BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s Christian religious authorities on Tuesday urged anti-government protesters to give a new government breathing room to tackle a dire financial crisis, condemning what they described as mob assaults on security forces in recent marches. Many demonstrators have rejected the government formed last week by the Iran-backed Shi’ite group Hezbollah and its allies without participation of major political parties including the second-largest Christian party, Lebanese Forces (LF). Demonstrations that began last October against a political elite blamed for steering Lebanon into its worst crisis in decades have turned violent as some protesters clashed with security forces at barricades around parliament and government headquarters in central Beirut to demand an independent cabinet. “The Fathers stress the right for peaceful demonstrations to demand reform, but strongly reject the mobs on the streets and squares, especially in Beirut, lest the mobilization veers away from its noble goals,” the Christian religious leaders said in a statement after a summit.

by reuters — When she heard Lebanese banks would limit cash withdrawals, Rita, a doctor, rushed out to buy a $10,000 Rolex watch on her credit card, anxious to protect some of her savings. “It’s better than keeping my money in the bank,” she said. Every week, account holders line up for their quota of cash – for some less than $200 – from their banks, which have also blocked foreign money transfers as Lebanon sinks deep into economic crisis. Dollar shortages have pushed up prices, the Lebanese pound has slumped on the parallel market and confidence in the banking system has all but collapsed. People with savings in the bank are scrambling to get their money out, buying jewellery, cars and land with credit cards or cashier’s checks.

Several people told Reuters news agency they feared even tighter controls, a haircut on their deposits, bank failure or a devaluation of the Lebanese pound, which has been pegged to the United States dollar for 22 years. They asked not to be fully identified due to safety concerns. Lebanon’s central bank insists deposits are safe and has pledged to maintain the dollar peg, while the head of the country’s banking association said the limits on withdrawals and other measures aimed “to keep the wealth of Lebanon” in the country. As remittances from abroad started to dry up last summer, many ordinary Lebanese started stashing cash at home, fearing a clampdown on bank withdrawals to keep foreign exchange from fleeing the country. That was months before protests erupted in October against the ruling elite that plunged Lebanon into its worst crisis in decades. In the capital, Beirut, staff at several jewellery stores said customers had come in recently looking to buy gold and diamonds, sometimes to sell them abroad, though most jewellers are now only accepting cash.

by AFP — BEIRUT: The Lebanese parliament approved the country’s 2020 budget on Monday, in an unprecedented session that revealed the true extent of the state of confusion in Beirut. The governments of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, which drafted the budget, and current Prime Minister Hassan Diab, did not attend the budget debate, with Diab stating his government had “not yet won the confidence of Parliament, and has no right to retrieve the draft budget to study and modify it.” The session was attended by just 70 deputies out of its 128, and was boycotted by the deputies of the Lebanese Forces and the Phalange parties, and a number of independent members of Parliament (MPs).

Forty-nine MPs approved the budget, from the Hezbollah, Amal, and Free Patriotic Movement blocs and their allies. Thirteen MPs voted against it, including the Future Movement bloc, and eight abstained, including the Democratic Gathering bloc, which is loyal to Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party. The budget did not include any economic vision, but was limited to numbers. The head of the Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, Ibrahim Kanaan, said that it included “an estimate of resources and allocations of funds.” The budget deficit reached $7.5 billion.

by the thehill.com — Hanin Ghaddar — Against the backdrop of three months of political and economic protests, Lebanese politicians appear to have reached a deal establishing a nominally technocratic government in Beirut. Still beholden to Hezbollah, the government has little Sunni or Druze support. Some protesters already call this a “Halloween government” since it gives thinly disguised cover to longtime establishment politicians. But the new government is unlikely to be able on its own to tackle the single biggest challenge it faces: the rampant corruption responsible for the country’s acute financial crisis. The formation of a new Lebanese government has been a central demand of the international community and a necessary precondition for any international aid. But that is not enough. The government must quickly take action to fight corruption and enhance transparency. For a country that has run on corruption and political patronage, this will be a very heavy lift.

