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AsiaOne
5 days ago
- Climate
- AsiaOne
Lebanon's worst drought on record drains largest reservoir, Asia News
QARAOUN, Lebanon — Water levels at Lebanon's largest reservoir on the Litani River have fallen to historic lows amid what experts describe as the country's worst drought on record, threatening agriculture, electricity production, and domestic water supplies. The Litani River National Authority said inflows to Lake Qaraoun during this year's wet season did not exceed 45 million cubic metres, a fraction of the 350 million cubic metres annual average. Last year, the figure stood at 230 million. The water currently available in Lake Qaraoun — around 61 million cubic meters — was unusable due to severe pollution, the authority said. "There were dry years in 1989, 1990 and 1991, but this year is the driest," said Sami Alawieh, head of the river authority. "We are facing a water scarcity problem across all Lebanese territories and water basins." Drone footage of Lake Qaraoun shows a dramatically receded shoreline, exposing cracked earth and dead vegetation. Lebanon's hydroelectric plants tied to the Litani basin have been shut down, Alawieh said, causing financial losses and intensifying electricity rationing by Electricite du Liban. "We have two factors: the decline in rainfall and the pressure on groundwater," he said. A study by the authority found climate warming and shifting weather patterns have contributed to more frequent dry seasons and higher temperatures, exacerbating soil moisture loss and reducing the recharging of groundwater reservoirs. The state utility has slashed supply in some areas from 20 hours a day to as little as 10. In the fertile area around Qaraoun village, in the Bekaa Valley, farmers were already feeling the impact. "I have never seen such drought or scarcity of rain as this year," said Safa Issa. "We used to get snow up to a metre high. Now, it's been 10 years since we've seen any." The strain has been compounded by erratic supply of electricity needed to run irrigation systems. "You irrigate for three hours, then stop for three," said Fayez Omais, another local farmer. Suzy Hoayek, an adviser to the Ministry of Energy and Water in Beirut, said a nationwide awareness campaign to reduce consumption would be launched within 10 days. "The most important thing is to manage demand," she said. [[nid:719660]]
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Lebanon's worst drought on record drains largest reservoir
Find out what's new on ST website and app. QARAOUN, Lebanon - Water levels at Lebanon's largest reservoir on the Litani River have fallen to historic lows amid what experts describe as the country's worst drought on record, threatening agriculture, electricity production, and domestic water supplies. The Litani River National Authority said inflows to Lake Qaraoun during this year's wet season did not exceed 45 million cubic metres, a fraction of the 350 million cubic metres annual average. Last year, the figure stood at 230 million. The water currently available in Lake Qaraoun - around 61 million cubic meters - was unusable due to severe pollution, the authority said. "There were dry years in 1989, 1990 and 1991, but this year is the driest," said Sami Alawieh, head of the river authority. "We are facing a water scarcity problem across all Lebanese territories and water basins." Drone footage of Lake Qaraoun shows a dramatically receded shoreline, exposing cracked earth and dead vegetation. Lebanon's hydroelectric plants tied to the Litani basin have been shut down, Alawieh said, causing financial losses and intensifying electricity rationing by Electricite du Liban. "We have two factors: the decline in rainfall and the pressure on groundwater," he said. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore MBS' new development part of S'pore's broader, more ambitious transformation: PM Wong Business MAS records net profit of $19.7 billion, fuelled by investment gains Business Singapore financial sector growth doubles in 2024; assets managed cross $6 trillion in a first: MAS Singapore $3b money laundering case: MinLaw acts against 4 law firms and 1 lawyer over seized properties Singapore Man charged with attempted murder of woman at Kallang Wave Mall Singapore Ex-cleaner jailed over safety lapses linked to guard's death near 1-Altitude rooftop bar Singapore SJI International resumes overseas trips amid ongoing probe into student's death in Maldives in 2024 Singapore 'Nobody deserves to be alone': Why Mummy and Acha have fostered over 20 children in the past 22 years A study by the authority found climate warming and shifting weather patterns have contributed to more frequent dry seasons and higher temperatures, exacerbating soil moisture loss and reducing the recharging of groundwater reservoirs. The state utility has slashed supply in some areas from 20 hours a day to as little as 10. In the fertile area around Qaraoun village, in the Bekaa Valley, farmers were already feeling the impact. "I have never seen such drought or scarcity of rain as this year," said Safa Issa. "We used to get snow up to a metre high. Now, it's been 10 years since we've seen any." The strain has been compounded by erratic supply of electricity needed to run irrigation systems. "You irrigate for three hours, then stop for three," said Fayez Omais, another local farmer. Suzy Hoayek, an adviser to the Ministry of Energy and Water in Beirut, said a nationwide awareness campaign to reduce consumption would be launched within 10 days. "The most important thing is to manage demand," she said. REUTERS
