by reuters -- By John Irish, Joseph Nasr, Ellen Francis PARIS/BERLIN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Germany will next week present a multi-billion-dollar proposal to Lebanese authorities to rebuild the Port of Beirut as part of efforts to entice the country’s politicians to form a government capable of warding off financial collapse, two sources said. A chemical explosion at the port last August killed 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed entire neighbourhoods in the Lebanese capital, plunging the country deeper into its worst political and economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. According to two diplomatic sources with knowledge of the plans, Germany and France are vying to lead reconstruction efforts.

Berlin will on April 7 outline its proposal, which the diplomats said would in principle include support from the European Investment Bank (EIB), to help fund the clearing of the area and reconstruction facilities. An EIB spokesman said it was aware of the proposal put forward by the port of Hamburg and its consultancy team for the reconstruction of the port of Beirut and surrounding areas. “However, there currently is no financing offer by the EIB. Any EIB financing would be subject to due diligence and have to follow the Bank’s usual processes for such operations,” he said.

by thearabweekly.com -- PARIS – President Emmanuel Macron should freeze suspect assets held by Lebanese officials in France to break a “political-economic mafia” that has plunged Lebanon into crisis and misery, an open letter said Tuesday. Macron called for radical reform in Lebanon after the deadly Beirut port blast and has expressed exasperation at the lack of change, as the former French mandate territory remains mired in political stalemate. Analysts have said that sanctions such as asset freezes could be the most effective lever for Paris to pressure Beirut, even if France has so far not explicitly indicated it is ready for such a measure. Macron should issue instructions “with a view to implementing the legal mechanism for freezing assets of doubtful origin held in France by Lebanese political and economic leaders,” said the letter published in France’s Le Monde daily signed by more than 100 Lebanese civil society figures. It argued that a “political-economic mafia is responsible for the misery, hunger and insecurity from which more and more Lebanese suffer.”

The letter suggested that such a legal process should draw on the precedent set over ill-gotten assets owned in France by some African leaders and former Syrian vice president Rifaat Assad. “This endemic corruption on a grand scale has scandalously enriched Lebanese political leaders” by emptying the treasury and embezzling aid sent after the civil war, the letter alleged. It was signed by lawyers, doctors, journalists and activists, including prominent political scientist Karim Emile Bitar, former Lebanese culture minister and UN Libya envoy Ghassan Salame and former MP and TV host Paula Yacoubian.

by techxplore.com -- Hashem Osseiran -- In a break from social media mud-slinging and Lebanon's perennially polarised debates, audio app Clubhouse is hosting a new kind of conversation in the crisis-hit country. Users say it is achieving a little miracle: free-wheeling political discussions across party lines which don't descend into blows. Lebanese both at home and abroad have welcomed the break from the acrimony dominating TV and social media platforms. "Clubhouse helped people on opposing ends of the political spectrum understand each other's perspectives," said Paula Naoufal, a 25-year-old journalist active on the app. "It gave people a space to listen, unlike Twitter and Instagram, which aren't as interactive."

The live audio app, launched nearly a year ago, is accessible only on Apple mobile devices—but the coronavirus pandemic has boosted its popularity in the Middle East. Syrian users have used it to discuss the 10-year-old conflict and life in exile, while Saudis tackle political reform, racism and transgender rights, despite growing fears of state surveillance. In cash-strapped Lebanon, Clubhouse is a something of a premium service, with an iPhone costing more than ten times the minimum monthly wage. But experts, journalists and expats active in its virtual "rooms" say they are carving out a space for constructive conversation between people who either never engage with each other or are usually at odds. "Clubhouse has become a safe space for people to hear each other and more importantly learn from each other and about each other," said Joe Khawly, a Lebanese journalist living in Washington DC. "It's creating a space where people from different religions and political affiliations are able to virtually meet and talk directly."

Out of the bubble

by Doreen Abi Raad -- cruxnow..com -- BEIRUT — In Easter messages, two Catholic patriarchs criticized the situation in Lebanon and urged the faithful to cling to the hope of the Resurrection despite the prevailing darkness. One of the patriarchs also visited Syria, where he called for the international community to lift sanctions. From Lebanon, Cardinal Bechara Rai, patriarch of Maronite Catholics, noted that “the joy of the Resurrection is mixed with tears of sadness, pain and anxiety, yet in our hearts there is a hope stronger than despair.” Pope Francis also prayed for Lebanon in his message “urbi et orbi” (to the city of Rome and the world) on Easter at the Vatican. With a collapsing economy and more than 50 percent of the Lebanese now below the poverty level, Lebanon has been without a government since the resignation of the previous one in the wake of the deadly blast in August at the port of Beirut.

Rai denounced “those who intentionally block the formation of the government and paralyze the state.” “There are parties that adopt a methodology of demolishing the constitutional, financial, banking, military and judicial institutions, one after the other,” he said from Bkerke, the Maronite patriarchate north of Beirut. It is “now clear that we are facing a plan which aims to change Lebanon, its system, its identity, its formula and its traditions.” The cardinal reiterated his calls for the neutrality of Lebanon and for holding a U.N.-sponsored international conference to save the country. Such a conference, he stressed, “will give Lebanon a new life by stabilizing its entity, its international borders; by renewing the national partnership; by strengthening its sovereignty, its independence and its army; implementing international decisions; and resolving the issues of refugee and displaced Syrians.” With a native population of around 4.5 million, of which less than 40 percent is Christian, Lebanon has absorbed approximately 1.5 million Syrian refugees. In his Easter message from the patriarchate in Beirut, Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan said people in Lebanon “are groaning under the weight of hunger, want and poverty.” “Lebanon deserves to be ruled by the elite of its citizens and not a corrupt and fundamentalist clique hiding behind its sects to wreak corruption, theft, torture and abuse of its citizens and people,” he said.