By Gareth Browne — Mena.com — A man injured in the Beirut port explosion has succumbed to injuries 13 months after the explosion. Ibrahim Harb, 35, suffered serious head injuries after 2,500 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded at the port in August last year, leaving him in a coma for three months. He then spent almost a year at a rehabilitation centre, drifting in and out of consciousness until his family moved him home last week. He was there for three days before dying on Monday night. Mr Harb was laid to rest in Beirut on Tuesday, in an emotional funeral. His death raised the number of people killed in the port explosion to at least 215.

“May God punish whoever was behind it. What else can we say?” his brother Mazen told AP. Mr Harb, an accountant, had been working at his office in downtown Beirut when the blast happened. He leaves behind a fiance. Ahmad Mroue, who runs the Lebanese NGO Maan, which works with victims of the blast, said that the death coming on the same day as the suspension of the port blast investigation only underlined the unwillingness of Lebanon’s political class to see justice served. “It’s really sad that we lost another person. Unfortunately, the politicians in this country count them only as numbers, they don’t look at them as human beings. They deserve justice,” he said. “What happened yesterday, just before Ibrahim died was really sad because again we see how politicians are treating the investigation and the judge – the main thing they are doing now is blocking justice.”

by arabnews.com — LONDON: Sawt Beirut International on Tuesday won the live streaming rights to broadcast the Lebanese Basketball Championship for the next three seasons. The live streaming rights were acquired by the platform for $468,000. “The primary agenda behind this step is to support sports in Lebanon, support clubs and athletes, and provide the […]

مجلس الأمن دعا لإصلاحات سريعة وانتخابات نزيهة… “للنأي بالنفس عن أيّ نزاعات خارجية”
رحّب أعضاء مجلس الأمن بتشكيل حكومة جديدة في لبنان برئاسة نجيب ميقاتي ومنحها الثقة “كخطوات أولى ضرورية نحو حلّ الأزمة”.

وأكّد الأعضاء مجدداً “دعمهم القويّ لاستقرار لبنان وأمنه وسلامة أراضيه وسيادته واستقلاله السياسي، بما يتّفق مع قرارات مجلس الأمن 1701 (2006) و1680 (2006) و1559 (2004) و2591 (2021)، كما قرارات المجلس الأخرى ذات الصلة وبيانات رئيس مجلس الأمن في شأن الوضع في لبنان”.

من جهة ثانية، حضّ أعضاء مجلس الأمن الحكومة اللبنانية الجديدة على “التنفيذ السريع والشفاف للإصلاحات التي باتت معلومة والضرورية والملموسة التي تكلّم عليها البيان الوزاري”، معتبرين أنّ “هذه الإصلاحات أساسية للاستجابة للاحتياجات الملحة والتطلّعات المشروعة للشعب اللبناني فيما يتعلّق بالتحديات الأمنية والاقتصادية والاجتماعية والإنسانية الملحّة التي تواجه البلاد”.

by arabnews.com — LONDON: Hours of queues at gas stations in Britain have left Lebanese in the country reeling from an unpleasant deja vu as the UK found itself suffering similar problems to the crisis-riddled Middle Eastern nation. Gas station pumps ran dry in major British cities on Monday and vendors rationed sales as a shortage of truckers strained supply chains to breaking point in the world’s fifth-largest economy. “Fuel shortage in Lebanon, people queuing to buy gas. Left Lebanon, came to the UK. Fuel shortage in the UK, people queuing to buy gas. AM I CURSED?” Tweeted Ibrahim Abdallah. A dire shortage of lorry drivers as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic recedes has sewn chaos throughout British supply chains in everything from food to fuel, raising the spectre of disruptions and price rises as Christmas looms. Lebanese who left their home to live or study in the UK cannot help but feel as if their problems are not too far behind, with the country going into its second month of fuel crisis. “Fuel shortages? Is this the UK or Lebanon?” wrote Amir.

Pumps across British cities were either closed or had signs saying fuel was unavailable on Monday, local media reported, with some limiting the amount of fuel each customer could buy. “Long fuel queues in London have led to road blocking…I’m sure they do it just for me so I wouldn’t miss Lebanon much while I’m away!” wrote MidEast Correspondent for BBC World Service Nafiseh Kohnavard. “On the weekend before my flight to Beirut: Fuel shortages causing queues at UK petrol stations, Bojo considering using army to supply petrol stations, 10 hour power outage in my building. Is the Universe training me for my stay in Lebanon?” Asked Yara.

