by dailystockdish.com — A man has been sentenced to death in the case of a British woman who was raped and killed …

by famagusta-gazette.com —Lebanon’s central bank has paid the buyers of its Eurobond 1.5 billion U.S. dollars that were due on Thursday. The …

by dailystar.com.lb -Emily Lewis- BEIRUT: Lebanese residents are taking matters into their own hands to encourage investment in local products as the country plunges deeper into a financial crisis and the Lebanese pound depreciates. “Our country is like a badly managed company. It’s time for the people to help in whatever way we can to save Lebanon,” Imad Jomaa, the president of media enterprise JGroup told The Daily Star Friday. Since early November, Jomaa’s company has offered free advertising for any business offering Lebanese-made products at a discount of 50 percent. Adverts for Lebanese merchandise have appeared on billboards, online platforms and local TV channels, accompanied by the hashtag which translates into #BuyLebanese. Jomaa said that 200 companies have reached out to JGroup to benefit from the offer - 95 percent of which did not have funds to advertise, so the company helped them “showcase their products to the Lebanese audience,” Jomaa said.

JGroup’s initiative is one of many launched by Lebanese entrepreneurs, activists and NGOs to encourage people to choose Lebanese-made products in increasingly tough economic times. Last April, Sylva Abi Hanna started a Facebook page called “Buy Lebanese [products] from Lebanese [people] in Lebanese [pounds]” to encourage people to buy products made in Lebanon using the national currency. In recent weeks a lack of dollar liquidity has pushed unofficial U.S. dollar-Lebanese pound exchange rates way above the official peg of 1,507.5 that was put in place in 1997. On Thursday, the black market rate reached more than LL2,300 to the dollar at some exchange shops. The frequency of Abi Hanna’s posts increased with the start of the nationwide protests that erupted on Oct. 17, calling for end to a corrupt political class, economic mismanagement and looting of public funds. “I neglected my page for a while, but I believe now more than ever that it’s important to encourage Lebanese products from Lebanese owners. This is my way to do my part as much as I can,” Abi Hanna explained to The Daily Star.

By Middle East correspondent Adam Harvey, Tom Hancock and Cherine Yazbek in Beirut -- abc.net.au --They are articulate and optimistic and extremely patriotic. They do not want to move away. They want to transform Lebanon into a place where you do not have to leave to find a job. They blame their nation's dire economy on a political system that is still dominated by the civil war that ended 30 years ago, before they were born. Wartime militias turned into political parties and the protesters on the streets of Lebanon say they looked after their own interests, and not that of the nation. The ABC went to the heart of the protests to speak to the twentysomethings who want something better for Lebanon.

Olivia Yacoub is a 22-year-old Lebanese Australian who came home after completing her master's degree in Melbourne. She has been here for 18 months but will probably have to leave again to find work in her field of expertise, food science. "It is such a beautiful, chaotic country. There is something so special about this country," she said. "That's what driven me to leave Australia where I could have easily found work, and come back to Lebanon and hope that I can work here and live with my family." Ms Yacoub said she would like to build a career in Lebanon without having to depend on family funds or political connections to find a job. "I've lost a lot of friends and family members who've had to leave to find work overseas. It's really sad," she said. Ms Yacoub would also like the Government to change a law that prevents Lebanese women from passing their nationality to their children. Currently, citizenship is only a right for the children of Lebanese men. "I'm protesting for very simple things. I want to be able to give my future children Lebanese nationality. I want to be able to live in a Lebanon that has 24/7 electricity, and has clean water and clean air," she said.

This year anti-Government demonstrations have swept more than a dozen countries, including Hong Kong, Chile, Bolivia and Spain. "People overseas are really fighting for this, so we're not on our own," Ms Yacoub said. "I'm very hopeful that we will be able to live in a better Lebanon, the Lebanon that we deserve."