Nearly all of Lebanon’s political establishment is entangled in Beirut’s deep-rooted corruption crisis, which cuts across the sectarian divide. Lebanon ranks 138th out of 180 nations in the Corruption Perceptions Index released by the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International. Meeting in December, the International Support Group for Lebanon issued a final statement in Paris urging Lebanese authorities to “take decisive action” to tackle corruption and tax evasion while improving economic governance and the country’s business environment. At the time, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that while Lebanon must take these steps, the U.S. is ready to “do the things that the world can do to assist the Lebanese people getting their economy right and getting their government right.”

Today, the U.S. should take action that would force the new government’s hand and empower it to take on the corrupt political establishment — something no Lebanese government could otherwise do on its own: Washington should issue sanctions targeting some of the most egregious corrupt actors across the Lebanese political and sectarian spectrum under the Global Magnitsky Act. Corrupt leaders seek profit and the political power that comes with funding patronage projects. Global Magnitsky sanctions would not only name and shame Lebanon’s most corrupt actors, it would block all property and interests they hold in the United States, which are likely to be substantial. There are other tools available to designated political corruption — such as Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2020. The State Department employed this tool earlier this month targeting Moldovan corruption, but it includes only a ban on visa to enter the United States for the designee and their family members, and it lacks the authority to block funds held in the United States. Global Magnitsky would be a better fit in the case of Lebanon.

by Rebecca Mansour — breitbart.com — As tributes pour in for basketball legend Kobe Bryant after his tragic death in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, on Sunday at the age of 41, some fans are remembering how Bryant’s Catholic faith sustained him during a difficult period of his life and inspired his philanthropy. The former Laker and father of four was raised Catholic and spent his childhood in Italy, where his father, Joe Bryant, played professional basketball in Italian leagues. Bryant and his wife were married at a Catholic parish in Southern California in 2001 and are regular parishioners in Orange County, California, according to Catholic News Agency.

Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez issued condolences on Sunday. “I am praying for him and his family. May he rest in peace and may our Blessed Mother Mary bring comfort to his loved ones,” the archbishop tweeted. Singer Cristina Ballestero shared on Instagram a story about encountering Kobe at a weekday mass at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange, California. “Right as mass begins I see a huge shadow in my right peripheral vision and hear a decently loud creak from probably a big man. I double took to see… it was KOBE BRYANT IN THE SAME PEW AS ME ON THE OTHER END!” Ballestro wrote. “As we went up to communion, he waited for me to go. If you grew up in the Catholic Church, you understand this is a respectful thing men do in church as a sign of respect to women. He said I have a beautiful voice. I said thank you and went up to communion.”

This is an opinion article and does not necessarily represent khazen.org opinion

by Al -Jazeera — Timour Azhari –– Beirut, Lebanon – A colorful mix of insults and allegations of nepotism, racism and corruption is how an average Lebanese protester would describe the country’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs Gebran Bassil. He is not alone. Lebanon’s entire ruling class has been targeted by protesters who took to the streets more than 100 days ago to demand an end to corruption and sectarian politics. He is one of the newer politicians on the bloc, having come to power after the country’s 15-year civil war. But Bassil quickly rose to be a symbol the cynical sectarian politics and mismanagement that have dominated the post-war era.

Protesters point to his last 10 years in the government where he moved through the telecommunication, energy and foreign ministries and assumed leadership of one of the country’s biggest parties, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). Lebanon has some of the highest telecommunications costs in the world, and the FPM has held the energy portfolio for a decade while the country remains without uninterrupted electricity supply. Bassil enjoys unwavering support from his Christian base, who see him as a shrewd hard worker and a protector of their rights in Lebanon. Member of Parliament Mario Aoun, a member of Bassil’s FPM parliamentary bloc, told Al Jazeera that Bassil was being “targeted because of his successes”.

