by AFP — Beirut: Lebanon’s newly designated prime minister Najib Mikati said Monday that a cabinet lineup would not be announced by mid-week to coincide with the anniversary of the deadly Beirut port blast. “Frankly, with regard to the government, I was hoping the pace would be faster,” he said after meeting President Michel Aoun, […]

by saudigazette.com.sa — BEIRUT — Five persons including an official of Hezbollah, the Lebanese branch, were killed in gunfire shooting in the coastal region of Khaldeh south of Beirut on Sunday, according to local media reports. The media reported that gunmen opened fire during the funeral of Ali Shibli, a Hezbollah member, who was shot dead in the area on Saturday. The attack on the funeral was followed with exchange of gunfire and rocket propelled grenades between followers of Hezbollah and armed locals. Shibli is known as owner of a mini market in Khaldeh and official of Hezbollah. His store was set afire a year ago when one of the locals was shot dead.

The Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Sunday that he had called on the army to take immediate measures to restore calm in Khaldeh area that witnessed armed clashed in the wake of the murder of a citizen on Saturday. In a statement, the presidency said the president followed up on the sorrowful security incidents in Khaldeh, south of Beirut, that led to the killing and wounding of some citizens. Aoun called for the arrest of the shooter and safeguarding the ,obedient of citizens. Meanwhile the Lebanese Army announced that its forces have intensified their deployment in Khaldeh. The army command warned that its forces will open fire on any armed man on road, or any person planning to shoot from any place. National News Agency reported earlier in the day that gunshots and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) were heard at Aaramoun and Khaldeh during the funeral of a Hezbollah official.

The Lebanese Army said on its Twitter account that it had deployed units to Khaldeh town to “control the situation” and restore calm. The Lebanese Army and the security source said gunfire was exchanged. Local media showed footage of heavy gunfire and fires blazing in buildings in the area. Several hours following the initial clashes, a senior official said tensions had calmed down. The Lebanese Army said it had arrested four people in connection with the clashes. Several political parties voiced concern over the incident as it continued to unfold, reflecting a country on edge amid fears it could escalate and compound Lebanon’s multiple crises amid a political vacuum. — Agencies

الجيش في الاول من آب هو دائماً الاول في ” شرف “حماية لينان ونظامه الديمقراطي، الاول في “التضحية”والتصدي للارهاب ومناهضة العنصرية والتعصب، الاول في “وفائه” للانسان وحقوقه، الاول في صمته وصيانة حرية التعبير. في هذا الاحد ليبارك الله الجيش وقيادته ويحفظهم من الشرور والبلايا ليبقى السبّاق في تحمل المسؤوليات واخذ التحديات بصدر ه برحابة ورضى […]

By Najia Houssari – arabnews.com — BEIRUT: A Lebanese child, Zahra Tleis, died on Friday, after being stung by a scorpion, and her family being unable to find an antidote to treat her, due to medicine shortages in the country. Some vital medicines can only now be found on the black market, but are sold at exorbitant prices. The director of Rafik Hariri Governmental Hospital, Dr. Firas Abiad, said “unfortunately, losing patients due to medicine shortages will become more common.” The head of the National Health Authority, Ismail Sukkarieh, revealed to Arab News that even treatments for dog bites were missing from shelves. “Such injections should be be available in large quantities in hospitals, and especially governmental hospitals, but have gone missing due to negligence and the medicine crisis.” Sukkariyeh said the Lebanese people “are paying the price for the irresponsibility of officials and the accumulation of ill-conceived, corrupt and scandalous policies.” He warned that the country will completely collapse if the situation persists.

