by arabnews.com -- Najia Houssari -- BEIRUT: Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport is perhaps the only active official facility in Lebanon these days. Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamiyeh said Thursday: “Ninety-three flights arrived at Beirut airport on Wednesday, carrying 15,444 passengers coming to spend summer vacation here. “The number of planes arriving in Beirut will increase in the coming days,” Hamiyeh expected. Lebanon is counting on summertime travel to pump hard currency into the economic cycle amid accumulated political and economic crises and their impact on the living situation of the Lebanese people.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who is also PM-designated, warned Thursday during the Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee meeting: “Every delay in coming up with solutions to crises costs Lebanon $25 million a day.” A source at the Middle East Airlines told Arab News: “As a result of the economic crisis, COVID-19 precautionary measures, and the decline in the financial capabilities of the Lebanese, only a few thousand pilgrims will be traveling to perform Hajj this year. Their numbers reached over 25,000 in previous years.” On Wednesday, an MEA flight carrying the first batch of Lebanese pilgrims landed at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. MEA is the only authorized airline in Lebanon to transport pilgrims to and from Saudi Arabia. The economic collapse and the national currency’s depreciation made the pilgrimage more difficult for those wishing to go to Makkah.

DOHA/BEIRUT, (Reuters) - Qatar has pledged $60 million to the Lebanese army, state news agency QNA said on Thursday, funding that is earmarked to support the salaries of Lebanese soldiers, two sources briefed on the deal told Reuters. The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) said the package was intended "to support members of the army" but did not specifically mention salaries. The Qatari government did not have any immediate comment. Discontent has been brewing in the security forces as Lebanon's currency has lost more than 90% of its value against the dollar, driving down most soldiers' wages to less than $100 per month. "The funding is specifically earmarked to support soldiers salaries. It will provide support for a period of time with the goal of stabilizing the situation," one of the sources said. Aram Nerguizian, a senior military adviser at the Carnegie Middle East Center, said "it is the intention of the LAF to deploy the full amount of the Qatari grant to enable a $100 cost-of-living adjustment per LAF household over the next six-to-seven months."

The hope is that the Qatari grant would open the door for at least $50 million in U.S. funding as well as other sources of support to bolster the army to the end of the year, Nerguizian said. Lebanon's financial crisis has gutted public sector salaries and the amount paid to soldiers is barely enough to afford a basic subscription to a generator service that could offset the 22-hour cuts in the state electricity grid. The army's canteen stopped offering meat to troops in 2020 to save money. The following year, it began offering sightseeing tours in its helicopters to raise funds. To supplement their low salaries, many troops have taken extra jobs and some have quit, raising concerns that the institution - one of few in Lebanon that can rally national pride and create unity across its fractured sectarian communities - could be fraying. At the start of Lebanon's civil war in the 1970s, fissures along sectarian lines in the army helped fuel a descent into militia rule.

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سجعان قزي

@AzziSejean

السُرعةُ التي قَدّمَ فيها الرئيسُ المكلَّفُ ـــ وحسنًا فَعل ـــ إلى رئيسِ الجُمهوريّةِ تشكيلةَ حكومةِ تصريفِ الأعمالِ معدَّلةً قليلًا، قد تُنبئُ بتأخيٍر، لا بتسريعٍ، في تشكيلِ الحكومة، فقرّرَ وضعَ الكُرةِ في ملعبِ الرئيسِ عون من اللحظةِ الأولى. هذه الحكومةُ الحاليّةُ، أكانت قائمةً بكاملِ صلاحيّاتِها أم مستقيلةً تُصرِّفُ الأعمال، ليست جديرةً بالبقاءِ لمواكبةِ رحيلِ العهد، ولا مؤهَّلةً لتَحمُّلِ مسؤوليّةِ الشرعيّةِ في حاِل حَصَلَ شغورٌ رئاسيّ.

