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As Lebanese Struggle to Make Ends Meet, Living Costs Set to Soar Higher

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BEIRUT Reuters Tom Arnold — Lebanese consumers feeling the pinch from rising living costs amid an economic crisis are likely to be squeezed even tighter as more local pounds and less U.S. dollars come into circulation, pushing up inflation. Lebanon has long relied on a steady flow of dollars from its overseas diaspora to help fund its financial system. But that has been choked off as faith in the political elite crumbled. People have been hit by what economists estimate is a 30% annual rise in inflation during the crisis that escalated in October. The pound has collapsed against the U.S. dollar in the parallel market and a liquidity crunch has bitten. That slashed consumer purchasing power and prompted some to withdraw pounds from banks as unofficial capital controls shattered confidence in the banking system and restricted access to dollars.

Arlette Mattar, 54, a midwife and mother of three, has cut back to basics, eliminating sweets and restricting purchases of items like tissues and toiletries. "The cost of living is high now," she said outside a supermarket in a middle-class Beirut neighbourhood. "Now when I shop I get only what I need." While the pound, pegged against the dollar for 22 years, is the official currency, the greenback has long been used as an alternative for transactions. Some consumers who were buying with dollars say they now use pounds. "Today you know the most important thing is food, it is necessary for one to live, so this affected all Lebanese families," said a beautician and mother of two who asked only to be identified by her surname, Boutros. She had tightened spending on goods like cleaning products. The Lebanese economy relies on imports.

Summary news: New Lebanon government looking for $5 billion in loans

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Switzerland Just Offered to Support to the New Lebanese Government featured image

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon’s new government must reassure international donors it is serious about reforms to tackle a financial crisis as it looks initially to secure up to $5 billion in soft loans for basic goods, its finance minister said on Thursday. The government that took office on Tuesday faces an emergency in which banks have imposed controls, the Lebanese pound has weakened and protesters have turned to violence which a senior U.N. official described as “politically manipulated”. “The entire international community has its eye on what this government will do,” Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said in televised comments. “What is its programme, what are the reform steps, is it ready for support or no?” Lebanon is looking to secure $4 billion to $5 billion in soft loans from international donors to finance purchases of wheat, fuel and medicines, The Daily Star newspaper had earlier quoted the minister as saying. “This injection will cover the country’s needs for one year,” said Wazni.

Bank restrictions on access to cash, inflation and job losses have hit people hard. Increasingly violent though more limited protests have replaced jubilant demonstrations against a political elite blamed for driving Lebanon towards collapse. Interior minister Mohammed Fahmi said the state would not tolerate attacks on security forces who he said would protect people’s rights, including freedom of expression. On Wednesday, protesters broke stone slabs off buildings in a luxury commercial district of Beirut to hurl at barricades guarded by security forces blocking paths to parliament. “This looks more like a political manipulation to provoke the security forces, to undermine civil peace, to fan up sectarian strife,” Jan Kubis, U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon, wrote on Twitter, mentioning attacks on security forces and vandalism of state institutions and private property. The new government was set up with backing from the powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah and its political allies. Major political parties that have Western backing, including that of former premier Saad al-Hariri, are not part of the cabinet.

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ضيقُ الخِياراتِ مع تَعدُّدِ الولاءات

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سجعان قزي

وزير سابق

@AzziSejean

-هذه انتفاضةٌ على كلِّ شيءٍ لأنَّ المواطنين يَنقُصهم كلُّ شيء. وهذه نقمةٌ على جميعِ المسؤولين لأن هؤلاءِ أَهملوا حقوقَ الناسِ مدى ثلاثينَ سنة. ليلةَ 14 تموز 1789، هَروَل الدوق "دو لاروشفوكو" يُبلغ الملِكَ لويس السادس عشر بسقوطِ الـــ"باستيل" فقال له الملِك: "ما هي إلا انتفاضة"، فأجابه الدوق: "بل هي الثورة". دَهاءُ الثوراتِ أن تُرهِبَ السلطةَ من دونِ أن تُخيفَ الشعب. لذا، كلّما انحرفت الثورةُ في لبنان نحو العنف، بَطُلت أن تكونَ كذلك وأَصبحت "أحداثًا" يُـحَلَّلُ ردعُها. بالمناسبةِ، كان يُستحسنُ بمجلسِ الأمنِ المركزيِّ (20/01) استعمالُ كلمةً أخرى غيرَ "الردع"، فاستذكارُ "قوّاتِ الردع" ممزوجٌ بالحربِ والدمعِ...

