بقلم سجعان قزي, وزير سابق, @AzziSejean 

,في ظروفٍ طبيعيّة، كنا رَحّبنا باعتذارِ الرئيسِ المكلَّف سعد الحريري، وقد مَضَت سبعةُ أشهر والحكومةُ لم تَتشَكَّل، فيما البلدُ ينهار. فكما لا يَحِقُّ وطنيًّا وأدبيًّا لرئيسِ الجُمهوريّة، أيِّ رئيسِ جُمهوريّة، أن يتأخّرَ أسابيعَ قبلَ بَدءِ الاستشاراتِ الملزِمةِ لاختيارِ رئيسٍ مكَلَّف، لا يَحِقُّ وطنيًّا وأدبيًّا أيضًا لرئيسٍ مكلَّف، أيِّ رئيسٍ مكلَّف، أن يَتأبّطَ التكليفَ ولا يُشكِّلَ حكومةً في مدّةٍ معقولة. البلدُ ليس مُلكَ "الطائف" والطوائف، ولا مُلكَ الرؤساءِ والصلاحيّات. لكنَّ عجزَ الرئيسِ الحريري ليس ناتجًا عن فشلٍ أحاديٍّ وعِناد، إنّما عن وجودِ مشروعٍ متكامِلٍ لدى المحورِ السوريِّ/الإيرانيِّ لوضعِ اليدِ على البلد. والسيطرةُ على الحكومةِ هي إحدى حلقاتِ هذا المشروعِ الانقلابيِّ الذي يَتناساه البعضُ أحيانًا.

By Kareem Chehayeb -- aljazeera.com -- -- Beirut, Lebanon – Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Hasan Diab says his government wants to introduce a cash card programme to offer struggling citizens a safety net for buying essential items after subsidies that drain the country’s foreign reserves are withdrawn. But he fears Parliament and Lebanon’s central bank will not throw their support behind the proposal. Lebanon subsidises fuels, medicines, wheat, and other basic food items that the central bank imports at the official exchange rate of 1,507 Lebanese pounds to $1 – an obsolete rate that has not changed despite the country’s deep economic crisis that ignited in October 2019. Meanwhile, at market exchange rates, the pound has lost some 85 percent of its value against the dollar.

In an interview on Monday with Al-Hurra, a US-based Arab satellite channel, Diab said subsidies cost the government $5bn a year, while cash cards would cost only $1.2bn – saving the state about $3bn annually. But he does not believe those compelling maths are enough to secure the support he needs from Parliament or the central bank to push through the plan. “We have faced opposition from day one for everything we have done,” Diab said during the Al-Hurra interview. “We cannot lift subsidies without agreeing on cash cards.” Diab is proposing to give cash cards loaded with United States dollars to about 750,000 vulnerable families after subsidies are lifted

. Those dollars would then be converted into Lebanese pounds when goods are bought. But key details of the plan are still unclear, such as the exchange rate that would apply to the cards, what exactly can be bought with them, or how families would be vetted to determine eligibility and benefit levels. A ministerial source told Al Jazeera that the cabinet had discussed Diab’s plan among other cash card programmes on Tuesday, including one that the caretaker Economy Minister Raoul Nehme presented last December. Diab has reportedly proposed to lift all government subsidies, with the exception of medicine and wheat.

SIDON, Lebanon (CNS) — In the village of Maghdouché, overlooking the ancient Mediterranean coastal city of Sidon, a statue of the Blessed Mother holding the infant Jesus graces the hilltop. It is also the site where holy tradition says Mary waited for her Jesus while he was preaching in Sidon and Tyre, thus the name, “Our Lady of Mantara,” or “waiting.” After his preaching, Jesus would join his mother at the grotto. On the grounds of the shrine, the ancient grotto offers a peaceful oasis to pray. At its entrance, a statue of Mary, seated, welcomes visitors. A plaque behind her proclaims in French, Arabic and English: “I’m waiting for my children.” The grotto — or cave — was discovered in 1721 when a shepherd lost a small lamb in the sprawling fields. The shepherd found his lamb near the grotto. Inside the grotto, he found an icon representing the Blessed Mother on an ancient altar. “It is especially important that Jesus has visited this place,” Melkite Catholic Archbishop Elie Béchara Haddad of Sidon said. For this reason, he considers that Mantara is a Christological sanctuary, rather than a Marian sanctuary. “It is a very holy land. It is a real holy land,” he said.

From its summit nearly 700 feet above sea level, the edge of the hill beyond the grotto offers a view of Sidon and the Mediterranean coast. Pilgrims can gaze up and feel they are under the protection of Mary holding Jesus. A bronze statue, 26 feet high, sits atop a 92-foot tower. Beneath the tower is a small chapel, which is currently closed during the pandemic. Archbishop Haddad said that in many areas in this region of southern Lebanon, including around Maghdouché, evidence of ancient Roman roads can be found. Muslims and Christians alike visit the shrine and have attested to miracles received, although the miracles have not been verified. Miracles related to fertility problems and cancer cures are especially common, the archbishop said. It is not unusual to see a woman walking on her knees, approaching the sanctuary as an act of piety for a prayer request.

by reuters -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Tuesday there should be no preconditions for talks with Israel over their Mediterranean border dispute, key to Lebanon's hopes to find gas reserves amid its worst economic crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war. Negotiations between the old foes were launched in October to try to resolve the dispute, which has held up exploration in the potentially gas-rich area, yet the talks have since stalled. A statement by the Lebanese presidency issued after the resumption of talks on Tuesday said the U.S. mediator had asked for negotiations to be on the basis of Israeli and Lebanese border lines already submitted and registered with the United Nations. "This is against the Lebanese position," the statement said.

"President Aoun has given his instructions to the negotiating team that talks should not be tied to any preconditions and should rely on international law that will remain the basis for reaching a fair solution." The earlier talks stalled after each side presented contrasting maps outlining proposed borders that actually increased the size of the disputed area. Israel already pumps gas from huge offshore fields. Lebanon, which has yet to find commercial gas reserves in its own waters, is desperate for cash from foreign donors. Tuesday's statement did not make clear when the next session of the talks, which are taking place at a U.N. peacekeepers' base in Lebanon's Naqoura, will take place.