By Sunniva Rose — thenationalnews.com — Lebanese officials are closing in on a $600 million World Bank loan to fund a regional power deal that would provide Lebanon with six more hours of electricity per day in the coming months, Energy Minister Walid Fayad has said. Egypt has committed to selling a minimum quantity of gas to Lebanon equivalent to 650 million cubic metres per year to provide 450 megawatts of electricity, said Mr Fayad. Jordan is expected to transfer 250MW from its power grid to Lebanon. The World Bank will fund the deal which is aimed at alleviating Lebanon’s worsening electricity shortages via a loan that will be disbursed over the next two years, Mr Fayad told The National on Tuesday.

“We are rounding the funding to make sure the full amount is available for both the Jordanian and Egyptian gas deals because they are likely to happen simultaneously rather than sequentially,” he said. “That would amount to about $300m in total for the Egyptian deal. For Jordan, my estimate is approximately about $200m. I’d say the total reaches about $600m,” he said. Following the mapping of the Arab Gas Pipeline, Egyptian gas sent to Lebanon must go through Syria.

Countries involved in the deal will be able to avoid US sanctions on Syria issued in 2019 via the Caesar Act by paying in kind instead of in cash for transit services, with Damascus keeping a small portion of the gas. “Jordan and Egypt received letters of reassurance from the US administration [regarding US sanctions] but they need to continue the due diligence process to make sure all companies are properly listed,” said Mr Fayad. Lebanon will pay Egypt between $7 and $10 per million BTU (British Thermal Unit) — a measure used for energy sources including natural gas — of which Syria would take the equivalent of $0.75 per BTU, said Mr Fayad. It remains unclear whether or not the 650 million cubic metres of gas will include the portion that goes to Syria.

By Timour Azhari and Maha El Dahan MAARAB, Lebanon (Reuters) – Lebanese Forces Political Leader Geagea accused foe Hezbollah and its allies of working to postpone a parliamentary election set for March over fears of electoral losses, warning such a move would condemn Lebanon to a “slow death”. Western donors that Lebanon is relying on to stem its financial implosion have said the vote must go ahead. Politicians from all sides, including Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah, have repeatedly said it should happen otherwise the country’s standing would be dealt a further blow. But Samir Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Forces and an ally of Saudi Arabia, pointed the finger at Hezbollah and its ally President Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement for moves to delay it “because they are near certain that they will lose their parliamentary majority”.

Aoun said this month he would not sign authorisation for the vote, approved by parliament, to be held on March 27 as the date was too early. Asked whether a postponement would lead to more fighting after clashes last month between the Lebanese Forces and Hezbollah, Geagea, said: “Not fighting, but to more slow death.” “With the current way things are going, state institutions – and so the state – is dissolving day by day,” he told Reuters at his residence in the mountains overlooking the coastal town of Jounieh. Lebanon has no reliable opinion polling but should the election take place, Geagea’s party is widely expected to make gains, with the Free Patriotic Movement expected to lose seats, potentially robbing Hezbollah of its majority. Without an election to shake up parliament “you will see more of the same”, Geagea said. The United Nations says the economic meltdown has left nearly 80% of people in poverty.

الى من يعارض الحياد لانه لا يتناسب مع الموقف الوطني من العدو الاسرائيلي، كيف يفسر الانحياز والاصطفاف في محور اقليمي ضد الدول الصديقة والشقيقة ؟

By Najia Houssari — arabnews.com — BEIRUT: Demonstrators blocked roads across parts of Lebanon on Monday in protest at the country’s economic meltdown, days after its currency sank to new lows. There has been little progress since Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government was appointed in September after more than a year of political deadlock. Roads were blocked by piles of burning tires in central Beirut, Tripoli in northern Lebanon and the southern city of Sidon. Schools were forced to close in Beirut after the protests made them inaccessible to students. Protesters in the city’s southern suburbs, meanwhile, blocked the road to the airport in front of Al-Aytam station. Less than 24 hours before the Beirut protests, residents of Ali Al-Nahri, in the Bekaa Valley, launched their own protests, shouting “we are cold and hungry.”

A spokesperson for the protesters said: “We will take to the streets more frequently in the coming days unless the governing authority put a stop to the deteriorating living conditions the Lebanese are facing.” He added: “The people of Beirut are noble. They are fighting extremely hard for their city and their livelihood. “They are not thieves, and today’s move does not have any political, electoral, parliamentary or ministerial dimension. Its sole purpose is the livelihood of citizens after a large number of students now go to school without any food.” In a UNICEF report published last week, the agency said: “More than 30 percent of families have at least one child in Lebanon who skipped a meal, while 77 percent of families say they lack sufficient food and 60 percent of them buy food by accumulating unpaid bills or borrowing money.”

by cpj.org — New York, – Lebanese authorities should drop their prosecution of journalist Radwan Mortada and refrain from imprisoning members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On November 26, the Permanent Military Court in Beirut sentenced Mortada, a reporter for the local daily Al-Akhbar and the news website The Cradle, […]

CAIRO, (Reuters) – Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Monday he did not agree with the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah on dismissing the judge investigating the Beirut port blast. Tarek Bitar is leading an investigation into an explosion at Beirut port that killed more than 200 people on Aug. 4 last year. Report ad Hezbollah, […]

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Friday the group had spent more than $10 million on free and subsidized fuel sourced from Iran for the Lebanese people since September. In a televised address, Nasrallah said $2.6 million worth of fuel had been provided for free to Lebanese NGOs, municipalities, government hospitals […]

ليلتف الجميع حول البطريرك لانه ينطق بالحق والحرية والسيادة ويجاهر بهم بكل شجاعة من اجل حماية لبنان…لم يفت الاوان بعد …

NNA – Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, affirmed that “the parliamentary elections are not only a periodic constitutional entitlement, but a stage to renew national life through democracy and popular will.” “It is time for parliamentary life to regularize, so that political forces compete under the constitution’s roof for change for the better, so […]

by middleeast.in-24.com — The results of the Dental Syndicate elections in Lebanon that were held on Sunday were canceled, after several verbal disputes and fistfights between doctors and the throwing and breaking of ballot boxes. Al-Jadeed channel reported that the results were canceled after complete chaos and the objection of some doctors to their inability to view the results on a screen placed in the counting hall due to a technical malfunction, and complaints about the lack of transparency of vote counting.

The Captain of Dentists, Roger Rubeiz, confirmed in a statement to the channel that he will sue an unknown person because of what happened, hoping that the surveillance cameras have documented this. He pointed out that the union will call for other elections according to its bylaws. And talking about the presence of people who do not belong to the dental profession in the screening hall, he said: “It is not possible to control this large number of people in the hall.” The head of the “Phalange Party” Sami Gemayel commented on the event in a tweet on his account via “Twitter”, saying: “What happened in the Dentists’ Syndicate elections is shameful and shameful.” He added, “Armed Hezbollah elements from outside the doctors attack the screening staff and smash boxes in a scene that does not bode well for the upcoming parliamentary elections.”