by TAREK ALI AHMAD — arabnews.com — LONDON: In 2005 and at the young age of 23, Nayla Tueini’s whole world virtually turned on its head. The young journalist was catapulted from undergoing a month-long training program at French newspaper Le Figaro, to being prepped to take over and lead one of the biggest Lebanese dailies, Annahar, after her father — renowned editor and publisher Gebran Tueini — was killed in a car bombing in the Mkalles suburb of Beirut. “It was a big challenge because I was a young woman starting. I was in the middle of people with 30, 40, 50 years’ experience, and they were saying, ‘Who is she? She doesn’t know anything. She’s just a young girl … trying to have fun’,” Nayla told Arab News. Fifteen years later, at 38, she has been chosen as Media Personality of the Year at the 2020 Arab Media Forum, held virtually from Dubai, for her strong and steady leadership of Annahar through what has been described as Lebanon’s worst year ever.

In 2020, the country experienced an unprecedented financial crisis, devaluation of the local currency, the coronavirus pandemic, the Aug. 4 blast at the Port of Beirut and ongoing political corruption. The blast shattered the newspaper’s glass-facade headquarters, which stands not 700 meters from the port. “Having 30 injured people, blood around you, all the glass, everything … it was worse than the war,” Nayla said. “It was a difficult year.”

by catholicweekly.com.au — The Maronite Eparchy of Australia and Caritas Lebanon have launched a “Lebanese Family Appeal” to address massive poverty and social dislocation in the nation in the aftermath of August’s tragic explosion in the Port of Beirut. A monthly contribution of $50 for twelve months or a once-off $600 payment can provide basic food necessities for a small family in Lebanon for one year, a statement by Bishop Tarabay said. Lebanon’s situation is dire. The 4 August explosion magnified the devastation of the implosion of the Lebanese economy and government earlier in the year and has led to hundreds of thousands of Lebanese now counted as homeless. Meanwhile, the 6.8-million strong nation is host to an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees, 75 per cent of whom have no legal status. On a per capita basis, Lebanon hosts more refugees than any other nation on earth.

The impact of the August explosion in the Port of Beirut has and will continue to exacerbate the grim economic and food security situation in Lebanon,” Bishop Tarabay said. “Prior to the explosion, the country had already been going through the worst economic crisis in its history, whilst having to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, leaving more families vulnerable and unable to meet their daily needs. “This amount of $50 per month will help a small family provide necessities. “We aim to sponsor 500 families unable to meet their daily needs, profiles of whom have been provided by Caritas Lebanon.” Bishop Tarabay said donors can choose to select a specific family profile or contribute to a family randomly selected based on its urgent need. Contributions can be made via the designated envelopes and forms, available through Maronite Parishes and or via the Eparchy’s website.

by AFP — BEIRUT: Israeli missile strikes on Syria killed at least six Iran-backed fighters on Friday, a war monitor said. The dead were all foreign paramilitaries fighting alongside Bashar Assad’s forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Right said. The missiles, which were fired from Lebanese airspace, hit positions held by Iran-backed militias in the […]

(Bloomberg) — French investigators will arrive in Beirut on Jan. 18 to speak with Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA, as part of a probe into expenses, according to an official in the Lebanese judiciary and a person close to the former auto executive. The French team will be […]

Christine Douglass-Williams — weeklyblitz.net — Turkey, which has been bullying Greece for some time, recently threatened the EU that it shouldn’t “dare” to impose sanctions over Turkish aggression toward Greece and Cyprus. For the past few months, Greece has been bolstering its military, amid Turkey’s ongoing “provocative statements” and “near-daily” threats of war. Particularly worrying with the latest spy news development is Lebanese involvement. Turkey is feared to be expanding its influence in Lebanon and shipping weapons there. Turkey has also been working with Qatar to shape Libyan politics. The two countries were reportedly setting up a military training camp to train Muslim Brotherhood troops in Libya. Both Libya and Lebanon are marked by instability, which Turkey has demonstrated its eagerness to settle. Given its aggressive expansionary ambitions, its opportunism is expected. Days ago, Greek police “detained a Turkish consular official on suspicion of spying… in a case likely to further strain troubled relations between the two NATO allies.”

By Linda Bordoni — vaticannews — In a letter addressed to the head of the Church in Lebanon, Pope Francis makes an urgent appeal to political and religious leaders and to the international community to help the nation surmount the grave crisis in which it finds itself and resume a normal existence. Writing on Christmas Eve to His Beatitude Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites and President of the Assembly of the Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops of Lebanon, the Pope says his words are for the “Lebanese people, without distinction of community or religion.” They are words, he says, “of comfort and encouragement as we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.”

Sharing his concern and sorrow to see the suffering and anguish that has engulfed Lebanon undermining its resilience and resourcefulness, the Pope says, “It is even more painful to see you deprived of your precious aspirations to live in peace and to continue being, for our time and our world, a message of freedom and a witness to harmonious coexistence.” In particular, Pope Francis expresses his sorrow for the many young people of Lebanon “robbed of any hope for a better future.”

