by thenationalnews.com -- Elias Sakr -- Iraq will provide cash-strapped Lebanon with fuel in a deal that will help to increase power supply in coming months, Lebanese Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar said on Saturday. He was speaking on his return from Baghdad where he signed a one-year agreement to purchase one million tonnes of Iraqi fuel, to be paid for in Lebanese pounds. Iraq will spend the sum on Lebanese services, Mr Ghajar said. Lebanon, on the other hand, will swap Iraqi heavy fuel oil with spot cargoes of fuel suitable to run the country’s power plants. “At peak [power] production, the deal will ensure the provision of electricity for four months,” , Mr Ghajar told reporters at Beirut airport. “We hope other Arab countries follow suit and give us this opportunity because it is really a golden opportunity for us,” he said. The deal with Iraq will enable the state-owned power company, Electricite du Liban, to increase its power supply from the current level of less than two hours daily in many parts of the country once new spot cargoes are purchased and delivered, Mr Ghajar said.

Two weeks ago, EDL had to temporarily shut down two plants after running out of fuel. The plants provide up to 60 per cent of the country’s electricity. Lebanon’s decades-old power woes have intensified in recent months over shortages of diesel and other fuel. The central bank has reduced its subsidies of oil imports because of falling foreign currency reserves. Electricity supply has been unreliable in Lebanon since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990. Since then, EDL has sold power at a loss. The country’s energy troubles have been compounded by the smuggling to neighbouring Syria of diesel used to run private generators that compensate for state power rationing. Acute shortages in diesel recently forced private generators to cut their power supply, plunging many areas across the country into hours-long daily blackouts that threatened to shut down hospitals among other vital facilities and businesses. Bakeries in some parts of Lebanon have shut down their ovens. Supermarkets said the lack of power impedes their ability to preserve perishable food.

by arabnews.com — DUBAI: Lebanese documentary “Enough: Lebanon’s Darkest Hour” took home the Movie That Matters Award 2021 at a Better World …

هل تسمية الحكومة حكومة مهمة يكفي لنجاحها؟ هل السياسة العامة للبنان هي من ضمن المهة الموعودة؟ ام ان ان السياسة العامة وتصويب …

By William Christou -- english.alaraby.co.uk -- More than 50 Lebanese parliamentarians have signed a motion to open up a parallel investigation into the Port of Beirut explosion, sparking outrage among citizens who view the move as an attempt by officials to evade accountability. Judge Tarek Bitar is currently leading the probe into the 4 August 2020 Beirut port explosion, which killed over 200 people and injured more than 6,000 more. Bitar was appointed to the role after the previous investigator, Fadi Sawwan, was removed in February for refusing to abide by certain "red lines" in his investigation. The motion, filed by Speaker of the House Nabih Berri, would have referred the officials requested - including Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab - by Bitar to a legal body known as the Supreme Council.

The Supreme Council is meant to impeach presidents and high-ranking officials but has not done this once since its inception as a legal body in 1990, according to Legal Agenda, which revealed the existence of the parliamentary motion. In addition, Legal Agenda noted that in order to convene the Supreme Council, two-thirds of the MPs must be present, something it deemed "impossible" to occur. Instead, the NGO accused the signatories of trying to obstruct Bitar's probe and attempting to "smuggle suspects out of his grasp into a fictitious court".

After the motion and its signatories were revealed on Wednesday and began to circulate on social media, at least four MPs withdrew their names from the list. Nicolas Nahas, who withdrew his signature, told The New Arab that while his opinion on the motion did not change, he preferred to stay out of what he saw as a "looming political fight". "I'm still convinced that the path of Judge [Bitar] isn't so clear. It isn't evident that he's after the real people who caused this issue," Nahas said. He added that the MPs who signed the motion were trying to "accelerate the path" towards the investigation of the Beirut port explosion, which killed over 200 people, and denied that the motion was meant as an evasion of accountability.