By NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Lebanon’s confirmed cases of coronavirus have reached 5,000 despite a five-day government lockdown that started last Thursday, as one doctor warned that the health system was “beyond its capacity.” The Ministry of Health recorded 175 cases on Saturday evening, 155 of whom are residents while 20 were people who had returned from abroad. Two deaths were recorded, raising the death toll to 61. No new recoveries have been recorded, and the total number of people who have recovered from coronavirus remains at 1,761. The disease spread during Eid Al-Adha at the weekend, reaching villages and towns where no cases had been previously recorded.

The Internal Security Forces announced in a communiqué that, on July 31 and Aug. 1, they drew up 555 reports against violators of social distancing and preventive measures. A fresh five-day lockdown is due to start this Thursday. “Intensive care rooms at Rafik Hariri University Hospital are now full and, if the situation remains the same during the coming days, the hospital will not be able to accommodate the cases requiring intensive care,” Dr. Osman Itani, a pulmonologist and intensive care specialist, told Arab News. He described the situation as “difficult,” adding: “The number of cases currently exceeds 100 per day, and this is a big problem that cannot be addressed by the health system as it is beyond its capacity. There is a need to restructure hospitals, bearing in mind that hospitals are currently not receiving positive cases, but rather patients just showing symptoms.”

Electricite du Liban (EDL) announced that a number of its staff had contracted COVID-19, and that these employees had come into direct contact with customers at the company’s headquarters. Imad Kreidieh, general director of Ogero Telecom, announced that 17 of Ogero’s staff had tested positive for COVID-19 and that 600 workers had taken a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Society Hospital is facing an employee shortage due to COVID-19 infections. Those who have contracted the virus have also transmitted the infection to several others, according to one of the hospital’s doctors. Those with the virus have been asked to self-isolate at home.

By BARIA ALAMUDDIN -- arabnews.com -- For two millennia the Silk Road was a 6,500km caravan route connecting China to the West, for the export of spices, fabrics and tea. Beijing today is investing hundreds of billions of dollars reopening these routes as an immense arena of Chinese commercial hegemony, with massive investments straddling Central Asia and Pakistan, and a $400 billion deal with Iran. Chinese hawks view Lebanon’s crushing financial crisis as a bargain opportunity to consolidate its presence in the eastern Mediterranean.

The incompetence of Lebanon’s bankrupt political class has plunged IMF bailout talks into deadlock. Politicians refuse to acknowledge the immensity of their financial black hole (the product of four decades of systematic looting), let alone countenance the extensive measures needed to staunch Lebanon’s economic bleeding. The Hezbollah-backed government is falling back on scattershot blame and conspiracy theories, with the ineffectual and widely despised Prime Minister Hassan Diab declaring: “We know well that there is a big decision to besiege the country. They are preventing any assistance to Lebanon.” Shunning the IMF, Diab is turning instead to China. Ambassador Wang Kejian was invited to high-level ministerial talks to “activate cooperation between the two countries.” The biggest cheerleader for salvation from the East is Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, who proclaimed: “Chinese companies are ready to bring in money, and without any of the complications that we talk about in Lebanon. We don’t have to give them money, they will bring money into the country.” Hezbollah-friendly media outlets have been evangelizing Chinese proposals for $12 billion investments in ports, railways, electricity and waste management.

By Samia Badih -- thenational.ae -- Many experts have described it as the worst economic crisis in Lebanon's history. The Lebanese pound's value has dropped to record lows against the dollar, food prices have gone up and unemployment has risen drastically as more businesses shut their doors. Coupled with a global pandemic, it has become a hopeless situation for many, including artists in the film and television industry. A "sinking Titanic" is how director Tony Eli Kanaan, 27, describes it. "I am super frustrated; I'm super numbed. I hate that we have adapted to this situation," Kanaan tells The National. "We have just adapted to this joke and that is what is frustrating me, other than the denial and the numbness I feel," he adds. Also a writer and actor, Kanaan's career had only recently started to take off, and his ultimate goal is to go to Los Angeles to pursue acting professionally. "I'm trying to get out of here," he says. "I still think whoever has the chance to leave should leave."

His message might surprise some, considering the success the young filmmaker has started to garner in his home country. Thanks to the comedy skits he posts on his Instagram page, Kanaan has racked up more than 50,000 followers in fewer than five months. However, despite his growing social media following, Kanaan says it is hard to not have a pessimistic view. "My perception of Lebanon is complete doom. How sustainable is this life?" And these feelings of despair are not just felt by the younger generation. The same sentiment is echoed by creatives who have been in the production industry for years. 'Who is going to invest in films?'

by naharnet.com — The Israeli army on Saturday sent a spy balloon over the Lebanese border town of Houla, Lebanon’s National News …