مرتكزاتُ لبنان سَقطت، وما بقي منها غيرُ كافٍ ليبقى لبنانُ كما هو شكلًا وضمونًا: لبنانُ الكبير ضَربَته الديمغرافيا. الاستقلالُ ضَربه الانحيازُ. السيادةُ ضربَها تداولُ الاحتلالات. الوِحدةُ الوطنيّةُ ضَربَتها القوميّاتُ المتضارِبة. الدستورُ ضَربَه التخطّي والتعليق. الهويّةُ ضَربها انتحالُ الصِفة. الصيغةُ ضَربها تَعدّدُ الولاءات. المساواةُ ضَربها السلاح. التعدديّةُ الحضاريّةُ ضَربها اتّساعُ الفوارقِ في أنماطِ الحياة. اتفاقُ الطائفِ ضَربه التباسُ موادِّه وسوءُ التطبيق. الديمقراطيّةُ ضَربتها التوافقيّة المعطِّلة. النظامُ الليبراليُّ الاقتصاديُّ والماليُّ ضَربه اختلالٌ في قطاعاتِه وجشعُ أركانِه وغيابُ الطبقةِ الوسطى، ولبنان الرسالةِ ضَربه الخلافُ على دورِه ورسالتِه.

Lebanon Ex-minister Feels Heat In Testy Davos Debate

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Lebanon ex-minister feels heat in testy Davos debate

Davos, Switzerland, (APP - 23rd Jan, 2020 ) :Key Lebanon party leader and former foreign minister Gebran Bassil on Thursday faced accusations over his personal wealth and record at the top of a country mired in corruption, during a hugely uncomfortable appearance at the Davos economic forum. Bassil, the son-in-law of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, lost his post as foreign minister when a new government was finally announced this week after months of street protests over a collapsing economy. His appearance at the luxury Swiss resort had caused howls of outrage in Lebanon where thousands signed petitions asking about the financing of his trip at a time when Lebanese are trying to make ends meet. "How did you get here?", asked the moderator. "Did you take a private plane?" "I came simply on my own expenses," Bassil replied. "I know rumours and lies circulate always but this is the reality. Not one lira at the expense of the Lebanese treasury!" "So this is family money?" the moderator pressed. "No this was offered to me. I was invited here," Bassil replied. "We are not allowed to have friends like that when we are in government," witheringly pointed out Dutch Trade Minister Sigrid Kaag, who previously served as UN coordinator for Lebanon.

Turning to the situation in Lebanon, Bassil insisted the protests were not political in nature and he even supported them. "What is happening in the street is very positive," said Bassil, still seen as a key powerbroker as leader of the Free Patriotic Movement. "They are protesting as they lost their money, they are not united on any political issue." Opponents of Bassil reacted with glee on social media to his performance. "Watching Gebran Bassil getting roasted is so good," commented one on Twitter. Bassil, who served half a decade as foreign minister after a similar time as energy minister, has consistently come under fire from demonstrators mobilised to demand the removal of a political class they deem incompetent and corrupt. "Lebanon is a country that has been stymied by top-level corruption across the board," commented Kaarg. "The sectarian system, coupled with the former warlords, have hijacked the state," she said.

Jeff Bezos hack: Amazon boss's phone 'hacked by Saudi crown prince'

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Mohammed bin Salman

by theguardian.com - Stephanie Kirchgaessner -- The Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos had his mobile phone “hacked” in 2018 after receiving a WhatsApp message that had apparently been sent from the personal account of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, sources have told the Guardian. The encrypted message from the number used by Mohammed bin Salman is believed to have included a malicious file that infiltrated the phone of the world’s richest man, according to the results of a digital forensic analysis. This analysis found it “highly probable” that the intrusion into the phone was triggered by an infected video file sent from the account of the Saudi heir to Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post. The two men had been having a seemingly friendly WhatsApp exchange when, on 1 May of that year, the unsolicited file was sent, according to sources who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity. Large amounts of data were exfiltrated from Bezos’s phone within hours, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Guardian has no knowledge of what was taken from the phone or how it was used.

