By Najia Houssari — arabnews.com — BEIRUT: Lebanon is heading toward more “chaos and poverty” if a government is not formed within the next few hours, a lawmaker has warned, with the end of this week marking 13 months since the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s administration. Diab stepped down in the wake of the Aug. 4 port blast that devastated the capital, but he has stayed on in a caretaker capacity. Three prime ministers have been designated to form a government. None have succeeded including, so far, the most recent appointee Najib Mikati.

The political uncertainty takes place amid a worsening social and economic crisis, and with a substantial proportion of the population unable to provide for themselves. Calls and mediation from within Lebanon and abroad show no solution for the complications involved in assembling a government. President Michel Aoun’s term ends in October next year, while parliament’s term ends next May. Vice president of the Future Movement, Mustafa Alloush, told Arab News: “Unless a government is formed in the next hours, Lebanon is heading toward more chaos and poverty. There will be no parliamentary elections or state, only (the) drawing of new sectarian maps that are independent of each other.” He noted that attempts to form a government had been ongoing for more than a year and were going toward a government that was independent of political powers. He added, however: “Today we have resorted again to forming a government of the same kind of governments that destroyed all the experience of executive power.”

by AFP — During the past months, hundreds of Lebanese have flown the 200 kilometers separating their country and the island of Cyprus to settle there, albeit temporarily, to escape the crisis in Lebanon, where electricity is cut off, fuel and medicine are scarce, and the hopes for the future are dim. After an eagerly awaited flight, Nanour Abashian, 30, with her husband and two children, exited Larnaca Airport from Beirut, dragging seven bags, most of them large. “My pain is very great because I left my country and my family, but I am forced to do so, because I want to raise my children with honor and dignity and ensure their future,” she told AFP.

Lebanon has been witnessing a severe economic crisis for nearly two years, which the World Bank has ranked among the worst in the world since 1850. The Lebanese are unable to withdraw their money from banks due to restrictions resulting from the lack of liquidity, and the deterioration of the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound by more than ninety percent. Many have also lost their jobs. At the same time, electricity is cut off most of the day and night, and there is no diesel in the market to run generators. The country is also witnessing crises of medicine, bread and other basic items. Thousands of Lebanese left the country in the wake of the crisis.

Many of them chose Cyprus, though Agence France-Presse was not able to obtain their exact number, because there is no official census yet, and some entered with non-Lebanese passports. However, the Lebanese ambassador to Cyprus, Claude Al-Hajal, confirmed to AFP that since October 2019, with the outbreak of popular protests in Lebanon against the political class, “we noticed a significant increase in the number of family files opened at the embassy, and we recorded the largest increase after the August 4 explosion.”

by New Arab Staff — US senators who visited Lebanon’s capital Beirut this week warned of potential sanction violations if the country receives fuel from Iran, as Lebanon continues to suffer from a devastating energy crisis. The four Democratic senators said that accepting supplies from Iran could have “severely damaging consequences”. Three Iranian fuel tankers are set for Lebanon reported by TankerTrackers.com, an oil export tracker. The deal between Iran and Lebanon is deemed controversial and was organised last month by Hezbollah, a powerful political force in Lebanon and a US-designated terrorist group. Although Raymond Ghajar, Lebanese Energy Minister told Reuters on Wednesday that the government had not received a request for permission from Hezbollah to import fuel. “We do not have information. Permission was not requested from us. This is all I am saying,” Ghajar said.

The US said it is in talks with the World Bank, Egypt and Jordan to form a solution to Lebanon’s energy crisis and possibly transit electricity through the Syrian grid, which Ghajar’s administration confirmed was a plan in motion. Concerns made from the US have sparked the United Nations to allocate $10 million in humanitarian aid to enable Lebanon to purchase urgent fuel to power hospitals and water stations. Martin Griffiths, UN humanitarian chief tweeted on Wednesday during a visit to Beirut: “Lebanon faces profound uncertainty. The humanitarian community, though, is resolved to assist all vulnerable populations, whether Lebanese, refugees or migrants.” Reuters reported on Thursday that the first Iranian fuel oil cargo will be delivered via Syria by truck to avoid complications related to sanctions, according to sources with knowledge on the matter. “Choosing to receive the vessel via Syria is not related to any fear of targeting by Israel or the US but is due to internal considerations related to not wanting to implicate any allies,” a source told Reuters.