Boston Globe
08-05-2025
- Boston Globe
Unsealed documents show R.I. doctor being questioned and deported minutes ahead of court order
Advertisement Now, the US District Court in Boston has unsealed Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up The document shows Customs and Border Protection put Alawieh on the flight that left Logan 37 minutes before agents received a court order to prevent her from leaving the US. Earlier that day, US District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin had issued an order saying Alawieh should not be moved outside of Massachusetts without 48 hours notice. Alawieh's lawyers claimed border agents ignored that order. In a response, prosecutors from the US Attorney's Office wrote that at about 7 p.m. that day, Customs and Border Protection Watch commander John W. Wallace was notified that someone identifying herself as Alawieh's lawyer was at the agency's walk-up window at Logan, saying she'd filed a petition to keep Alawieh from being removed. Advertisement 'As this was only a petition, no action was taken until CBP received an order from the court through the proper channels,' prosecutors wrote, 'or until CBP could be provided with documentation that could be forwarded to CBP legal counsel for their review and guidance.' At 7:20 p.m., Wallace and other officers escorted Alawieh to the boarding area for an Air France Flight 333. She boarded the plane at about 7:30 p.m., and the flight took off at 7:43 p.m., according to court documents. Wallace reported that at about 8:10 p.m., 'an individual' arrived at the walk-up window, opened her laptop, and showed what she said was a court order to keep Alawieh in Massachusetts. Officers told her they needed a copy of the court order. At 8:20 p.m., Wallace was informed that Customs and Border Patrol lawyers had received the court order through the US Attorney's Office. 'At that time, however, Dr. Alawieh had already departed the United States,' prosecutors wrote. 'Based on the above, respondents contend that CBP did not willfully disobey the court's order by effectuating her expedited removal order.' The newly unsealed documents also detail an interview between a Customs and Border Protection officer and Alawieh at Logan on March 13, the day before she was put on the flight to France. She told the officer she had been on vacation and was returning to work as a transplant nephrologist with an H1-B visa. Advertisement The officer said authorities had found photos 'Hezbollah fighters and martyrs' on her cellphone. She explained that she is in WhatsApp groups in which family members and friends shared the photos. The officer asked how she feels about Hezbollah. She said, 'It's a political party in Lebanon. It has its supporters, and I was not involved in any way, but it exists. Many people support it in Lebanon specifically.' The officer asked if she supports Hezbollah and what it stands for. She said, 'I don't.' The officer said her phone's deleted photos folder contained photos and videos of Hezbollah leaders and Iran's supreme leader that appeared to have been deleted within the previous day or two. Alawieh said she had deleted the photos 'because I don't want the perception. Because I can't delete everything. But I know I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm not related to anything politically or militarily. Many of these things are related to being a Shia Muslim.' The officer asked if she supports Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader of Hezbollah who died in a Sept. 27, 2024, air strike by the Israeli Air Force on Hezbollah's headquarters. She said, 'From a religious perspective.' The officer asked how she feels about Nasrallah. Alawieh said, 'I think if you listen to one of his sermons, you would know what I mean. He is a religious, spiritual person. As I said, he has very high value. His teachings are about spirituality and morality.' The officer asked if she knew that the United States designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization on Oct. 8, 1997. She said, 'Not about the date, but I guess yes. I'm not much in to politics, but yes.' Advertisement The officer said, 'Help me understand. You know that Nasrallah was the leader of a foreign terrorist organization (Hezbollah), and you hold him in the highest regard as a Sayyed, yet you choose to ignore the terrible acts he advocates for Hezbollah to commit.' Alawieh said, 'I'm not a political person. I'm a physician. It's mainly about faith, especially Shia Muslim. This is where the connection comes. If you were in my place, it's not hard to understand. I'm not involved in any of these things. We have these religious scholars; we have their teachings and their impacts.' The officer asked if she had ever attended a Hezbollah rally. She said, 'I attended the commemoration of the death of Nasrallah during this trip while I was waiting for my visa.' She said she went with her cousins for a couple of hours. The officer told Alawieh that she would not be allowed to re-enter the United States 'because your true intentions could not be determined due to derogatory information discovered during the inspection process.' He said she was going to be 'expeditiously removed' from the country and barred for a period of five years. Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lawyers challenge customs officials' constitutional authority to deport Brown Medicine kidney doctor
