by reuters -- When she heard Lebanese banks would limit cash withdrawals, Rita, a doctor, rushed out to buy a $10,000 Rolex watch on her credit card, anxious to protect some of her savings. "It's better than keeping my money in the bank," she said. Every week, account holders line up for their quota of cash - for some less than $200 - from their banks, which have also blocked foreign money transfers as Lebanon sinks deep into economic crisis. Dollar shortages have pushed up prices, the Lebanese pound has slumped on the parallel market and confidence in the banking system has all but collapsed. People with savings in the bank are scrambling to get their money out, buying jewellery, cars and land with credit cards or cashier's checks.

Several people told Reuters news agency they feared even tighter controls, a haircut on their deposits, bank failure or a devaluation of the Lebanese pound, which has been pegged to the United States dollar for 22 years. They asked not to be fully identified due to safety concerns. Lebanon's central bank insists deposits are safe and has pledged to maintain the dollar peg, while the head of the country's banking association said the limits on withdrawals and other measures aimed "to keep the wealth of Lebanon" in the country. As remittances from abroad started to dry up last summer, many ordinary Lebanese started stashing cash at home, fearing a clampdown on bank withdrawals to keep foreign exchange from fleeing the country. That was months before protests erupted in October against the ruling elite that plunged Lebanon into its worst crisis in decades. In the capital, Beirut, staff at several jewellery stores said customers had come in recently looking to buy gold and diamonds, sometimes to sell them abroad, though most jewellers are now only accepting cash.

by AFP -- BEIRUT: The Lebanese parliament approved the country’s 2020 budget on Monday, in an unprecedented session that revealed the true extent of the state of confusion in Beirut. The governments of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, which drafted the budget, and current Prime Minister Hassan Diab, did not attend the budget debate, with Diab stating his government had “not yet won the confidence of Parliament, and has no right to retrieve the draft budget to study and modify it.” The session was attended by just 70 deputies out of its 128, and was boycotted by the deputies of the Lebanese Forces and the Phalange parties, and a number of independent members of Parliament (MPs).

Forty-nine MPs approved the budget, from the Hezbollah, Amal, and Free Patriotic Movement blocs and their allies. Thirteen MPs voted against it, including the Future Movement bloc, and eight abstained, including the Democratic Gathering bloc, which is loyal to Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party. The budget did not include any economic vision, but was limited to numbers. The head of the Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, Ibrahim Kanaan, said that it included “an estimate of resources and allocations of funds.” The budget deficit reached $7.5 billion.

by the thehill.com -- Hanin Ghaddar -- Against the backdrop of three months of political and economic protests, Lebanese politicians appear to have reached a deal establishing a nominally technocratic government in Beirut. Still beholden to Hezbollah, the government has little Sunni or Druze support. Some protesters already call this a “Halloween government” since it gives thinly disguised cover to longtime establishment politicians. But the new government is unlikely to be able on its own to tackle the single biggest challenge it faces: the rampant corruption responsible for the country’s acute financial crisis. The formation of a new Lebanese government has been a central demand of the international community and a necessary precondition for any international aid. But that is not enough. The government must quickly take action to fight corruption and enhance transparency. For a country that has run on corruption and political patronage, this will be a very heavy lift.

Nearly all of Lebanon’s political establishment is entangled in Beirut’s deep-rooted corruption crisis, which cuts across the sectarian divide. Lebanon ranks 138th out of 180 nations in the Corruption Perceptions Index released by the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International. Meeting in December, the International Support Group for Lebanon issued a final statement in Paris urging Lebanese authorities to “take decisive action” to tackle corruption and tax evasion while improving economic governance and the country’s business environment. At the time, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that while Lebanon must take these steps, the U.S. is ready to “do the things that the world can do to assist the Lebanese people getting their economy right and getting their government right.”

Today, the U.S. should take action that would force the new government’s hand and empower it to take on the corrupt political establishment — something no Lebanese government could otherwise do on its own: Washington should issue sanctions targeting some of the most egregious corrupt actors across the Lebanese political and sectarian spectrum under the Global Magnitsky Act. Corrupt leaders seek profit and the political power that comes with funding patronage projects. Global Magnitsky sanctions would not only name and shame Lebanon’s most corrupt actors, it would block all property and interests they hold in the United States, which are likely to be substantial. There are other tools available to designated political corruption — such as Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2020. The State Department employed this tool earlier this month targeting Moldovan corruption, but it includes only a ban on visa to enter the United States for the designee and their family members, and it lacks the authority to block funds held in the United States. Global Magnitsky would be a better fit in the case of Lebanon.

by Rebecca Mansour -- breitbart.com -- As tributes pour in for basketball legend Kobe Bryant after his tragic death in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, on Sunday at the age of 41, some fans are remembering how Bryant’s Catholic faith sustained him during a difficult period of his life and inspired his philanthropy. The former Laker and father of four was raised Catholic and spent his childhood in Italy, where his father, Joe Bryant, played professional basketball in Italian leagues. Bryant and his wife were married at a Catholic parish in Southern California in 2001 and are regular parishioners in Orange County, California, according to Catholic News Agency.

Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez issued condolences on Sunday. “I am praying for him and his family. May he rest in peace and may our Blessed Mother Mary bring comfort to his loved ones,” the archbishop tweeted. Singer Cristina Ballestero shared on Instagram a story about encountering Kobe at a weekday mass at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange, California. “Right as mass begins I see a huge shadow in my right peripheral vision and hear a decently loud creak from probably a big man. I double took to see… it was KOBE BRYANT IN THE SAME PEW AS ME ON THE OTHER END!” Ballestro wrote. “As we went up to communion, he waited for me to go. If you grew up in the Catholic Church, you understand this is a respectful thing men do in church as a sign of respect to women. He said I have a beautiful voice. I said thank you and went up to communion.”