(MENAFN – The Peninsula) Beirut: A top former finance official alleged that Lebanese banks “smuggled” out close to $6 billion since October …

by arabnews.com — DUBAI: Back in January, Lebanese pop singer Nancy Ajram’s husband, celebrity dentist Fadi Al-Hashem, reportedly shot and killed an …

by arabnews.com -- NAJIA HOUSSARI -- BEIRUT: A group of Lebanese farmers have sown the seeds for the setting up of a growers’ syndicate for the production of cannabis plants. The move to establish a founding committee of agricultural sector representatives followed a decision by the Lebanese Parliament in April to legalize the use of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes. In doing so, Lebanon become the first Arab country to pass a law allowing the cultivation of the plant for specific non-recreational uses. Farmers from the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate in eastern Lebanon announced plans for the formation of the new committee during a press conference held at a tourist complex in the region. Former president of the Tobacco Growers’ Association in Baalbek-Hermel, Ahmed Zaiter, told Arab News: “Through the founding committee that we intend to form from representatives of families in the region who work in agriculture in general, we wanted to move the law enforcement mechanism in preparation for obtaining licenses to start planting cannabis, knowing that there are those who grow hashish in the region and we do not yet know whether this plant is the same one that was legislated.”

The new Lebanese law will provide for the formation of a government-monitored regulatory body to manage the cultivation, production, and export of cannabis. The cultivation process produces the drug tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and industrially fibers from the plant can be used for making products such as clothes and cars. A 2018 study by US consulting firm McKinsey and Co. estimated that Lebanon could generate $1 billion annually from legalizing cannabis cultivation. Zaiter pointed out “the importance of the birth of a syndicate of cannabis growers to organize this cultivation, the need to grant licenses to farmers, start preparing for seed insurance, and receive this plant from the state.” He added that farmers would be demanding that priority was given to the agricultural sector in the Bekaa Valley and the Baalbek-Hermel region and for the syndicate, when established, to join the Union of Agricultural Syndicates in Lebanon. A body is to be set up to monitor and regulate all activities related to cannabis and its derivatives, including planting, cultivation, harvesting, production, possession, export, storage, marketing, and distribution.

by Sunniva Rose -- thenational.ae -- Lebanon witnessed a surge in Covid-19 cases as health professionals warned that local hospitals were “falling apart” because of the country’s severe economic crisis. The 86 new cases reported on Saturday was the highest daily increase since Lebanon was hit by the coronavirus pandemic in late February. With only 36 deaths and 2,168 cases, the small Mediterranean country has been relatively spared up to now. But hospitals, which were already suffering from the country’s nine-month economic crisis, worry that they will not be able to cope if infections surge. “We cannot afford rampant coronavirus in this country, because our capabilities are low,” Firass Abiad, director of Lebanon’s Rafic Hariri hospital, where most of the Covid-19 cases are treated, told The National. Mr Abiad pointed to the recent increase in power outages that “almost crippled the healthcare industry in Lebanon”. Electricity cuts, which normally last between three and eight hours a day, increased nationwide in recent weeks because of a fuel shortage. Rafic Hariri hospital, Lebanon’s largest public healthcare facility with 430 beds and 10 operating theatres, had to cope with daily outages of up to 18 hours.

State power firm Electricite du Liban usually gives preference to hospitals by switching power off for only one to two hours a day, said Mr Abiad. “When you have severe cuts from the power grid, then you have to resort to your generators. But without fuel, those generators cannot run indefinitely, and without generators, a hospital can simply not function ... That’s why we had to cut our fuel usage to be able to continue,” he said. From July 2 to July 7, the hospital turned off the air conditioning for administrative staff – but not patients – despite the sweltering heat and humidity. It also closed two of its operating rooms and postponed non-urgent surgeries. Fuel importer Total Liban donated diesel for the hospital’s generators last week but Mr Abiad said the situation was far from stable. “We are working on reopening the last [operating room],” he said. “We are scheduling cases and I think we can clear” the backlog. But the hospital is rationing fuel as much as possible. “This problem might come back again,” said Mr Abiad.