Lebanon has been facing an economic collapse since 2019, described by the World Bank as “one of the world’s worst crises since the 1850s.” More than half of the population now lives under the poverty line as the local currency, the lira, has lost over 90 percent of its value against the US dollar. With the depletion of foreign currency reserves at the Lebanese central bank, the Banque du Liban (BDL) and delays in opening lines of credits for imports, the health sector has been facing increasing pressure and fuel shortages. The country’s electricity company, Electricité du Liban (EDL) has also been unable to provide power due to fuel shortages, and some regions have had to ration electricity for 22 hours a day. Owners of private generators have also been affected by the diesel and fuel crisis, and have resorted to rationing as well.

by uk.news.yahoo.com — Forget packing clothes, perfume, sweets and the other usual gifts. As Lebanon experiences a severe shortage of medication, many Lebanese expats going home for summer vacation are packing their suitcases full of medicine for their families and friends. Lebanon is still in the throes of an economic crisis, marked by the extreme devaluation of the Lebanese pound, which has led to unrest and shortages of essential goods. With pharmaceutical importers in debt to suppliers abroad and unable to open new lines of credit from the Bank of Lebanon, drug imports have been halted for more than a month. In protest of the shortages, a pharmacist association organised a nationwide general strike for several days in early July. To help alleviate the strain on their families and friends, Lebanese expats returning home for the summer have packed their suitcases with out-of-stock goods: essential medicines, first-aid supplies and even sanitary pads, as shown in photos posted on social networks.

Paulina Queralt, a singer living in France, made a call on social media asking any Lebanese expats heading to Beirut to take along a suitcase of medicine she prepared for a relative who was hospitalised after an accident. “I’m ready to pay for an extra suitcase,” she wrote in this tweet. However, Beirut-based journalist Anaïs Renevier warned expats against sending expired medications to clinics in Lebanon, saying: “Here, medicines are not recycled. This will create additional pollution.” ‘I had to bring three months’ worth of diabetes medication for my mother’ Jessy El Murr lives in the United Arab Emirates and travelled to Lebanon on July 20. The past few weeks, videos showing protesters breaking into warehouses filled with boxes of medication have been circulating on social media. The video below, posted on YouTube on July 7, shows activists in a medication warehouse in Tripoli, in northern Lebanon. They said they discovered boxes of medications – blood pressure pills, anti-inflammatory drugs and fever and cough medicines – that were out of stock at pharmacies. ‘In Lebanon, everything is in short supply: I even sent baby diapers and pacifiers’ Rima Tarabay, a psychologist, has started a solidarity drive initiative from Paris.

by thenationalnews.com — Joyce Karam — The US is considering a broad set of options to respond to the unprecedented crisis in Lebanon, including sanctions on corrupt figures, sending cash and non-perishable aid to the Lebanese Army and directing humanitarian assistance to non-governmental organisations. In a joint statement released on Friday by the US Secretaries of State and Treasury, Antony Blinken and Janet Yellen, the Biden administration welcomed the EU’s adoption of a new sanctions regime. “As an increasing number of Lebanese suffer from the country’s worsening economic crisis, it is critical that Lebanese leaders heed their people’s repeated calls for an end to widespread corruption and government inaction and form a government that can initiate the reforms critical to address the country’s dire situation,” the joint statement read. “The United States looks forward to future co-operation with the EU in our shared efforts.”

On Friday, the EU announced it had adopted a framework for sanctions that would focus on corrupt figures and “persons and entities who are responsible for undermining democracy or the rule of law” in Lebanon. With Lebanon experiencing a power vacuum, rampant fuel and medicine shortages, and with the local currency in a free fall, President Joe Biden’s administration finds itself forced to think outside the box to manage the situation and prevent the country from becoming a failed state. The threat of sanctions, one Arab diplomatic source said, is aimed at both speeding up the government formation and showing a US-EU united front on the issue. This week, Lebanese business tycoon Najib Mikati became the third prime minister-designate to attempt to break the year-long paralysis in forming a government. US officials have dealt with Mr Mikati before, when he served as prime minister in 2005 and 2011, and are privately welcoming the pick. But publicly, the US is withholding judgment.

The Daily Star — BEIRUT: The Lebanese pound was little changed on the black market Thursday, trading at LL18,100 against the dollar, with all eyes on the latest push to form a new government quickly. Exchange dealers said they were buying the greenback for LL18,050 and selling it for LL18,150, compared to LL18,000-LL18,100 Wednesday. The national currency’s rose sharply earlier this week after former Prime Minister Najib Mikati was designated to form a new government charged with implementing reforms, restarting negotiations with the International Monetary Fund over a rescue package and supervising next year’s parliamentary elections. Mikati has expressed his optimism that he could form his Cabinet in a short time. The local currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value since late 2019 as the country plunged into its worst financial and economic crisis in modern times, pushing more than half the population below the poverty line.

