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.