by cyprus-mail.com — Jonathan Shkurko — Cypriot coast guard forces summarily pushed back, abandoned, expelled or returned more than 200 migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers coming from Lebanon during the first week of September 2020 without giving them the opportunity to lodge asylum claims, a Human Rights Watch report released on Wednesday said. People involved reported they were threatened by both Greek and Turkish Cypriot coast guards and claimed that Greek Cypriot coast guard vessels circled them at high speeds, swamping their boats, and in at least one case abandoned them at sea without fuel and food. They also said their asylum claims were ignored and that in some cases Greek Cypriot marine police officers beat them. “Lebanese nationals are now joining Syrian refugees on boats to flee Lebanon and seek asylum in the EU, due to the severity of the crisis facing that country,” said Bill Frelick, refugee and migrant rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Cyprus should consider their claims for protection fully and fairly and treat them safely and with dignity instead of disregarding the obligations to rescue boats in distress, and not to engage in collective expulsions.”

The report saud Human Rights Watch interviewed 15 Lebanese and Syrian nationals who left Lebanon and entered or attempted to enter Cyprus or its territorial waters on one of seven boats between August 29 and September 7. UN peacekeepers in Lebanon rescued them on September 14, after at least 13 people had died or been lost at sea. According to Reuters, Cypriot authorities returned 230 people to Lebanon between September 6 and 8, a claim substantiated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who reported that people left Lebanon irregularly on 18 boats between August 29 and September 14, with five of them intercepted by the Lebanese naval forces while in Lebanese territorial waters.

The Daily Star BEIRUT — Lebanese leaders offered their condolences Tuesday to Kuwait after the death of its ruling Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. “He was a great brother to Lebanon and an example of chivalry, moderation and wisdom,” President Michel Aoun tweeted. “He stood by the Lebanese in the difficult circumstances they went through, […]

by thenational.ae — Sunniva Rose — Former Nissan and Renault head turned fugitive Carlos Ghosn wants to serve the interests of his debt-ridden home country Lebanon by collaborating with a new $20,000 three-month business programme at a local university, he said in a rare public appearance on Tuesday. The move has grabbed the former executive headlines, but experts say that the impact of the unusual initiative could be limited. “The objective is…serving the country and the society, because if today there is one specific thing that Lebanon needs, it is to create jobs,” explained Mr Ghosn during a press conference on Tuesday at the Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik (USEK) near Beirut as he presented three new business programmes.

Costing $20,000, the main three-month “Business strategies and performance programme” due to start in March 2021 is aimed at executives from Lebanon and the region and will include a one-on-one consultancy session with Carlos Ghosn as well as guest speakers such as Jaguar and Land Rover Chief Executive Thierry Bolloré, former Goldman Sachs vice-chairman Ken Curtis and venture capitalist Raymond Debbane. The online version of the course will cost $15,000. This programme will subsidise two others, said USEK’s President, Father Talal Hachem: a “training and upscaling programme for local businesses” and an “investment and advisory board for start-ups”. Lebanon is reeling from one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in history at the Beirut port on August 4 that killed nearly 200 people and worsened its economic crisis which has pushed half the population under the poverty line. “Carlos Ghosn is capitalising his networks and on Lebanon’s strength, which is its education system. But the limits are clear. Who in Lebanon will be able to pay for such a programme in the middle of a financial and economic meltdown?” asked Sahar Al Attar, editor-in-chief at the Lebanese economic magazine Le Commerce du Levant.

By AFP — A quarter of school-age children in Lebanon’s capital risk missing out on school after last month’s deadly port explosion, the International Rescue Committee aid group warned Monday. “With 163 schools damaged by the Beirut explosion, at least 1 in 4 children in the city are now at risk of missing out on […]

by Nick Newsom — The Daily Star — BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities said Monday they would introduce a new zonal approach to containing coronavirus as the number of cases climbed ever higher, with 1,018 people confirmed to have caught the disease within the past 24 hours and four more deaths. Just one of the people who caught the virus during that period had come from abroad. Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s media office said the ministerial committee to follow up on coronavirus agreed on introducing the “zonal system,” also known as the “traffic light system,” as a way to determine the containment measures to be implemented in different areas. White areas with fewer than five total cases are considered “very low risk,” and mask wearing and social distancing are recommended, according to a table based on the US Department of Health’s system that was published by Diab’s media office. “Low risk” or green areas have fewer than four cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days. Testing of contacts, contract tracing and isolation are additional measures to be taken in these zones.

Yellow areas where there are between four to eight new cases per 100,000 people over 14 days are considered “moderate risk.” Intensive testing and contact tracing efforts are to be taken in those areas and not just targeted at contacts of cases. There will be a curfew after 7 p.m. In red areas where there is “high risk,” or more than eight cases per 100,000 people over 14 days, residents will be required to stay at home and there will be a local lockdown. It was unclear if travel restrictions would be applied between the zones, as is the case in other places where this “traffic light” color-coding system is implemented, such as the European Union. A soon to be launched digital platform run by Cabinet’s Disaster Risk Management center will publish data on each area’s classification, the statement from Diab’s media office said. Implementation will be carried out in collaboration with the Health and Interior ministries. Public health expert Sara Chang told The Daily Star that she “commends continued efforts to address the spread of COVID-19” but that she approached the proposal “with concern and caution.”

