Lebanon’s public transportation sector held a nationwide strike on Thursday with some drivers blocking streets with burning tires in the northern province of Akkar.

The sector decided to hold the strike between 5:00 am and 12:00 pm after the government failed to place ceilings on the price of gasoline sold to drivers.

The army intelligence foiled an attempt by three men to smuggle weapons to Syria, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

Two Lebanese men and a Syrian national were detained after the army confiscated their pick-up truck in Beirut.

App&Above is a company dedicated to delivering customized mobile and tablet applications to corporate clients as well as providing mobile strategy for clients’ businesses. It was launched 5 months ago, on November 1, 2011 in Beirut.

Last week we invited Antoine Abou-Samra, the Founder of App&Above, to Seeqnce Space. He told us more about his company, including its business culture, the company’s purpose of existence as well as its business model.

Under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Lebanon, Michel Suleiman, represented by the Minister of Telecommunications, Nicolas Sehnaoui, and with the participation of H.E. Riad Salameh, Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, the third annual ArabNet Digital Summit is set to open on Thursday, March 29th at the Grand Habtoor Hotel, Beirut. The Summit is the largest gathering of entrepreneurs and digital professionals in the web and mobile industries in the Arab region and is expected to attract 1,500 attendees for five action packed days of innovation, entrepreneurialism and best practice sharing between regional and global leaders.

In collaboration with the Central Bank of Lebanon and strategic partnerships with Bank Audi, STC, and MBC Group—the summit will feature discussions and lectures involving 150 internationally renowned speakers covering the latest trends and topics in the industry, particularly in relation to the opportunities and challenges created in various industries by the digital revolution. This will include the future of news, television, advertising and digital marketing, as well as mobile applications, online gaming, e-commerce, and other important fields.

One of Beirut’s most well-established bookshops, Librairie El Bourj, is to host the official launch of UAE-based writer, author and communicator Alexander McNabb’s Olives – A Violent Romance from 5pm on Thursday 29th March 2012 with a talk by the author followed by a reading and book signing.

The novel is set in Jordan, where British journalist Paul Stokes moves to live and work on a contract to produce a magazine for the Ministry of Natural Resources. The Israelis are competing for dwindling water resources as Jordan and Palestine face drought. Daoud Dajani has the solution to Jordan’s water problems and is bidding against the British for the privatisation of Jordan’s water network. When Paul befriends Dajani’s sister, Aisha, British intelligence agent Gerald Lynch realises Paul offers access to the man threatening to drain Israel’s water supply and snatch the bid from the British. Blackmailed by Lynch into spying on Dajani, his movements seemingly linked to a series of bombings, Paul is pitched into a terrifying fight for survival that forces him to betray everyone around him. Even the woman he comes to love.

Daylight-saving time will begin in Lebanon at midnight where clocks should be set an hour ahead as per a decree issued by cabinet earlier this month.

The move will put Beirut 3 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

Security forces arrested two women after being caught red-handed while robbing a house in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

NNA said that 38-year-old M.A. and H.A., 32, were robbing the apartment in the Haret Hreik neighborhood when an Internal Security Forces unit caught them following a month of investigation.

For one day only, Google will be hosting a workshop in conjunction with AUB for Tech Enthusiasts & Business Professionals to learn about Google Products & Technologies. Google speakers will be flying in to give our our first developer & business training in Beirut. Spaces are limited, so register below!

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Have you heard of I-DAW (Intelligent Development of Applications on Web)? It’s a Beirut based company that has been established a year and a half ago. However, its story began around 5-6 years back. At the current stage, with a growth of over 100% in terms of number of customers in the last 6 months, the team believes the company is approaching the end of its startup life, ready to focus on establishing a corporate structure. Even though I-DAW has not attracted a lot of media attention so far, it seems as it is doing excellent, preparing to expand regionally and gaining more and more popularity among its existing and potential customers.

The company has been selected among the top 50 participants at this year’s MITEF Arab Business Plan Competition. They are now getting prepared for the rest of the competition hoping to win or at least get connected with as many business and technical partners as possible since this is what they look after right now.

A man used an eye-catching way to attract people on Wednesday after he began to strip in Beirut’s Ain el-Mraisseh seafront in broad daylight.

Witnesses told Naharnet that the bare-chested man brought his shorts down on several occasions and showed his buttocks by forming a G-string with his underwear.