Demonstrators gathered outside of the Rhode Island State House to protest the deportation of Brown Medicine kidney doctor Rasha Alawieh on March 17, 2025 in Providence. (Photo by) Attorneys for Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a Brown Medicine kidney doctor deported to her native Lebanon in mid-March, continue to fight to bring her back. An amended complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts Monday contends that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers who refused entry to Alawieh at Boston Logan International Airport lacked the constitutional authority to deport her back to Lebanon. The amended complaint, unavailable electronically due to federal court rules limiting public access to in immigration cases, was shared by Alawieh's attorneys Tuesday. 'The Constitution requires that federal officials with significant power over people's lives be appointed by the President or Department heads, to ensure oversight and accountability for their actions,' Golnaz Fakhimi, legal director of Muslim Advocates, which is co-representing Alawieh in the case, said in a statement. 'For Dr. Alawieh, a visibly Muslim woman, the government has thumbed its nose at these Constitutional requirements.' Cambridge, Massachusetts-based immigration law firm Marzouk Law LLC is also representing Alawieh in the deportation case. Alawieh, 34, was stopped by federal immigration authorities at Boston Logan International Airport on March 13 while heading back to Rhode Island after securing a coveted H-1B work visa from the U.S. Embassy in her native Beirut, according to court documents. An emergency petition filed by her cousin a day later sought to stop Alawieh from being deported from the airport, but Alawieh was already on a flight to Paris by the time the judge's emergency order was received by customs officials. Her abrupt deportation drew a mass protest outside the Rhode Island State House days later, but there has been little public outcry in the nearly two months since she was sent back to Lebanon. An initial hearing scheduled before U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin on March 17 was canceled due to changes in Alawieh's legal representation. The updated complaint asks U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin to declare Alawieh's removal order unlawful, reinstate her H-1B work visa, and allow for removal proceedings before a federal immigration judge. 'For Dr. Alawieh — someone with over six-and-a-half years of lawful presence and ties to the United States, seeking to return from brief travel abroad — due process requires the opportunity to be heard by an immigration judge,' her lawyers said in a statement. Ryan Brissette, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, declined to comment on the updated complaint Tuesday, saying the agency does not comment on pending litigation. Airport customs officials found photos of various Hezbollah leaders on Alawieh's phone, according to court documents filed by the federal administration. Excerpts from the filings were shared on social media by U.S. Homeland Security. She also told customs officials when questioned that she attended a funeral event for the Islamist group's late leader, Hassan Nasrallah, the administration alleged. The stadium event held in Beirut on Feb. 23 drew hundreds of thousands of attendees. Constitutional authority versus politics Alawieh's lawyers acknowledged but gave little credence to Alawieh's religious and political beliefs as they pertain to her deportation. Instead, the updated complaint centers on whether customs officials had the power to decide whether she was allowed to enter the country or not. 'The claims in this case do not concern the questioning,' the amended complaint states. 'This case turns on whether the role and authority of CPB officers and the procedures they applied to their engagement with Dr. Alawieh violated the requirements of the Constitution.' The three federal customs officers stationed at Logan, two of whom are identified by last name only in the amended complaint, were not directly appointed by the president or Congress. Therefore, they lack authority to deport her — violating the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit states. 'For well over a century the Supreme Court has made clear that the power 'to forbid the entrance of foreigners within its dominions, or to admit them only in such cases and upon such conditions as it may see fit to prescribe' is a sovereign responsibility, the 'final determination' of which is entrusted to 'executive officers,'' the complaint states. 