The extraordinary revelation that the future king of Saudi Arabia may have had a personal involvement in the targeting of the American founder of Amazon will send shockwaves from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. It could also undermine efforts by “MBS” – as the crown prince is known – to lure more western investors to Saudi Arabia, where he has vowed to economically transform the kingdom even as he has overseen a crackdown on his critics and rivals. The disclosure is likely to raise difficult questions for the kingdom about the circumstances around how US tabloid the National Enquirer came to publish intimate details about Bezos’s private life – including text messages – nine months later. It may also lead to renewed scrutiny about what the crown prince and his inner circle were doing in the months prior to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post journalist who was killed in October 2018 – five months after the alleged “hack” of the newspaper’s owner.

'They're still robbing us': Angry Lebanese reject new government

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Stones are seen on the ground as Lebanese police gather during a protest against the newly formed government in Beirut [Aziz Taher/Reuters]

by aljazeera.com Farah Najjar-- Beirut, Lebanon - Violent demonstrations were witnessed on the streets of central Beirut as protesters gathered in the heart of the capital near the main entrance to parliament, which has been heavily fortified with barbed wire, steel gates and metal plates. Protesters lobbed stones, firecrackers and street signs at riot police, who fired water cannons, tear gas and rubber-coated bullets in a bid to clear the area. Security forces stood behind the fortified wall as reinforcements were sent to block demonstrators from passing through via parallel roads in the area.

Lebanon announced the formation of a new government on Tuesday following three months of political blockade. However, the protesters say the new government comprises the same people they have been rallying against since October 17. "We want the government to work according to our needs. If not, to hell with them," said Mohammed, a 23-year-old protester who is from Tripoli, in the country's north, and who was present in the Beirut demonstrations. "If anything, the old cabinet that we rallied against is slightly better than this 'one colour' government," he said, using a term to describe the new cabinet backed by Hezbollah and its allies.

Protesters have been calling for sweeping reforms and a government that is led by independent technocrats and that can deal with the crippling economic crisis and widespread corruption. Protesters reject members belonging to the current political elite, which has ruled Lebanon since the end of its civil war in 1990 and is considered responsible for the country's economic crisis. "They're still stealing from us. We don't have electricity, we don't have hospitals, and we are starving to death," Mohammed added. "We're forced to escalate, the revolution is no longer peaceful … we gave them a chance for 30 years."

'They're playing with us'

Lebanon has been without an effective government since caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, under pressure from protests against state corruption and mismanagement, resigned in October. The country's newly appointed Prime Minister Hassan Diab pledged on Tuesday that his government "will strive to meet their [the protesters'] demands for an independent judiciary, for the recovery of embezzled funds, [and] for the fight against illegal gains". He also said his cabinet will adopt financial and economic methods different from those of previous governments, amid the country's worst economic crisis in decades. But protesters insist that only a government of independent experts will have what it takes to save the country. Calls to dismantle ruling parties, which include groups that transitioned into politics since the country's civil war, have also been a major demand of the protesters. "It's bullsh*t … they're playing with us. They are the same people with different faces," Stephanie, a 30-year-old protester, said of the new government. "People are here because they have no jobs and they're trying to tell the government that a change if needed. "But nothing is happening ... they're still robbing us, torturing us, [and] treating us like we don't deserve anything good," she said.

Pompeo says does 'not know the answer yet' if U.S. will work Diab's govt

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The Daily Star BEIRUT: Washington does “not know the answer yet” if it will work with the new Lebanese government, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday. “We’ll have to take a look at it. I don’t know the answer to that yet,” the top U.S. diplomat told Bloomberg in an interview from Jamaica. Lebanon’s new Prime Minister Hassan Diab formed a 20-member government late Tuesday night made up of Hezbollah and its allies.

He cited Lebanon’s “terrible financial crisis that lays in front of it in just the weeks ahead.” Pompeo said that Washington was prepared to engage and provide support to Diab’s government, “but only to a government that’s committed to reform.” Speaking about the nationwide anti-government protests that have been taking place since Oct. 17, Pompeo said the U.S. wanted a “non-corrupt government” that reflects the will of the Lebanese people. “If this government is responsive to that and there’s a new set of leaders that’s prepared to make those commitments and deliver on that, that’s the kind of government that we’ll support around the world and the kind of government we would support in Lebanon,” Pompeo said.