Bassam Za za, Special to Gulf News -- Beirut: Loujain Adada, a well-known Lebanese supermodel and TV presenter, has tested positive for coronavirus following a trip to Britain. The news was reported in various Arabic news outlets. In even more grim news, her two daughters also tested positive. With this, the number of coronavirus cases in Lebanon has gone up to 22. Lebanese Public Health Ministry officials said the woman had just returned from the UK, without naming Adada. On Wednesday, Lebanese health officials had said there were 15 cases, including a 14-year-old girl, all of whom were being quarantined at the Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH). One of the cases discovered on Wednesday was of a man who visited Egypt. “The woman [Adada] suffered high fever and other respiratory symptoms that were bit similar to the coronavirus signs … she was suspected to be suffering from coronavirus disease so we transferred her to the government-appointed hospital [RHUH] as all suspected cases are being referred to it,” an administrator at the American University of Beirut Medical Centre (AUBMC) told Gulf News.

“She was transferred to RHUH for diagnosis and further isolation and treatment measures,” read AUBMC’s media statement on Thursday. Adada married Saudi billionaire businessman Walid Juffali at a Venice ceremony in 2012. Dr Hamad Hassan, Lebanese Minister of Public Health, said hospitals were prepared to tackle coronavirus in the country. All the patients so far were those coming from affected countries or were infected through “close contact” with a family member or neighbour, he said. All patients with Covid-19 are being treated at RHUH, according to Dr Hassan, and more than 140 beds have been designated to isolate and monitor suspected cases.

by bbc.com --Three senior members of Saudi Arabia's royal family, including the king's brother, have been arrested for unexplained reasons, US media report. Two of the men were among the kingdom's most influential figures. The detentions have been linked to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In 2017 dozens of Saudi royal figures, ministers and businessmen were confined to the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh after the crown prince ordered their arrests. Mohammed bin Salman is considered the de facto ruler of the kingdom, after he was named crown prince by his father in 2016. The detentions took place early on Friday morning, report the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The three men arrested are the king's younger brother Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef, and a royal cousin, Prince Nawaf bin Nayef. Mohammed bin Nayef was interior minister until he was removed from his role and placed under house arrest by Mohammed Bin Salman in 2017.

By Tom Perry - Reuters -- BEIRUT (1) - The Lebanese central bank instructed overseas trade dealers on Friday they need to not purchase foreign currency at costs more than 30% past the charges set by the central bank, searching for to carry down the worth being paid for arduous foreign money. The Lebanese pound, pegged in opposition to the greenback on the rate of 1,507.5 kilos for more than 20 years, has slumped because the nation descended right into a monetary disaster final October. Primarily based on the present peg, the central bank’s instruction means foreign money dealers ought to not pay more than round 2,000 kilos for a greenback, in contrast with the two,630 kilos one seller mentioned he was providing for a greenback on Friday. The central bank mentioned overseas foreign money dealers ought to chorus from any commerce that did not stick to this share it had set. The choice applies for six months. It marked the second try since January to management the worth being paid for arduous foreign money by overseas trade dealers. Lebanon’s union of trade dealers mentioned in January it had determined to set the rate at a most of two,000 Lebanese kilos to the greenback in settlement with the central bank governor - a value that did not maintain.

BEIRUT (Reuters) by Samia Nakhoul, Tom Perry -- The Lebanese government must swallow its misgivings and reach a rescue deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or risk economic implosion and further turmoil, economists, diplomats and politicians said. Privately, some government officials acknowledge that an IMF bailout is the most logical solution to Lebanon’s economic crisis, according to a source familiar with ongoing discussions. But to get such a rescue program in place, the new government would have to overcome the objections of Hezbollah, the powerful Iranian-backed power broker in Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s cabinet and its Christian and Shi’ite allies, who are concerned about the austerity measures an IMF rescue would involve.

As Lebanon’s financial crisis drags on and government revenues dwindle, the bill to rescue the country is rising. Former economy minister and ex-vice central bank governor Nasser Saidi estimates the economy will need $30 billion, and an additional $25 billion to recapitalise a banking system in hock to the state. “Lebanon needs external liquidity both for the balance of payments but also for the government,” Saidi said. “That’s why the external package and the IMF reform program which comes with all the associated reforms which we need is so necessary”. A $1.2 billion payment on a Eurobond is falling due on March 9 and even though Lebanon is widely expected to restructure its foreign-currency-denominated debt that is unlikely to be enough to deal with the total debt burden, economists and analysts say.