News

Lebanese Newspaper Builds AI President To Beat Political Crisis

The move by media outlet AnNahar comes after 13 failed attempts by the Lebanese parliament to elect a new leader.

Published

2 years ago

April 15, 2024

Nour Nasir

lebanese newspaper builds ai president to beat political crisis

OurPresident.ai

In a world first, Lebanon’s AnNahar Newspaper has built an artificial intelligence model designed to carry out presidential duties for the politically troubled country. Lebanon has been without a sitting president for two years after thirteen failed attempts by the nation’s parliament to elect a suitable candidate.

The new AI President’s deep learning algorithm was fed over 90 years of impartial journalism from AnNahar’s archive stretching back to the 1930s. The AI leader analyzes not only historical data but also current events and is able to formulate solutions for all manner of political, legal, and governmental questions. By tapping into such a vast knowledge base, Lebanon’s AI President will have a deep understanding of the country’s past, as well as an unbiased take on the challenges the nation faces going forward.

lebanon our president ai platform annahar

The new AI President was unveiled in a recent live broadcast. Nayla Tueni, editor-in-chief of AnNahar Newspaper conducted an interview with the digital leader, asking relevant questions about the current state of Lebanon, and how to fix the country’s difficult political situation. AnNahar has also converted its print newspaper to focus entirely on the new president’s guidance on issues spanning everything from the economy to sustainability and the environment.

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After the interview, Nayla Tueni commented: “As Lebanese people, and especially at AnNahar, we refuse to sit back and allow things to go on as they have. To not have a president for this long is unacceptable and has impacted the country negatively. If the parliament will not do its job to elect a president, then the people will bring to Lebanon a president”.

The AI President will soon be accessible to everyone at OurPresident.ai, Users will be able to ask questions in a similar manner to the likes of ChatGPT and Google Gemini. It is also understood that government officials will also use the tool to help devise new directives.

Related Topics:Artificial Intelligence Lebanon

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Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

6 days ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

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The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.