aawsat.com -- Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab asked the security forces on Saturday to enforce stricter measures to keep people at home and prevent gatherings to rein in the coronavirus outbreak. In an address to the nation, Diab said this would include patrols and checkpoints. He called on the Lebanese to go out only if absolutely necessary and warned that the rising number of infections "foreshadows an imminent danger threatening society." The health ministry recorded on Saturday a 29 percent rise in cases from the day before, bringing the total to 230, Diab said. Four people have died in the past month. Lebanon's government declared a medical state of emergency earlier this week and ordered most of the country closed, including the airport.

Experts warn the country's healthcare system is ill-prepared, as a financial crisis and dollar shortages have for months drained it of critical supplies. "The interior ministry and army command ... will announce binding plans that will protect the health of the Lebanese," Diab said on Saturday. "It is a very difficult and tough period. Let us reduce our losses." For almost a week, most Lebanese have been ordered to remain at home to stem the spread of COVID-19. The airport has closed and all non-essential businesses have been told to shutter.

Egypt shuts mosques

Egypt on Saturday ordered mosques and churches to shut their doors to worshippers in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, after calls for the government to follow steps taken by neighboring countries. Egypt has so far registered 285 confirmed coronavirus cases including eight deaths. The Ministry of Islamic Endowments said it would shut all mosques for two weeks "for the necessity of preserving souls", but will allow them to broadcast prayer calls through loudspeakers. Egypt has more than 100,000 mosques.

  Photos and videos of Lebanon’s once bustling airport, but now completely empty, surfaced online amid the coronavirus outbreak. Beirut Rafic Hariri …

by middleeasteye.net -- Lebanon's foreign minister summoned the US ambassador on Friday to discuss how a US citizen accused of war crimes was transferred out of the country from the American embassy. Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti sought an explanation from Ambassador Dorothy Shea on the "circumstances leading Amer Fakhoury out of the American embassy in Awkar, and out of Lebanon," the country's official news agency NNA said. Fakhoury had taken refuge in the embassy on Monday, after a military court dropped charges of killing and torturing detainees at Khiam Prison during the Israeli occupation before 2000. Before Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, Fakhoury had served at the Israeli-backed Khiam Prison, where former detainees say he was involved in torture. He was known as the "Butcher of Khiam," but his family denies that he dealt directly with prisoners.

The notorious detention facility was run by the South Lebanon Army, a pro-Israel militia, in coordination with the Israeli military. Fakhoury fled Lebanon in 2000 and eventually settled in New Hampshire, where he became an American citizen. He was arrested in Lebanon last September after returning to visit the country. US legislators had been ramping up pressure for Fakhoury's release. Last month, senators introduced a bipartisan bill to impose sanctions on officials involved in his imprisonment. Amid the mounting pressure, Fakhoury, who suffers from cancer, was cleared of all charges because his supposed crimes occurred decades ago - beyond Lebanon's 10-year statute of limitations on torture. US President Donald Trump thanked the Lebanese government for securing his release, but many officials in Beirut insisted that there was no deal with Washington. Still, advocates of former prisoners remained hopeful, as a judge imposed a travel ban on Fakhoury.

by reuters -- Since Lebanon was placed on lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, cash-strapped banks have cut access to dollars for depositors already separated from much of their savings by months of tightening controls. The health ministry has recorded 163 infections from coronavirus so far, and experts warn Lebanon's healthcare system may be ill-prepared, as dollar shortages have for months drained it of critical supplies. The outbreak has compounded Lebanon's woes, coming after it declared that it could not pay its hefty debt obligations and needs foreign currency reserves for key imports.Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab earlier this month said that the country will seek to restructure its massive debt as currency reserves dwindle amid an acute financial crisis. Lebanon's economic troubles have weakened the local currency, resulting in shuttered businesses, job losses and informal capital controls from banks severely restricting foreign exchange withdrawals and transfers abroad. Lebanon's cabinet exempted banks from closing when declaring the lockdown, saying they could maintain daily operations "at a minimum level", without specifying the ground rules.