cbc — ca.news — In a sunny apartment in Vancouver’s West End, three friends systematically pack six suitcases with what looks like the contents of a drug store. Dozens of bottles of aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen and other over-the-counter medications, stacks of medical masks, boxes of powdered milk, diapers and boxes of sanitary napkins are packed and documented, with items moved around like a high-stakes game of Tetris. Charbel Elia, Patrick Rmeily and Julnar Doueik will be taking the suitcases to Beirut later in the week, where they’ll be donated to grassroots organizations. Luggage brimming with medication has become a common sight in the living rooms and kitchens of Lebanese living around the world as people pack what they can for friends and relatives in their home country, which is in the grip of an economic crisis. Elia said it was a message from a friend in Lebanon, a mother with two children, that prompted him to get involved. “She was telling me, ‘I can’t afford milk for my kids.’ She has two kids, one-year old and two-years old, and she’s making what’s worth $20 a month. I said to [my friends]: ‘I need to get her milk.'”

For over a year, Lebanon has been living through economic disaster. Its currency, the Lebanese pound, is devaluing at an alarming rate, making local salaries nearly worthless. Hyperinflation, widespread shortages, political gridlock, rampant corruption and the explosion that ripped through Beirut in August 2020 have only plunged the country further into despair. Lebanese living abroad have fielded messages from family and friends asking for basic items. Some commercial airlines have increased the baggage allowance for flights into Lebanon, recognizing that people are bringing crucial supplies to family members. “There’s a catastrophe going on in Lebanon,” said Rmeily, whose Vancouver apartment has looked like a makeshift pharmacy for weeks as the friends collected the cargo. “People were no longer able to get medication because we import everything in U.S. dollars and everything is being dealt with in the Lebanese pound, so the buying capacity is down … They can’t buy anything anymore — it’s out of stock or it’s not in the market.” The contents of the suitcases are valued at around $4,000, raised through donations from friends and co-workers since the one-year anniversary of the Beirut blast.

Osama Habib| The Daily Star BEIRUT: Lebanon will experience its worst inflation in history once the Central Bank’s subsidies are totally lifted on fuel oil and diesel, economists and experts warned. The warning came as Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati desperately struggles to overcome all the obstacles in the formation of a new Cabinet, which is expected to restore some confidence in the country as well all reduce the dollar exchange rate against the Lebanese pound. Observers and international organizations are also closely monitoring the intensive discussions in the Lebanese parliament to approve the capital control law and the ration card.

The Central Bank is expected to lift all subsidies on fuel oil and diesel at the end of September 2021, a move that is expected to have a devastating impact on the already fragile economy if this action was not matched with the issuance of the ration card and serious attempts to implement reforms. Marwan Barakat, group chief economist and head of research at Bank Audi, told The Daily Star that full subsidy removal is expected to have additional significant inflationary effects expected at close to 180 percent (On top of the 316 percent inflation reported between June 2019 and 2021). “This additional inflation is driven by the direct effects of the increase in oil prices on transport cost and housing energy, but also on the indirect effects caused by this supply push inflation on all other sectors in the economy. It is yet worth mentioning that the subsidy lifting has become a necessary evil following the significant drop in BDL liquid reserves to $14 billion, which is equivalent to the required FX deposits of banks at the Central Bank,” Barakat explained.

by dohanews.co — Qatar’s Embassy in Beirut has announced that all Lebanese nationals will be granted a free visa upon arrival at Hamad International Airport, for a period of 30 days. This is subject to an additional 30 days, within 180 days of issuance, the embassy said in a statement on Twitter. All travellers most be in possession of a passport valid for at least six months, a confirmed return ticket and confirmation of a hotel reservation in Qatar for the duration of their visit. Travellers must also be full vaccinated with a vaccine recognised by Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health, with the last dose administered at least 14 days before arrival. A negative PCR test result within 72 hours of arrival is compulsory, and all passengers must register on the Ehteraz platform to obtain approval from the Ministry of Public Health at least 12 hours before travel.

Passengers who have not received two doses of the vaccine 14 days before arrival will not be permitted to enter. Vaccines approved in Qatar include Pfizer / Biontech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Covishield (AstraZeneca), and Johnson & Johnson. Qatar accommodates around 35,000 Lebanese nationals in the country. Speaking to Doha News, Lebanon’s ambassador to Qatar, Farah Berri, said that “the State of Qatar has always been the first to provide moral, financial, humanitarian and political support to Lebanon.” “The Lebanese Embassy in Doha is proud to say that Qatar has become a second home to many Lebanese,” Berri added. The new decision will allow Lebanese families to reunite in Qatar as Lebanon faces a multitude of financial, economic, and political challenges that have prevented many Lebanese expats from visiting this summer.

المكوّناتُ اللبنانيّةُ ترفضُ المسَّ بلبنانَ الكبير، وإذا أحدٌ نَفَضَ عنه الغُبارَ اتَّهمَته

بالتقسيم. لكنَّ تصرفاتِ هذه المكوّنات، بالمقابل، جَعلت لبنانَ رَمادًا حتى بات غيرَ قابلٍ

للوِحدةِ ولا للتقسيم. السلامُ فيه موقِفُ لحظة، والحربُ موعدٌ رابِض. الأخطرُ من أن يكونَ

لبنانُ جُزءًا من قوميّةٍ أخْرى، هو أن يكونَ جُزءًا من مشروعٍ آخَر. لم تَحصُل حروبٌ

قوميّةٌ في العالمِ العربيّ، لكنَّ صِراعَ المشاريعِ فَجَّر حروبًا مُستدامَة. التعصُّبُ الدينيُّ أقوى

من الشعورِ القوميّ، والجَهالةُ أقوى من الاثنين. الصراعُ الحقيقيُّ في الشرقِ ليس بين

