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‘Life at the top’: Lebanese mountain club dodges cash crisis

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by AFP -- FAQRA: Amid designer sunglasses, champagne buckets and luxury cars, Lebanon’s economic crisis is not immediately obvious in Faqra. Digging into a salad at an exclusive country club in the Lebanese mountains, Zeina El-Khalil was glad to be there for the summer. “The atmosphere in Beirut has become heavy and depressing. Reality is everywhere. But here we feel like we’re in another country,” she said. Lebanon is mired in its worst economic crisis in decades, with the downturn sparking soaring inflation and plunging almost half the country’s population into poverty. For the wealthy, trips abroad were off as banks blocked dollar withdrawals or transfers and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) complicated international travel. But some of Lebanon’s wealthiest families have escaped to the Faqra Club, perched 1,600 meters (5,250 feet) above the Mediterranean. “Usually we spend our holidays abroad, but this year we can’t travel for financial reasons and COVID-19,” said El-Khalil.

Nestled in a mountain resort town famous for its ski slopes, the Faqra Club is an oasis of luxury in an otherwise collapsing country. Its motto, according to the official website, is “Life at the top.” Expensive cars pack the parking lot, while club members shuffle between its many facilities, including stables, a tennis court and a 9D movie theater. Around a long swimming pool, bronzed bodies sprawl on sofas and sun loungers, sipping cocktails, as music blasts in the background. “Life must go on,” said Sara, a 26-year-old lawyer. “We won’t stay trapped in the house.” Sealed off from the woes plaguing the rest of the country, the Faqra Club has become a magnet for those looking to do brisk business.

Power cuts increase in Lebanon as private generator owners strike

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Houses in darkness during an electricity cut in Beirut's southern suburb of Ouzai, Some areas face power cuts of up to 12 hours every day for anyone without access to a generator to pick up the slack. AP

by thenational.ae -- Sunniva Rose -- “Have you seen this?” asked "Walid", a generator owner in Beirut, as he held up a plastic bottle in disbelief. It was filled with two different liquids: yellow at the top, and transparent at the bottom. “This is diesel mixed with water that I bought on the black market last week," Walid said. "It broke four of my filters." Compounding Lebanon’s already existing electricity problems, its local “mafia” of private generators owners went on a one-hour strike on Tuesday. They threatened to turn off all of the country’s generators next week for an entire day. They are unhappy because the country’s economic crisis forces them to buy diesel, which is sometimes tainted, at inflated prices. “I have spent as much money last month as I usually do in six months," Walid said. "I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue to operate."

He stood in the dark in his small basement office, regularly wiping his brow with a handkerchief because of the sweltering heat. Walid saidhe had spent 2.4 million Lebanese pounds, or $315 at the black market rate, to repair the filters that were broken by the tainted diesel. A strike by generator owners would cause a massive electricity shortage in the country. Lebanon’s state utility Electricite du Liban’s output only provides two hours of electricity a day on average in Beirut. It has been unable to produce enough electricity to satisfy demand since the end of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, with average cuts of three hours a day in the capital. They can increase to 12 hours a day in the countryside. Private generator owners stepped in to close the gap. They are technically illegal but operate freely. “They are called a mafia because they divide neighbourhoods up like drug dealers,” said Nizar Hassan, a Lebanese political analyst. "People don’t have the option to choose who they will subscribe with. “Generator owners also impose much higher fees on people than they should and do not respect prices imposed by the Energy Ministry."

Lebanon reinstates lockdown measures after virus rebound

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by arabnews.com -- NAJIA HOUSSARI -- BEIRUT: The Lebanese government agreed on Tuesday to reinforce coronavirus lockdown measures after a spike in new cases threatened to overwhelm the crisis-hit country’s health care system. Lebanon, a country of some 6 million people, has recorded a total of 3,879 cases of COVID-19, including 51 deaths. Activists on social media shared a video of a Lebanese man in his car arguing with security forces after being fined for failing to wear a face mask. Authorities decided to shut down the country again following an alarming increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. Ministers on Tuesday were tested for the virus before taking part in ministerial session at the Presidential Palace.

President Michel Aoun called for “stricter application” of the lockdown order to limit the “negative repercussions on citizens and residents,” criticizing “people’s disregard for the preventive measures.” Minister of Health Hamad Hassan said: “People are not abiding by the preventive measures, and people traveling to Lebanon are not respecting the isolation period.” From Thursday, the country will shut down for five days with another five-day lockdown next week. Bars, pubs, night clubs, malls, pools, gyms, churches, mosques and game centers will be closed, and all sports competitions, events and religious gatherings will be canceled. People over 65 will be told to stay at home and avoid social activity. Security forces have arrested two Syrians who allegedly forged PCR tests showing a negative result for sale to Syrians wishing travel to their homeland.