By NAJIA HOUSSARI — arabnews.com — BEIRUT: Two Lebanese soldiers were killed early Sunday at their barracks, hours after security forces had attacked a terror cell on the border with Syria. The Lebanese army said that on Sunday at 1 a.m. terrorists in a car had opened fire on guards at an army post in Arman-Miniyeh, which is north of Beirut. The guards responded by returning fire. The gunfight killed two soldiers and one of the attackers, while the remaining assailants fled.

The army, in another statement, said: “The terrorist Omar Burais, who was on a motorcycle, attempted to enter an army post in Arman in Miniyeh and the guards stopped him, which led to his immediate death. Upon examination of the terrorist’s body, hand grenades and an explosive belt, which he intended to detonate inside the post, were found in his possession. A military expert worked to dismantle the explosive belt and detonate it.” Army units raided places that Burais used to visit and they arrested five of his relatives, including uncles and cousins. The army mourned the soldiers killed in the attack: Cpl. Mohammed Khaled Al-Nashar and Cpl. Ahmed Khaled Saqr. The attack followed an operation from the Information Division of the Internal Security Forces against terrorists in the northern border region of Wadi Khaled. The division said it had identified and tracked down the people responsible for last month’s Kaftoun-Koura assault, which killed three municipal guards in the town, and it emerged that the perpetrators were part of a cell working for Daesh in Lebanon. “As a result of the efforts, the Information Division managed to identify all the terrorist group’s members, who were more than 15 and worked under the command of a Syrian (M.H.), and arrested three of them,” it added. “On Sept. 26, the Information Division identified the whereabouts of the terrorist group’s members in Wadi Khaled, and they were in a secluded house. A security operation was carried out by the division’s Strike Force to besiege the house.”

by reuters — BEIRUT – Leading Lebanese politician Gebran Bassil has been infected with a “mild” case of the coronavirus, his party said, as cases surge throughout the country. Bassil, the son-in-law of Lebanese President Michel Aoun and a former foreign minister who heads the country’s largest Christian political bloc, discovered he was infected on […]

by AFP — At a rare news conference devoted to Lebanon, Macron said the political elite had decided “to betray” their obligations and had committed “collective treason” by failing to form a government. Lebanon’s premier-designate Mustapha Adib stepped down on Saturday, saying he had been unable to form a reform-minded government. “They have decided to […]

by upnewsinfo.com — Matilda Coleman — Lebanon’s political instability, failing economy, and the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the Lebanese pound to lose 80% of its value, since August, according to the Associated Press. Many Lebanese nationals have turned to real estate during this of crisis, in a bid to safeguard their money. According to Bank Audi, in the first five months of 2020, residential real estate sales increased rose more than 50 percent, valuing the overall real estate market at $3.7 billion in May. Moreover, according to Lebanon’s General Directorate of Land Registry, real estate transactions jumped more than 16% in the first quarter of this year. However, August’s port explosion in Beirut led to an estimated 70,000 destroyed houses, 40,000 damaged buildings and 30,000 people being displaced.

Local action: The International Monetary Fund said in April that Lebanon’s economy is expected to shrink 12% in 2020. The government also announced a plan aimed at restoring positive growth in 2022 and promised assistance for the needy, yet many remain skeptical. An IMF emergency bailout for the country is also still pending approval following many rounds of negotiation. In the meantime, local non-profit organisations have been rolling up their sleeves to help rebuild their communities. Some Beirut NGOs have raised around $10 million to help reconstruct the city. Eddy Bitar is the co-founder of Live Love Lebanon, and he estimates that the destruction of residential areas could total $5 billion.

ZEINA KARAM ,Associated Press — BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s prime minister-designate resigned Saturday amid a political impasse over government formation, dealing a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to break a dangerous stalemate in the crisis-hit country. The announcement by Moustapha Adib nearly a month after he was appointed to the job further delays the prospect of getting the foreign economic assistance needed to rescue the country from collapse. Adib told reporters he was stepping down after it became clear that the kind of Cabinet he wished to form was “bound to fail.” The French leader has been pressing Lebanese politicians to form a Cabinet made up of non-partisan specialists that can work on enacting urgent reforms to extract Lebanon from a devastating economic and financial crisis worsened by the Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut port.

An official in Macron’s office, commenting on Adib’s resignation, described it as “a collective betrayal” by Lebanon’s political parties. “It is indispensable to have a government capable of receiving international aid. France will not abandon Lebanon,” said the official, who was not authorized to be publicly named. Macron’s office said he will hold a press conference Sunday to talk about the situation in Lebanon. Lebanon is in desperate need of financial assistance but France and other international powers have refused to provide aid before serious reforms are made. The crisis is largely blamed on decades of systematic corruption and mismanagement by Lebanon’s ruling class. But efforts by the French-supported Adib have hit multiple snags, after the country’s main Shiite groups, Hezbollah and Amal, insisted on retaining hold of the key Finance Ministry. Their insistence emerged after the U.S. administration slapped sanctions on two senior politicians close to Hezbollah, including the ex-finance minister.