Reuters — caretaker finance minister said it would contact a consulting firm to resume a forensic audit of the central bank, a key condition for foreign aid that has hit a roadblock. Parliament agreed this week to lift banking secrecy for one year, after the restructuring consultancy Alvarez & Marsal pulled out of the audit, saying it had not been given information it needed. “It was decided based on the law from parliament and government decisions to contact the firm A&M to resume the forensic audit,” caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni’s office cited him as saying after meeting with the president. A presidency statement later quoted Wazni as saying the firm had recently sent a letter to the central bank that showed its willingness to resume work with the Lebanese government. Such an audit is on list of reforms donors have demanded before helping Lebanon out of its financial crisis, rooted in decades of state waste and graft. Central Bank governor Riad Salameh said last month that he favoured an audit but that disclosing the accounts of local banks would require a change in legislation. Some Lebanese officials have accused Salameh of using bank secrecy laws to justify withholding information.

by Michael Jansen — jordantimes.com — French President Emmanuel Macron’s COVID-cancelled visit to Beirut this week appears to have torpedoed hopes that he would be able to coax Lebanon’s squabbling politicians to agree on a formula for a fully-fledged government before the end of the year. Macron has consistently called for an independent government of experts capable of launching reforms put forward in the road map presented by him in September. President Michel Aoun has retorted by rejecting the notion of an independent Cabinet of experts and calling for the usual government of party appointees and demanding for his Free Patriotic Movement one-third of posts and veto power over any decisions. After mediation by France, Maronite Catholic Archbishop Beschara Al Rai, and Hizbollah Aoun now insists on interior and justice portfolios. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has rejected this proposition on the ground it is designed to “bypass the French initiative” and would “open the door to the representation of political factions in the government”. This is precisely what the French, foreign donors and the International Fund want to avoid.

Hariri resigned following the eruption in October last year of popular protests against the politicians, whose incompetence and corruption have diven Lebanon into an economic crisis. He expected he would be asked to form the very sort of government the people want and he is meant to establish at this time. Instead, the politicians asked Hassan Diab, an academic with no political clout, to put together a new Cabinet. He, also, dreamed he would enlist independent experts but was soon disabused of this idea. The experts he was permitted to appoint were chosen by the very political factions the Lebanese people are determined to oust. Needless to say, the politicians scuppered every attempt Diab made to initiate the reforms demanded by the donors and the IMF. The Lebanese economy continued to slide downwards while resentment has soared against the politicians who refused to budge from their right to decide who would be in the government. One would have thought the politicians would be prepared to cede to the demand for independent ministers following the August 4th explosion of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which had been stored for six years in Beirut port, levelling it and four neighbouring districts, killing 204 people, wounding several thousand and rendering 300,000 homeless. The politicians were accused of causing this disaster through indifference and neglect. It was the largest man-made explosion since US atomic bombs devastated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

by middleeastmonitor — When Joe Bejjany was shot with a silencer as he got ready to take his two daughters to pre-school, it shocked not only his mountain village but a country already on edge. No clear motive has so far surfaced for the murder of the 36-year-old Lebanese telecoms employee and freelance photographer on Monday. But that did not stop local media and people wondering aloud whether it was linked to an ongoing investigation into August’s devastating blast at Beirut port. Residents of Kahaleh, some 13 km (8 miles) from Beirut, say they want a swift investigation into what they believe was a planned operation of some kind or another. “This is not just about our village. Because today it’s Joe, tomorrow it’s someone else,” said Jean Bejjany, the head of the municipal council and a distant relative. “Are we going to have to protect our own houses and villages?”

A number of recent murky deaths have fuelled similar rumours of links to the explosion, even as security officials say they have no evidence of a connection. Nearly five months since the huge stockpile of chemicals, stored unsafely for years, detonated at the port, that inquiry has yet to yield public results. The blast killed 200 people and ravaged swathes of the capital, compounding a financial meltdown that has also triggered generalised fears over security. Earlier this month, authorities pledged to probe the death of a retired customs officer who was found dead in his home.

by naharnet.com — Central Bank governor Riad Salameh said on Tuesday the crisis of ending subsidies on the import of basic goods can be solved without reducing the foreign reserves if the new government takes the necessary measures. In remarks to the US-based Arabic-language satellite TV channel, al-Hurra, Salameh described as “exaggerated” the reports claiming that deposits of the Lebanese people in local banks have “evaporated.” He stressed that the dollar liquidity crisis in Lebanese banks began a gradual decline, revealing that the depositors’ money was not in the “central” bank. He said a year ago until today, deposits worth 30 billion dollars have been withdrawn from Lebanese banks, 20 billion dollars of which have been used to cover debts. “The debt portfolio decreased significantly in the banking sector from 55 billion to 35 billion dollars today,” he said. “The second part was used to buy real estate, while the third part was taken in cash, and we estimate that approximately 10 billion dollars are with the Lebanese,” he added.

On the problematic issue of lifting subsidies on the import of basic goods, Salameh said we are keen that the Lebanese remain capable of buying medicines, fuel and foodstuff at the official dollar rate of LBP 1500. He said it is up to the government to decide how to rationalize imports, stressing the need to set specific approaches that allow the Lebanese to get their basic needs, while concurrently preserving the bank’s foreign reserves. “The bank still has two billion dollars before touching the foreign reserves,” he said, noting that forming a credible government that inspires confidence in creditors helps restore liquidity back to the country.