by aawsat.com -- French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday urged the Lebanese to form a new government swiftly or risk a financial crisis worsening and threatening the country’s stability. “(They should) form a government quickly because any delay will continue to worsen the situation,” Le Drian told a news conference. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said stability in Lebanon was "very, very important" to the kingdom. Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said he would not "pre-judge" a conference planned this week in Paris to support Lebanon, which is facing its worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. "I'll wait for the results of the conference." The Lebanese people and the political system need to find a way forward that guarantees its stability and sovereignty, he told a news conference following a Gulf Arab summit in Riyadh in response to a question regarding aid to Lebanon.

Ghinwa Obeid| The Daily Star BEIRUT: All eyes are on Wednesday’s meeting in Paris that will gather an international support group to tackle the situation in Lebanon at a time when the country is facing worsening economic and a political stalemate. The one-day conference, which mainly aims to push Lebanon to form a new government, is co-chaired by France and the United Nations. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian Tuesday urged the Lebanese to form a new government swiftly or risk a worsening financial crisis and threatening the country’s stability. “[They should] form a government quickly because any delay will continue to worsen the situation,” Le Drian was quoted as saying by Reuters. According to the draft of a concluding statement from the conference published by local radio station Voice of Lebanon (93.3), the participating countries will stress that maintaining Lebanon’s stability will require a quick government formation. In light of the difficult economic situation and the liquidity issue facing the country, the attendees are also expected to push Lebanon to adopt a series of reforms that would restore financial stability, fix long-standing issues in the Lebanese economic system and combat corruption.

Last year, France hosted the CEDRE meet for Lebanon, where donors pledged over $11 billion in grants and soft loans to boost the country’s flagging economy and finance key infrastructure projects. The ISGL brings together the United Nations, the governments of China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, along with the European Union and the Arab League. Lebanon’s delegation to the conference headed to France Tuesday and, according to a source close to the delegation, it includes Foreign Ministry Director General Hani Chemaitelly, Finance Ministry Director-General Alain Bifani, Hazar Caracalla, an economic adviser to caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and Central Bank representative Raja Abou Asli. The source said he expects the conference to be “a declaration of good intentions with recommendations.” Local media also reported that the first session of the conference would be closed and would not include the Lebanese delegation, which will join the attendees in the second session to present their take on the situation.

by gulfnews.com - Bassam Za za  --- Abdul Rahman Kakheya, 25, and his 22-year-old sister, Rama, died in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. The engagement party of Abdul Rahman and his fiancé, Mariam, was scheduled for December 13. The victims’ sister escaped with a shoulder injury after she miraculously pulled her way out of the house in Al Asafiri neighbourhood of Al Mina area. After the deaths, angry protesters attacked the municipality headquarters in Tripoli Tuesday, smashing windows and setting a room on fire. The attack in the country’s north came as heavy rainfall blocked roads and strained major infrastructure across Lebanon. The country is already roiled by anti-government protests since October 17 and a plunging economy.

Negligence

Locals told the local LBC TV station that the collapse was the result of negligence, saying that the municipality has repeatedly ignored calls by the owners to renovate the old house. The victims’ neighbours and friends were quoted as claiming that the family had lodged a request to have their poorly-maintained house renovated, but Al Mina Municipality rejected this, saying that a special permission was required for this as the site was important from an archeological perspective. “I cannot comment on whether or not the victims’ family approached Al Mina Municipality to have their house renovated. However, I can confirm that there are several properties in different neighbourhoods within our jurisdiction that have been categorised as archeological sites, and require written permissions to be renovated. There will be an investigation … God bless the victims’ souls,” an official at Al Mina Municipality told Gulf News over the phone.

by middleeasteye.net -- Finbar Anderson -- When the waters finally receded, Lebanese in the south Beirut suburb of Jnah were left looking at a carpet of brown sludge and stains running up every wall. “The guys and I have been working for hours to clean this up,” said Mohammad, a 22-year-old man working in a glazing shop. He swept as he talked, a grim look on his face as he assessed the damage to his stock. Everything from power saws to wood had been swept away in the flooding that hit the neighbourhood on Monday. Rains turned the roads into rivers, with Mohammad estimating the water reaching a height of around 1.5 metres. The damage to the tools and glass ran well into thousands of dollars, he estimated.

