News

Lebanon Preparing To Build New $70 Million Airport Terminal

The construction of the second terminal is hoped to increase the capacity of the airport from 8 million passengers a year today to 20 million by 2030.

Published

3 years ago

June 16, 2022

David Morelo

lebanon preparing to build new $70 million airport terminal

Directorate General Of Civil Aviation

Lebanon’s only international airport in Beirut is moving one step closer to the construction of its second terminal. According to Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamie, the crisis-stricken country will soon launch an international tender for the $70 million project.

Once constructed, the state-of-the-art terminal will be used for chartered and low-cost flights, as well those carrying Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The construction of the new terminal, together with other expansions and technological improvements, is hoped to increase the capacity of the airport from 8 million passengers a year today to 20 million by 2030, as stated on the website of national carrier Middle East Airlines.

beirut international airport terminal 2

In the coming months, large numbers of travelers are expected to visit Lebanon and generate substantial revenue for the country, whose tourism sector alone corresponds to 7.5 percent of its gross domestic product.

“Occupancy rates are full at airlines and hotels,” Minister of Tourism Walid Nassar said in reference to the summer season. “Lebanese expatriates and foreigners who love Lebanon will come to Lebanon and it will be a promising summer.”

Also Read: Google Contributed Billions To The Middle East Economy In 2021

The capacity to comfortably welcome more travelers to the country would provide a nice economic boost for Lebanon, which is experiencing the first financial crisis in its modern history. What’s more, the terminal construction project, which will be carried out by the private sector, should create hundreds of new jobs.

The last time when the Beirut Airport underwent a modernization was in 1990, after the Lebanese Civil War, which left it in shambles and in need for major improvements. For the last several years, the airport has been operating at peak capacity, and the two large explosions at the Beirut port in 2020 only made the situation worse.

News

Truecaller For iPhone Gets Real-Time Caller ID And Auto Spam Blocking

The latest update integrates with Apple’s Live Caller ID Lookup framework, launched with iOS 18 last year.

Published

2 hours ago

January 23, 2025

Nour Nasir

Truecaller

Truecaller has rolled out a major update for iPhone users, introducing API support that brings real-time caller identification and automatic spam blocking. The upgrade aims to bring the iOS version of the app closer to its Android counterpart, which has long offered these advanced call-screening features.

The latest update integrates with Apple’s Live Caller ID Lookup framework, launched with iOS 18 last year. The technology allows third-party apps to cross-check incoming calls against a database of known spam numbers in real-time. Importantly, the process employs “homomorphic encryption,” ensuring user privacy by masking the caller’s number, concealing the client’s IP address, and using anonymous authentication.

With this update, Truecaller has also introduced global automatic spam call blocking for iPhones. However, the real-time caller ID feature is being released gradually and is available only to Truecaller Premium subscribers on iPhones running iOS 18.2 or later. Free users will still have access to ad-supported features, such as manual number searches and caller identification for verified businesses.

How To Enable The New Features

To activate the new features, follow these steps:

Update the Truecaller app to version 14.0 or newer via the App Store.
Go to Settings > Apps > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification on your iPhone.
Turn on all Truecaller toggles, then restart the app.

Also Read: “AI Seal” Certification Now Required For Dubai Gov Partnerships

While these features are new to iOS, Truecaller has hinted at this update for months. Following Apple’s iOS 18 update and the introduction of its Live Caller ID API last September, Truecaller Co-founder Alan Mamedi shared his excitement on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Truecaller finally works on iPhone”.

The global rollout of spam call blocking is already live, but users may need to wait for gradual access to the live caller ID feature.