من كتاب الدولة المستضعفة في نداء الوطن يوم الجمعة:
ففي يوم تشييع شطح، خرج سليمان بخطاب متلفز يعلن فيه أنّ خادم الحرمين الشريفين الملك عبد الله بن عبد العزيز قرّر تقديم هبة إلى لبنان بقيمة ثلاثة مليارات دولار لشراء سلاح فرنسي بهدف دعم الجيش وجميع القوى والأجهزة الأمنية.

على الفور، اعتبرت قوى الثامن من آذار هذه الخطوة قراراً بتفجير البلاد. وقالت عبر إعلامها إنّ هذه المساعدة هي “أمر بالفتنة” ورشوة تقدمها السعودية مشروطة بتأليف حكومة أمر واقع لعزل “حزب الله” وفتح معركة معه في لبنان

by AFP — Harsh fuel shortages and power cuts inflicted by Lebanon’s economic collapse have paralysed businesses such as restaurants, shops and industry as well as vital services like hospitals. Now Beirut hopes to strike a deal to import gas from Egypt and electricity from Jordan using Syrian infrastructure — with Washington’s blessing despite US sanctions against the Damascus regime. Syria is “ready” to help Lebanon with “transit for Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity via Syrian territory,” senior official Nasri Khouri told reporters, after the delegation led by interim deputy prime minister Zeina Akar met Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Meqdad and Oil Minister Bassam Tomeh. “The parties agreed to set up a joint team to track technical details” of the plan, added Khouri, who is secretary-general of the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council.

Lebanon’s energy minister, Raymond Ghajar, said a meeting would be held next week in Jordan with representatives from Beirut, Amman, Damascus and Cairo to discuss technical and financial issues and to decide on a work plan and timetable. Work will be needed to get Syria’s war-ravaged infrastructure up to the task of moving the energy. Meanwhile Lebanon’s presidency has previously spoken of US-led talks with the World Bank to finance its imports. US-Iran rivalry Lebanon has maintained diplomatic ties with Syria but it adopted a policy of dissociation from the conflict since it started in 2011, putting a dampener on official dealings.

thenationalnews.com — Lebanon’s economic collapse is driving criminality, with armed disputes taking an increasingly sectarian tone and sparking fears of civil strife, experts and politicians have told The National. Sectarian tensions have always existed in Lebanon, ravaged by 15 years of civil war until 1990, but such incidents have multiplied in the past months in a country awash with weapons. The latest sectarian flare-up happened in Maghdoushe, south Lebanon, where desperate people fought over scarce fuel last week. The violence exposed the fragility of civic peace that rests upon sect-based political alliances. Maghdoushe holds special significance to Christians because the village is home to a cave where the virgin Mary allegedly spent a night waiting for Jesus to return from the nearby city of Sidon. A large bronze statue of the virgin Mary, mounted on top of a 34-metre tower, watches over the small village, nestled in the foothills of south Lebanon. “We have been living here for hundreds of years, nothing like this has ever happened before,” Raif Younan, who heads Maghdoushe’s municipality said over the phone. “We need calm, no one wants a war here,” he said, adding that the situation was now under control.

Sect leaders and local representatives have, in many cases, worked to de-escalate the violence, yet such incidents are expected to increase as people fight over scarce resources. The violence started when villagers from the Shiite town of Anqoun, desperate for fuel, tried to force a petrol station in Maghdoushe to open on Friday. The clashes left six people injured, thrusting the village into the public eye. ‘A declaration of war’: tensions in Lebanon’s Khalde after Hezbollah clashes Fuel fight escalates into sectarian clashes in south Lebanon Lebanon: Four killed in vendetta clashes between Hezbollah and local clan In retaliation, men from Anquon, a stronghold for the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement, vandalised cars and a small icon on Sunday. An image of broken glass surrounding a small figure of the virgin Mary went viral on social media, with many users on Twitter reacting to the incident by using inflammatory sectarian rhetoric.

من فصل “ربع الساعة الاخير”  من كتاب “الدولك المستضعفة”.
في الرابع والعشرين من أيار، غادر الرئيس العماد ميشال سليمان قصر بعبدا. أُطفئت الأنوار وأُنزل العلم اللبناني عن السارية وقطعت المياه المتدفقة من نافورة الحوض في الباحة الخارجية، كما يقتضي التقليد.

عنونت جريدة “المستقبل” صفحتها الأولى “وداعاً فخامة الرئيس”.