Mohammad’s neighbour, also a glazier, cleaned his store wearing just one shoe. The other had been swept away, along with much of his stock. That which hadn’t been lost to the waters was ruined. He held out his sodden receipts book, showing how ink and pages had been moulded together into one mass. In a nearby carpenter’s shop, every one of its four large saws was now broken. Damp sawdust covered the floor and the planks of wood lining the walls all bore a distinctive mark where they had been soaked in floodwater.

For many Lebanese, the flooding is yet another example of their leaders' chronic mismanagement of the country - a situation that has taken protesters to the streets daily since 17 October. “The state, the government, doesn’t do anything,” a passerby said. Questions over infrastructure While the neighbourhood has flooded before, Monday’s storms were particularly severe. “It usually happens once or twice a year, but this is the first time we’ve had to send the children home,” said Taghrid Hussein, the headmistress of a local school. The few children that remained in the early afternoon helped to sweep water from the school’s entrance.

by dailystar.com.lb -- Emily Lewis -- BEIRUT: Caretaker Energy Minister Nada Boustani Monday awarded Lebanese company ZR Energy the contract for importing 150,000 tons of gasoline on behalf of the state to avoid a fuel crisis, after the announcement was delayed a week. ZR Energy offered to provide 95 octane gasoline at market price, plus $38.90 per ton, with a fee of $0.80 for discharge at any additional port. The caretaker minister was originally set to announce the winning bid on Dec. 2, but decided to postpone the conclusion of the bidding by a week to “allow more competition,” after only two companies submitted offers. Three companies had submitted bids to the state tender by Monday: ZR Energy, Lebneft FZE and Oman Trading International. A fourth company, which Boustani did not identify, also submitted a bid but did not provide the correct documents as outlined in the book of terms. Boustani had published the book of terms and opened the offers live on television in an effort to “increase transparency.”

Oman Trading International offered to provide gasoline at market rate, plus $46.80 and $1 for discharge at an additional port, while Lebneft FZE offered $39.36 with $0.75 for an additional port. The 150,000 tons make up around 10 percent of Lebanon’s annual gasoline consumption. According to the minister, this first attempt to hold tenders for the state to import gasoline was a “trial run” to decide whether the state could in the future be responsible for purchasing a larger share of Lebanon’s fuel needs. “Congratulations to the winning company and to the Lebanese people, the state has entered the market,” Boustani said after she announced the winning offer put forward by ZR Energy.

ZR Energy, registered in Dubai, is owned by Lebanese businessmen Teddy and Raymond Rahme, who founded the ZR Group in 2005 and are stakeholders in several Lebanese banks. Raymond Rahme is implicated in a U.S. lawsuit involving the death of American businessman and arms dealer Dale Stoffel in 2004 in Iraq, where he allegedly acted as a middle man between Iraqi Defense Ministry officials and Stoffel’s company. The $25 million paid to Rahme’s Lebanese account by Iraqi officials was never transferred to Stoffel, who was assassinated on Dec. 8, 2004. Rahme is also implicated in a lawsuit filed by Kuwaiti logistics firm Agility and French telecoms company Orange for the misappropriation of millions of dollars. The Daily Star could not reach Rahme for comment Monday. Boustani said at Monday’s news conference that “the market is always open to any company that wants to import petroleum products,” and that the ministry would announce a tender for the import of diesel Wednesday. She repeated her assertion that the first shipment of gasoline should arrive within 15 days “if the procedures are finished quickly.” However, according to the tender documents, the shipment may not arrive in Lebanon until Jan. 6.