By Maha El Dahan and Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) – Prime Minister Najib Mikati will meet with the advisory firm Lazard soon to see how a financial recovery plan it drafted for Lebanon could be developed into a “more realistic” vision for getting the country out of its crisis, he said on Monday. Mikati also […]

By By Robert McKelvey — aljazeera.com — Beirut, Lebanon – With Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s new cabinet having won a parliamentary confidence vote, many Lebanese are tentatively hopeful the years-long crisis that has engulfed their country may finally have reached a turning point. At the same time, there are concerns this new cabinet – filled with many familiar faces – represents just another continuation of a status quo that increasing numbers of Lebanese wish to see ended.

Has Lebanon found a lifeline? Speaking to Al Jazeera, people expressed their feelings on Mikati’s new government and his plans to address their country’s numerous woes after 13 months of political deadlock. “We hope it will be good for the country because the people are tired,” said Jihad Jaber, owner of a clothing shop in Hamra, Beirut. “We’re seeing it seems like they’re willing to work, unlike the last cabinet. We’ll have to wait and see. As citizens, we ask for them to solve these crises, from the fuel shortage to the poor quality of life, and for the dollar rate to come down. We want to live well.” Spiralling financial meltdown — According to recent figures published by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), almost 75 percent of the Lebanese population are currently living in poverty. Even basic amenities such as electricity and water are in short supply, while residents queue for hours at a time outside petrol stations hoping to buy fuel for their cars and generators.

في ذكرى تأسيس امن الدولة نثمن دور قيادتها وضباطها وافرادها ونتمنى تفعيل دورها لتنفيذ المهمات التي عهدت لها وفق قانون انشائها

Rome (Agenzia Fides) – The Armenian Catholic Synod of Bishops, convened by the Holy Father in Rome on September 22nd, 2021, elected the new Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians on Thursday, September 23rd. It is Raphaël François Minassian, currently titular Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia and bishop for the Armenian Catholic faithful of Eastern Europe. The newly elected has adopted the name Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian. The new Armenian Catholic Patriarch was born in Beirut on November 24, 1946. He completed his studies at the Patriarchal Seminary of Bzommar (1958-1967) and studied Philosophy and Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University (1967-1973). At the Pontifical University of the Salesians, he completed a specialization course in psycho-pedagogy. He was ordained a priest on June 24, 1973. From 1973 to 1982 he was parish priest of the Armenian Cathedral of Beirut, from 1982 to 1984 Secretary to Patriarch Hovannes Bedros XVIII Kasparian, and from 1984 to 1989 responsible for the establishment of the parish complex of the Holy Cross of Zalka, Beirut.

From 1975 to 1989, Raphaël François Minassian was a Judge at the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of the Armenian Church in Beirut. He taught Armenian liturgy at the Pontifical University of Kaslik from 1985 to 1989 and in 1989 was transferred to the United States of America, where he worked as a parish priest in New York for a year. He then worked as parish priest for the Catholic Armenians in California, Arizona and Nevada until 2003. Since 2004, Minassian has been running Telepace Armenia, of which he is the founder. In 2005 he was appointed Patriarchal Exarch of Jerusalem and Amman for the Armenians. On 24 June 2011 he was appointed Ordinary for the Catholic Armenian Faithful of Eastern Europe. The Holy Father gave him the titular seat of Cesarea in Cappadocia for the Armenians and the title of Archbishop ad personam. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 24/9/2021)

BEIRUT, (Xinhua) — The Lebanese army on Saturday received 13 tonnes of food products from Italy through Beirut’s airport, the army reported in a tweet. The donation comes at a time when Lebanon’s military is facing serious challenges amid the ongoing financial crisis in the country. Leaders in the country have warned that the military […]

by english.alaraby.co.uk – A television series that shares the stories of 15 people caught in the devastating Beirut Port explosion last year has been nominated for an Emmy Award. ‘Beirut 6:07’ – which refers to the time the massive blast took place on 4 August – is nominated under the Short-Form Series category. The International […]