'The unchecked devolution of this power to unappointed employees cannot be squared with the Appointments Clause.' The lawsuit also identifies as defendants the anonymous Boston field office director for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Peter Flores, acting commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem; and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Alawieh is among a growing number of immigrants, including some U.S. citizens and other visa holders, who have been detained and deported since Trump took office. Her case drew public interest in part due to her medical training — Alawieh is one of three transplant nephrologists in Rhode Island, providing life-saving care to patients who now have no doctor, the lawsuit contends. Court documents reveal the Lebanese doctor had been working and studying in the United States since 2018. After finishing her residency at the American University of Beirut, Alawieh completed a series of fellowships in nephrology at Ohio State University, University of Washington and, most recently, Yale University. In June 2024, she was offered an assistant professorship through Brown Medicine Inc.'s Division of Nephrology. The nonprofit, physician-led practice, which is affiliated with the Brown University Warren Alpert School of Medicine, offered to sponsor Alawieh's H-1B visa for the job. While her petition for the specialty work visa was approved in June 2024, she was not able to obtain the visa itself from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut until March of this year — the purpose of her visit home. In addition to her job at Brown Medicine, the nonprofit, physician-led practice, which is affiliated with the Brown University Warren Alpert School of Medicine, Alawieh also had a clinical fellowship at Brown University, and consulted on cases out of Rhode Island Hospital, which is owned by Brown University Health. 'Doctors, no matter where they're from, are an integral part of our communities,' Dr. Daniel Walden, a resident physician at Brown University who helped launch a petition to bring Dr. Alawieh back home, said in a statement Tuesday. 'Dr. Alawieh is a compassionate healthcare professional who provides much-needed care to our community. She has stood by her patients, her community, and her colleagues, and it's our turn to stand up for her. We urge the prompt return of Dr. Alawieh so she can continue providing crucial healthcare to Rhode Island.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Boston Globe
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Lawyers for deported R.I. kidney doctor file amended lawsuit challenging her ‘unlawful' expedited removal
Advertisement 'For Dr. Alawieh, a visibly Muslim woman, the government has thumbed its nose at these constitutional requirements,' Golnaz Fakhimi, legal director of Muslim Advocates, said in a statement Tuesday. We hope this lawsuit can right those wrongs and return Dr. Alawieh to the vulnerable patients in Rhode Island who need and deserve her care.' Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up The lawsuit says the Constitution's Appointment Clause requires that federal officials 'with significant power over people's lives' be appointed by the president or department heads, but it said the border agents at Logan wield 'unilateral and administratively unreviewable authority' without any such appointments. 'Dr. Alawieh's experience exemplifies why permitting non-appointed employees to make life-altering decisions, insulated from any review, is inconsistent with our constitutional system,' the lawyers wrote. Advertisement The lawyers also argued that Alawieh should have been granted 'a fair hearing' before an immigration judge. Instead, border agents cancelled her employment-based visa and subjected her to expedited removal despite court order forbidding her removal from the District of Massachusetts, the lawyers wrote. 'For Dr. Alawieh — someone with over six-and-a-half years of lawful presence and ties to the United States, seeking to return from brief travel abroad— due process requires the opportunity to be heard by an immigration judge,' her lawyers said. The lawsuit asks the US District Court in Massachusetts to declare that expedited removal order violates the Constitution's Appointments Clause and/or Suspension Clause. And it asks that Alawieh be allowed to enter removal proceedings before an immigration judge. Her lawyers are asking that the federal government return Alawieh's H1-B visa, a nonimmigrant visa that allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. And her lawyers are seeking a chance to argue that 'immigration confinement of Dr. Alawieh within the interior of the United States would be the least restrictive means of addressing any putative danger to the community and/or risk of flight from immigration enforcement that the government claims she presents.' In a statement, the US Department of Homeland Security has noted Alawieh's attendance at the funeral of Federal authorities have said border agents at Logan did not receive notice of the court's order barring Alawieh's removal until after she had been removed, and they said they would never ignore a court order. Advertisement Alawieh is now being represented by Muslim Advocates and Marzouk Law LLC. In a statement, the lawyers said Alawieh was one of only three transplant nephrologists in Rhode Island, and they said she was trying to to return to Providence 'to resume providing life-saving and life-changing care to vulnerable patients there.' 'Doctors, no matter where they're from, are an integral part of our communities,' said Dr. Daniel Walden, a resident physician at Brown University who helped launch a petition to bring Dr. Alawieh back home. 'Dr. Alawieh is a compassionate healthcare professional who provides much-needed care to our community,' Walden said. 'She has stood by her patients, her community, and her colleagues, and it's our turn to stand up for her. We urge the prompt return of Dr. Alawieh so she can continue providing crucial healthcare to Rhode Island.' Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at