Insults from the crowd

 When the protests against Lebanon’s corrupt ruling elite broke out 100 days ago, crude chants were aimed at Bassil’s mother. So severe were the insults that Bassil, in his first address after more than two weeks of uncharacteristic silence, apologized to his mother. “I’m so sorry that you were attacked because of me and it wasn’t your fault. You taught me to love Lebanon,” he said, addressing her in front of crowds of supporters at an organised rally on the outskirts of the capital Beirut. Before the protests, Bassil was widely expected to remain a top minister in government for a long time and was thought to be a serious contender for the presidency, a post currently held by his 84-year-old father-in-law, Michel Aoun.

foxnews.com —The daughter of an American citizen held hostage in Lebanon called on President Trump and his administration to take action. Appearing on “Fox & Friends: Weekend” with host Pete Hegseth and the daughter of Amer Fakhoury, Guilia Fakhoury, urged the president to do anything in his power to bring her father home. “My dad […]

by reuters — Some protesters among the hundreds who had gathered for a planned march managed to open a metal gate blocking their way but were pushed back. After Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces used Twitter to warn peaceful demonstrators to leave for their own safety, riot police fanned out to disperse dozens of remaining protesters. […]

BEIRUT Reuters Tom Arnold — Lebanese consumers feeling the pinch from rising living costs amid an economic crisis are likely to be squeezed even tighter as more local pounds and less U.S. dollars come into circulation, pushing up inflation. Lebanon has long relied on a steady flow of dollars from its overseas diaspora to help fund its financial system. But that has been choked off as faith in the political elite crumbled. People have been hit by what economists estimate is a 30% annual rise in inflation during the crisis that escalated in October. The pound has collapsed against the U.S. dollar in the parallel market and a liquidity crunch has bitten. That slashed consumer purchasing power and prompted some to withdraw pounds from banks as unofficial capital controls shattered confidence in the banking system and restricted access to dollars.

Arlette Mattar, 54, a midwife and mother of three, has cut back to basics, eliminating sweets and restricting purchases of items like tissues and toiletries. “The cost of living is high now,” she said outside a supermarket in a middle-class Beirut neighbourhood. “Now when I shop I get only what I need.” While the pound, pegged against the dollar for 22 years, is the official currency, the greenback has long been used as an alternative for transactions. Some consumers who were buying with dollars say they now use pounds. “Today you know the most important thing is food, it is necessary for one to live, so this affected all Lebanese families,” said a beautician and mother of two who asked only to be identified by her surname, Boutros. She had tightened spending on goods like cleaning products. The Lebanese economy relies on imports.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s new government must reassure international donors it is serious about reforms to tackle a financial crisis as it looks initially to secure up to $5 billion in soft loans for basic goods, its finance minister said on Thursday. The government that took office on Tuesday faces an emergency in which banks have imposed controls, the Lebanese pound has weakened and protesters have turned to violence which a senior U.N. official described as “politically manipulated”. “The entire international community has its eye on what this government will do,” Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said in televised comments. “What is its programme, what are the reform steps, is it ready for support or no?” Lebanon is looking to secure $4 billion to $5 billion in soft loans from international donors to finance purchases of wheat, fuel and medicines, The Daily Star newspaper had earlier quoted the minister as saying. “This injection will cover the country’s needs for one year,” said Wazni.

Bank restrictions on access to cash, inflation and job losses have hit people hard. Increasingly violent though more limited protests have replaced jubilant demonstrations against a political elite blamed for driving Lebanon towards collapse. Interior minister Mohammed Fahmi said the state would not tolerate attacks on security forces who he said would protect people’s rights, including freedom of expression. On Wednesday, protesters broke stone slabs off buildings in a luxury commercial district of Beirut to hurl at barricades guarded by security forces blocking paths to parliament. “This looks more like a political manipulation to provoke the security forces, to undermine civil peace, to fan up sectarian strife,” Jan Kubis, U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon, wrote on Twitter, mentioning attacks on security forces and vandalism of state institutions and private property. The new government was set up with backing from the powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah and its political allies. Major political parties that have Western backing, including that of former premier Saad al-Hariri, are not part of the cabinet.

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