Turkey slams claim about Lebanese demonstrations

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Turkey's Erdogan says Egypt's actions in Libya are 'illegal ...

by aa.com.tr -- The Turkish foreign ministry slammed allegations Tuesday by Lebanese politicians that claimed Ankara supported protests in Lebanon. "The allegations brought up by some Lebanese politicians, that our country supported the protest demonstrations in the north of Lebanon, and that it aimed to improve its influence in this region of Lebanon, are deprived of comprehension," said foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy. It is not possible to take "these malicious statements" seriously, according to Aksoy who said Turkey attaches great importance to the unity and integrity, as well as peace and stability of Lebanon. "Those who make these allegations are in a position to know very well who sees Lebanon as its backyard and interferes with the internal affairs of this country," Aksoy added.

Lebanese composer Rami Khalife unveils exclusive melody for new Brunello Cucinelli campaign

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By Sarah Maisey -- thenational.ae -- Lebanese-French composer and pianist Rami Khalife has unveiled a new composition titled New Time, penned exclusively for Italian fashion brand Brunello Cucinelli. Released alongside footage of Khalife playing the piece on a piano among the poppy fields of Castelluccio di Norcia in central Italy, the piece is said to allude to the changes brought about by the seasons. An original composition written and played by Khalife, it was recorded in Paris, at the Abbey Road Institute.

The title of the piece is taken from a letter written by Cucinelli in response to the Covid-19 crisis in April, when the large-scale impact of the pandemic was becoming clear. Addressing his shareholders, he wrote: "The rising of a new time has already begun from the shadows of a painful night; this new time, my esteemed friends, I see it brimming with fabulous opportunities, a bearer of new lifeblood, a creator of ideas revolving around a renewed desire for life ... at the end of this all we will be different; we too, like time, will be somehow new. “Until a few days ago, the time that flows from one daily action to the next was driven by the frantic urgency of an ongoing haste and frenzy without a conscious reason; today time has changed its pace like in a melody where every musical beat falls where the score of creation wants it to be, and generates a music of memories and future that we won’t easily forget,” he said.

Israeli forces say they foiled an attack but Hezbollah denies involvement

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Smoke rises from the disputed Shebaa Farms area as seen from Marjayoun village in southern Lebanon, Lebanon July 27, 2020. Reuters

By Bassam Zaazaa -- .thenational.ae -- Israeli forces on Monday said they exchanged fire with Hezbollah fighters along the country’s northern border with Lebanon, in the heaviest fighting between the bitter enemies in almost a year. The Israel army said it foiled a Hezbollah attempt to infiltrate its territory after a cell of four fighters crossed the Lebanese borders and exchanged fire with Israeli forces. The military said it had ordered residents along the border to remain indoors as local media reported an exchange of artillery fire near Shebaa Farms, where explosions were heard. Hezbollah dismissed the Israeli claims about "purported skirmishes".

But the attack by the Iran-backed militia was in response to the killing of one of its fighters in an Israeli strike on the edge of Damascus last Monday, a Lebanese source told Reuters. The Israeli army said a “security incident” had taken place. It said it had blocked roads and told people to avoid “non-essential” travel. Israel’s public broadcast channel Kan said there had been an exchange of fire. Israeli army spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said the military thwarted "an attempt to infiltrate into Israel” by a group of armed militants. “We know for certain that they were armed and that they crossed the Blue Line into Israel,” Lt Col Conricus said. The militia rejected the accusations. Hezbollah "confirms that it did not take part in any clash and did not open fire in today's events until now", it said. "All that the enemy's media is claiming about thwarting an infiltration operation from Lebanon into occupied Palestine is completely false." Andrea Tenenti, spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, said the head of mission and force commander, Maj Gen Stefano Del Col, contacted both sides to assess the situation and ease tension. Gen Del Col urged both parties to exercise "maximum restraint".

Lebanon ‘botched virus response’, say health advisers; return to tough lockdown urge

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by arabnews.com -- NAJIA HOUSSARI -- BEIRUT: Lebanon’s government was accused on Saturday of botching its response to the coronavirus pandemic and urged to impose a tough new lockdown after the average number of daily cases doubled in a week. The state coronavirus committee of medical specialists has advised closing markets, bars, nightclubs, indoor pools, children’s clubs and sports halls, and banning beach parties and religious and social events for a week. “If Lebanon continues to witness an increase in cases of infection, and as long as the Lebanese do not adhere to the preventive and precautionary measures, then we must get to this level,” Dr. Abdel-Rahman Bizri, a member of the national committee for infectious diseases, told Arab News. The number of cases of COVID-19 infections in Lebanon passed 3,400 on Saturday, and the death toll rose to 46. The number of infections during the past week increased from 75 cases a day to 166. “We are currently wavering between the third and fourth phase in confronting the virus, which means that we reached the stage of societal reproduction because the virus is internally spread and not being transmitted by people coming from abroad,” Bizri said.