Lebanon’s Aoun and Mikati at odds over interior ministry in government formation talks

by nna-leb.gov.lb —

وطنية – الفاتيكان – أشاد سفير لبنان في الفاتيكان فريد الياس الخازن بمبادرة البابا فرنسيس في الأول من تموز الجاري، لجمع رؤساء الكنائس، الكاثوليكية والأرثوذكسية والإنجيلية. وقال في حديث الى “الوكالة الوطنية للاعلام” إن اللافت في هذا اللقاء كان “تلقف الفاتيكان المبادرة والإعداد له بأقصى سرعة، فضلا عن الاهتمام الخاص بالمدعوين الذين مكثوا مع الوفود المرافقة في مركز إقامة البابا في Santa Marta”.

أضاف: “لعل الأبرز في اللقاء حضور قداسة البابا فرنسيس الجلسات الثلاث التي تخللها مداخلة في كل منها ونقاش بين المشاركين، بإدارة السفير البابوي في لبنان، عكس التنوع في الآراء، بينما ظل البابا ومعاونوه الأربعة مستمعين. وفي الختام، كانت صلاة في بازيليك القديس بطرس معدة بإتقان بلغات الكنائس المشاركة، حضرها عدد كبير من السفراء المعتمدين لدى الكرسي الرسولي وكبار مسؤولي الفاتيكان، بالإضافة الى رجال دين لبنانيين وعلمانيين مقيمين في روما. أما الكلمة الختامية، التي تلاها البابا بالإيطالية وترجمت في كراس الى العربية والإنكليزية، فجاءت بمثابة بيان رسمي عن اللقاء وخارطة طريق لتوجهات الكرسي الرسولي. كان يمكن ألا يحضر البابا كل الجلسات، أي أن يكتفي بالمشاركة في الصلاة الختامية، إلا أن حضوره وتدوينه ملاحظات جاء تأكيدا على حرصه وقلقه على الأوضاع الشائكة في لبنان، ولاسيما معاناة الناس اليومية جراء الأزمات المتفاقمة”.

@AzziSejean

سجعان قزي

حبّذا لو يقولُ الرئيسُ عون ما قاله الرئيس الأميركي بايدن “إنّ إرسالَ إيران سلاحًا متطوِّرًا إلى حزب الله هو انتهاكٌ لسيادةِ لبنان وضربٌ لاستقراره”. وحبّذا لو يدعو الرئيسُ عون مجلسَ الأمنِ الدُوَليَّ إلى الانعقادِ في نيويورك لإنقاذ لبنان عوضَ ممارسةِ هوايةِ دعوةِ مجلسِ الأمنِ المركزيِّ دوريًّا إلى اجتماعاتٍ عقيمةٍ في بعبدا.

مع كلِّ الحَراكِ الدُوَليِّ المسَتجِدِّ حول لبنان، بما فيه الموقفُ الأميركيُّ المتقدِّم، لم تُبادِر، بعدُ، أيُّ دولةٍ صديقةٍ للبنان، ولا الأمينُ العامُّ للأممِ المتّحدة، إلى دعوةِ مجلسِ الأمنِ الدُوَلِّي إلى الانعقادِ في جلسةٍ خاصّةٍ حولَ لبنان. جميعُ الدولِ تَتبارى في النحيبِ على لبنان واسْتِفظاعِ وضعِه: منها مَن اعتَبرتْه على شفيرِ الإفلاسِ التامّ، ومنها مَن قدَّرَت اختفاءَه، ومنها مَن قارنتهُ بالصومال، ومنها مَن توقَّعت دخولَه في حربٍ أهليّةٍ جديدة، ومنها مَن تنبّأت بتقسيمِه، ومنها من ضَبَطتْهُ عبر جهازِ الـــ “جي پي إس” متَّجِهًا نحو جُهنَّم. أما البنكُ الدُوَلي فوصَفَ أزْمةَ لبنان بأنها “بين أكبرِ ثلاثِ أزَماتٍ على مستوى العالم منذ منتَصفِ القرنِ التاسع عشر”، إلخ…