community in Qatar." Haddad's office, in a post on X, called on the international community "to urge Qatar's government to uphold international law and ensure Mr. Rowhani's immediate release." Queried by The Associated Press about the verdict, Qatar's International Media Office issued this response: "Qatar's Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of worship for all. This must be exercised in accordance with the law and must not threaten or violate public stability and security. Qatar's legal system ensures that all parties in any case are granted due process and provided legal representation, with no discrimination based on ethnicity, religion or any other status." The verdict came just two weeks after a group of U.N. human rights experts expressed "serious concern" about Rowhani's arrest and detention, which they depicted as "part of a broader and disturbing pattern of disparate treatment of the Baha'i minority in Qatar." "The mere existence of Baha'is in Qatar and their innocuous presence on X cannot be criminalized under international law," they said. Rowhani — former head of Qatar's Chamber of Commerce — had been arrested once previously, accused of offenses such as routine fundraising related to his leadership of Qatar's Baha'i National Assembly. The latest charges, filed in April, involve the Baha'i community's X and Instagram accounts, which contain posts about Qatari holidays and Baha'i writings. According to the documentation provided by the Geneva office, Qatari prosecutors alleged that these accounts "promoted the ideas and beliefs of a religious sect that raises doubt about the foundations and teachings of the Islamic religion." Rowhani's daughter, Noora Rowhani, who lives in Australia, said via email that the five-year verdict is "so unfortunate and so shocking." "My eye condition is deteriorating and in five years, even if I meet, him I will most probably not be able to see him anymore," she added. The Baha'i faith — a small but global religion with an interfaith credo — fits comfortably into the religious spectrum of most countries but in several Middle East nations, Baha'i followers face repression that is drawing criticism from rights groups. The abuse is most evident in Iran, which bans the faith and has been widely accused of persecuting Baha'i followers, human rights advocates say. They also report systemic discrimination in Yemen, Qatar and Egypt. Advocates say Iran's government has pressed for repression of the Baha'i followers in countries where it holds influence, such as Yemen, where Iran-backed Houthi rebels control the northern half of the country, and Qatar, which shares with Iran the world's largest natural gas field. The Baha'i faith was founded in the 1860s by Baha'u'llah, a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by his followers. Muslims consider the Prophet Muhammad the highest and last prophet. From the Baha'i faith's earliest days, Shiite Muslim clerics have denounced its followers as apostates. That repression continued after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, when many Baha'i followers were executed or went missing. There are less than 8 million Baha'i believers worldwide, with the largest number in India.