الأمرُ لا يَتعلّقُ برئيسِها وبمستوى وزرائِها، وبينَهم من يَتَّسِمُ بالجِديّةِ والنشاطِ والأخلاق، إنّما بتركيبتِها السياسيّةِ الجانِـحةِ نحوَ محورِ الممانعةِ رغمَ اعتدالِ رئيسِها. لذا تحتاجُ البلادُ "حكومةَ احتياطٍ" جديدةً بوزرائِها وتوازناتِـها الوطنيّةِ وتداولِ حقائبِها، لا رَتْقَ هذه الحكومةِ وترميمَها. لسنا من مُستَخْدِمي الحكوماتِ المستعمَلة. لو لم نكُن في ظرفٍ انتقاليٍّ ومصيريٍّ في آنٍ معًا، لهانَتِ الأمور. لكنَّ كلَّ يومٍ يحمِلُ تطوراتٍ وأحداثًا تؤثّرُ على مصيرِ وِحدةِ لبنان.

إذا كنّا عاجزين عن تأليفِ حكومةٍ جديدةٍ وعن تكوينِ أكثريّةٍ نيابيّةٍ ثابتةٍ، وعن انتخابِ رئيسِ جُمهوريّة، ماذا يبقى إِذَن من النظامِ الديمقراطيِّ ووِحدةِ الكيانِ اللبنانيّ وصيغةِ التعايشِ والدولةِ المركزيّة؟ "قِفا نبكِ من ذِكرى حبيبٍ ومنزِلِ". محاولةُ تعويمِ الحكومةِ المستقيلةِ دليلٌ جديدٌ نُعطيه لأنفسِنا وللعالمِ يُــثبِتُ أنَّ لبنانَ الحاليَّ تحوّلَ دولةً فاشِلة. نحن نعيشُ أزمةَ وجودٍ وشَراكةٍ أكثرَ من أزمةِ نظامٍ وإصلاحات. لقد تعاقبَ الشعبُ والمنظومةُ الحاكمةُ والقِوى السياسيّةُ على هدرِ جميعِ الفرصِ المنقِذةِ التي تَوفّرَت للبنان: من القراراتِ الدُوليّةِ و"إعلانِ بعبدا"، مرورًا "بالثورةِ" والإصلاحات، إلى الانتخاباتِ النيابيّةِ والمبادراتِ العربيّةِ والدُوليّة. بُنيانٌ عَصيٌّ على الإِنقاذِ من دونِ إعادةِ هندَستِه. الوِحدةُ اللبنانيّةُ صارت كانتونًا خاصًّا متعدِّدَ الطوائفِ وعابرَ المناطق يَختصرُ لبنانَ الكبير.

By Joe Bukuras -- catholicnewsagency.com -- A woman was praying alone in the perpetual adoration chapel early Tuesday morning when the wave of anti-Catholic vandalism and violence sweeping the U.S. struck St. Louise Catholic Church in Bellevue, Washington. Hearing a commotion outside, the woman ventured into the hallway. There, she confronted a masked intruder standing outside the parish center, smashing the glass front door. The person screamed profanities at the woman, who ran back into the chapel. Terrified, she locked the door behind her and called the pastor, Father Gary Zender, while hiding behind a piano. “She called me on my office number just pleading for help to come and get her and rescue her,” Zender told CNA. “She was scared to death.” A surveillance camera captured the frightening incident on video.

The footage shows a masked person with long hair striding up to the door carrying a large rock and pink backpack. The person hurls the rock at the front door, three times, then kicks the door four times, shattering the glass. The person then removes a can of black spray paint from the backpack and begins to write graffiti on the building’s exterior. Next, the assailant makes obscene gestures toward the door, smashes the glass again with the can of spray paint and pushes the door. Then the person appears to scream at someone inside the building before continuing to spray-paint the building’s exterior and sidewalk. Graffiti legible in photos provided by the police reads “woman haters,” “groomers rapists,” and “the church is child abuse,” among other words. You can watch the surveillance footage in the video below. The attacker, who entered the church property around 9:30 a.m., also smashed a different glass door at the parish hall and defaced a statue of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, Zender said. He estimated the damage at $10,000.