في الثاني من ايلول ٢٠٠٧ سقطت منظمة فتح الاسلام التي سيطرت على مخيم نهر البارد وتم اقتلاعها من جذورها وسقط معها مشروع الدولة الاسلامية انطلاقاً من شمال لبنان. هذاالمشروع عاد للظهور في اواخر عام ٢٠١٣ وارسى دولته بين العراق وسوريا تحت اسم داعش ثم تمددت وحداته الى جرود عرسال في فترة  الفراغ الرئاسي وخطفت وقتلت […]

by AP — Driving back to base after firing rockets towards Israeli positions from a border area last month, a group of Hezbollah fighters was accosted by angry villagers who smashed their vehicles’ windshields and briefly held up the convoy. It was a rare incident of defiance that suggested many in Lebanon will not tolerate provocations by the powerful group that risk triggering a new war with Israel. As Lebanon sinks deeper into poverty, many Lebanese are more openly criticising Iran-backed Hezbollah. They blame the group – with the ruling class – for the numerous, devastating crises plaguing the country, including a dramatic currency crash and severe shortages in medicine and fuel. “Hezbollah is facing its most consequential challenge in maintaining control over the Lebanese system and what is called the ‘protective environment of the resistance’ against Israel,” said Joe Macaron, a Middle East analyst in Washington. The incident along the border and other confrontations – including a deadly shooting at the funeral of a Hezbollah fighter and rare indirect criticism by the country’s top Christian religious leader – leave the group on the defensive.

The anger has spread in recent months, even in Hezbollah strongholds where many have protested against electricity cuts and fuel shortages as well as the currency crash that has plunged more than half the country’s six million people into penury. In its strongholds, predominantly inhabited by Shiite Muslims, it is not uncommon now for people to speak out against the group. They note that Hezbollah is paying salaries in US dollars at a time when most Lebanese get paid in Lebanese currency, which in almost two years has lost more than 90 per cent of its value. Protests and scuffles have broken out at gas stations around Lebanon and in some Hezbollah strongholds. In rare shows of defiance, groups of protesters closed key roads in those areas south of Beirut and in southern Lebanon. In recent speeches, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah appeared angry, blaming the shortages on what he describes as an undeclared western siege. The chaos in Lebanon, he said, is being instigated from a “black room” inside the US embassy.

القاضي بيتر جرمانوس ‏يكشف عبر الـMTV ‏أنه ساهم بانتاج دراسة قانونية ‏في عهد ميشال سليمان ‏تقول إن حكومة تصريف الاعمال ‏لا تستطيع تولي صلاحيات رئيس الجمهورية ‏بعد انتهاء ولايته ‏وعليه لا بد أن يكمل الرئيس في منصبه ‏الى حين انتخاب البديل. لا علم لي بهذه الدراسة ولم اطلبها ولم اضطلع عليها. ولكن عام ٢٠١٣ جاء […]

by english.aawsat.com — A Lebanese ministerial delegation is expected to carry out an official visit to Damascus this week for the first time since 2011. The visit aims to discuss an agreement to import natural gas from Egypt through Syria and Jordan to the Deir Ammar power plant in north Lebanon. President Michel Aoun and […]

نايلة تويني لبنان خارج الحياد وخارج المنظومة قد لا يحلو لكثيرين تذكيرهم بـ”#إعلان بعبدا” الذي جهد لتحييد #لبنان عن الاصطفاف الحاد حيال الحرب السورية. مع النظام السوري وراعيه الايراني وجيشه “حزب الله” والحرس الثوري، أم مع المنظومة الدولية والعربية معاً التي سعت الى إضعاف النظام، بل ربما لإسقاطه في مرحلة معيّنة اعلان بعبدا” الذي تنصّلت […]

By Kareem Chehayeb, Harun al-Aswad — middleeasteye.net — The Lebanese Army, following days of contradictory reports, announced on Saturday in a statement that it had arrested six Syrian nationals for allegedly entering the country illegally. Two of those arrested were transferred to Lebanon’s General Security, the army said, without providing details on the locations of the other four. The border agency initially denied holding any of the missing Syrian nationals prior to confirmation from the army’s press office. Five of the six men have been identified as Tawfik al-Haj, Mohammad Abdelillah al-Waked, Mohammad Saeed al-Waked, Ahmad Ziad al-Eid and Ibrahim Majed al-Shammari. It has been reported that several of those arrested had been affiliated with the Syrian opposition movement. The army’s announcement came days after news surfaced that five men from Daraa province went missing at the Syrian embassy near the Lebanese capital. The detentions allegedly took place after embassy staff told the men to come pick up their Syrian passports. Middle East Eye obtained the number of one of the missing men and tried to contact him on WhatsApp, but there was no reply.

‘Arrested inside the embassy’?

A relative of one of the missing men told MEE that they had received a call from a private number, introducing themselves as Lebanese intelligence and telling them that their family member had been detained for entering the country on 18 August illegally. “They do not have personal identification papers so they cannot enter Lebanon legally,” one of the relatives said. “They went to the Syrian embassy to try to get a passport processed the day after they arrived.” Embassy staff originally told them their passports would be processed on 25 August, but when they went back to the embassy that day, they were asked to return two days later, the relative told MEE. It is still unclear whether those detained were arrested at the Syrian embassy or nearby, and the Lebanese Army’s statement does not specify where exactly they were apprehended. One relative of the missing told MEE that they are adamant that the men were arrested at the embassy. “The embassy told them to come in on Friday at 9am. They went. But we lost contact with them at noon,” the family member said. “I was with many of our other relatives in direct contact with them. They went missing inside the Syrian embassy in Lebanon.”