أما جريدة “الأخبار”، فكتبت “من العدم إلى الفراغ”.

cbc — ca.news — In a sunny apartment in Vancouver’s West End, three friends systematically pack six suitcases with what looks like the contents of a drug store. Dozens of bottles of aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen and other over-the-counter medications, stacks of medical masks, boxes of powdered milk, diapers and boxes of sanitary napkins are packed and documented, with items moved around like a high-stakes game of Tetris. Charbel Elia, Patrick Rmeily and Julnar Doueik will be taking the suitcases to Beirut later in the week, where they’ll be donated to grassroots organizations. Luggage brimming with medication has become a common sight in the living rooms and kitchens of Lebanese living around the world as people pack what they can for friends and relatives in their home country, which is in the grip of an economic crisis. Elia said it was a message from a friend in Lebanon, a mother with two children, that prompted him to get involved. “She was telling me, ‘I can’t afford milk for my kids.’ She has two kids, one-year old and two-years old, and she’s making what’s worth $20 a month. I said to [my friends]: ‘I need to get her milk.'”

For over a year, Lebanon has been living through economic disaster. Its currency, the Lebanese pound, is devaluing at an alarming rate, making local salaries nearly worthless. Hyperinflation, widespread shortages, political gridlock, rampant corruption and the explosion that ripped through Beirut in August 2020 have only plunged the country further into despair. Lebanese living abroad have fielded messages from family and friends asking for basic items. Some commercial airlines have increased the baggage allowance for flights into Lebanon, recognizing that people are bringing crucial supplies to family members. “There’s a catastrophe going on in Lebanon,” said Rmeily, whose Vancouver apartment has looked like a makeshift pharmacy for weeks as the friends collected the cargo. “People were no longer able to get medication because we import everything in U.S. dollars and everything is being dealt with in the Lebanese pound, so the buying capacity is down … They can’t buy anything anymore — it’s out of stock or it’s not in the market.” The contents of the suitcases are valued at around $4,000, raised through donations from friends and co-workers since the one-year anniversary of the Beirut blast.

Osama Habib| The Daily Star BEIRUT: Lebanon will experience its worst inflation in history once the Central Bank’s subsidies are totally lifted on fuel oil and diesel, economists and experts warned. The warning came as Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati desperately struggles to overcome all the obstacles in the formation of a new Cabinet, which is expected to restore some confidence in the country as well all reduce the dollar exchange rate against the Lebanese pound. Observers and international organizations are also closely monitoring the intensive discussions in the Lebanese parliament to approve the capital control law and the ration card.

The Central Bank is expected to lift all subsidies on fuel oil and diesel at the end of September 2021, a move that is expected to have a devastating impact on the already fragile economy if this action was not matched with the issuance of the ration card and serious attempts to implement reforms. Marwan Barakat, group chief economist and head of research at Bank Audi, told The Daily Star that full subsidy removal is expected to have additional significant inflationary effects expected at close to 180 percent (On top of the 316 percent inflation reported between June 2019 and 2021). “This additional inflation is driven by the direct effects of the increase in oil prices on transport cost and housing energy, but also on the indirect effects caused by this supply push inflation on all other sectors in the economy. It is yet worth mentioning that the subsidy lifting has become a necessary evil following the significant drop in BDL liquid reserves to $14 billion, which is equivalent to the required FX deposits of banks at the Central Bank,” Barakat explained.

by dohanews.co — Qatar’s Embassy in Beirut has announced that all Lebanese nationals will be granted a free visa upon arrival at Hamad International Airport, for a period of 30 days. This is subject to an additional 30 days, within 180 days of issuance, the embassy said in a statement on Twitter. All travellers most be in possession of a passport valid for at least six months, a confirmed return ticket and confirmation of a hotel reservation in Qatar for the duration of their visit. Travellers must also be full vaccinated with a vaccine recognised by Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health, with the last dose administered at least 14 days before arrival. A negative PCR test result within 72 hours of arrival is compulsory, and all passengers must register on the Ehteraz platform to obtain approval from the Ministry of Public Health at least 12 hours before travel.

Passengers who have not received two doses of the vaccine 14 days before arrival will not be permitted to enter. Vaccines approved in Qatar include Pfizer / Biontech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Covishield (AstraZeneca), and Johnson & Johnson. Qatar accommodates around 35,000 Lebanese nationals in the country. Speaking to Doha News, Lebanon’s ambassador to Qatar, Farah Berri, said that “the State of Qatar has always been the first to provide moral, financial, humanitarian and political support to Lebanon.” “The Lebanese Embassy in Doha is proud to say that Qatar has become a second home to many Lebanese,” Berri added. The new decision will allow Lebanese families to reunite in Qatar as Lebanon faces a multitude of financial, economic, and political challenges that have prevented many Lebanese expats from visiting this summer.