Category: Daily News

Running Water Shortages in Beirut, Mount Lebanon
According to L’Orient Today, “Running water is completely cut off in the localities of Metn, the Beirut neighborhoods of Tallet el-Khayat and Bourj Abi Haidar, and in Bourj Hammoud at the northern entrance of the capital, the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Water Authority announced in a Friday statement. The cutoffs are reportedly due to a lack of electricity since midnight Wednesday.” [L’Orient Today]

Minister of Interior Assures Upcoming Municipal Elections Will Not Be Postponed for a Second Time
Caretaker Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Bassam Mawlawi, publicized the Ministry’s intention to hold the postponed municipal elections – deciding the leadership for municipalities and the makhateer – on May 31st, 2023, after last year’s polling become postponed due to electricity supply and diaspora voting considerations, among other reasons.  [L’Orient Today]

Anchored Sea Vessels Awaiting Unload Costing Treasury Millions Amid Internal Fuel Dispute
According to LBC International, “Three unloaded vessels have been anchored at sea for ten days, awaiting written approval to unload and transfer the amount, costing the treasury millions due to political vendettas. From two weeks ago until today, we have witnessed a legal dispute over buying fuel for Électricité du Liban. The two parties are competing: the Caretaker Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance on the one hand, and the Ministry of Energy on the other, amid disagreement as to whether the matter requires holding a cabinet session or can be passed by a decree to be settled later.” [LBCI]

French Armed Forces Minister Visited Lebanon on Behalf of President Macron
Sebastien Lecornu, the French Minister of the Armed Forces, under the direction of President Emmanuel Macron, visited Lebanon last week as part of an ongoing cooperation program between France and Lebanon to optimize the LAF’s capabilities and support the peacekeeping operations of the UN. Minister Lecornu visited the French contingent of UNIFIL in addition to holding meetings with Lebanese officials including Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, LAF Commander Joseph Aoun, and caretaker Minister of Defense Maurice Sleem. [The National]

“The 2022 Arab Opinion Index is the eighth in a series of public opinion surveys across the Arab world conducted by Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, Qatar. The 2022 Arab Opinion Index is based on the findings from face-to-face interviews conducted between June and December 2022 with 33,300 individual respondents in 14 Arab countries: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Tunisia. Sampling followed a randomized, stratified, multi-stage, self-weighted clustered approach, giving an overall margin of error between +/- 2 % and 3% for the individual country samples. The overall samples guarantee probability-proportional-to-size (PPS), ensuring fairness in the representation of various population segments. With an aggregate sample size of 33,300 respondents, the Arab Opinion Index remains the largest public opinion survey in the Arab world. The fieldwork was carried out by an overall team of 920 individuals, equally balanced by gender, who conducted 72,000 hours of face-to-face interviews. The team covered a total of 890,000 kilometers (approximately 553,000 miles) across the population clusters sampled.”

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Lebanese Military Tribunal Charges Seven Suspects in UNIFIL Attack
According to AP News, “Lebanon’s military tribunal on Thursday charged seven suspects in last month’s attack that killed an Irish peacekeeper when a group of armed local residents ambushed his convoy and opened fire, officials said.” [AP News]

Striking Judges Reportedly to Resume Work Gradually
According to L’Orient Today, “Having been on strike since mid-August 2022 to demand a readjustment of their salaries, Lebanese judges will resume their activities gradually, a source at the Judges’ Club confirmed Thursday to L’Orient-Le Jour. However, this source did not give a precise date for the judges’ resumption of work [following a general assembly on Dec. 28, which resulted in promises of new financial aid from the judges’ mutual fund — a decision endorsed by the Ministry of Finance].” [L’Orient Today]

Families of Port Explosion Victims Threaten to Take ‘Severe Measures’ Next Week
According to L’Orient Today, “Gathered under the Statue of the Emigrant near the port of Beirut on Wednesday, approximately 30 relatives of the victims of the Aug. 4 blast threatened to take “severe measures” next week, while Lebanon’s investigation into the tragedy remains stalled due to political interference.” [L’Orient Today]

International Dialogue Concerning Lebanese President Unconfirmed, Ongoing
According to Naharnet, “Paris attempts to help Lebanon elect a president are ongoing, diplomatic sources in Paris said, adding that they see no breakthrough on the horizon. The sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper, in remarks published Thursday, that there are no signs of a breakthrough in the presidential file in light of the existing divergence between the politicians.” [Naharnet]

Houssari writes, “Lebanon’s only functioning power plant has been shut down as a result of a worsening political dispute between caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the rival Free Patriotic Movement, which controls the country’s energy ministry. The closure threatens to plunge Lebanon into almost complete darkness. Electricite du Liban, known as EDL, urged the authorities to solve the issue by opening the necessary credits to unload fuel ships after a row over advanced payments led to a delay in gas oil shipments. The company’s plea came as a shortage of gas oil, the fuel used to power the plants, forced it to shut down the Al-Zahrani site. EDL also said that about 6,000 tons of fuel left in the Deir Ammar power plant could only be used for general maintenance work for the installation’s steam turbine. A political source said that a settlement is unlikely amid the deepening political dispute, with further government paralysis and threats to other essential services a growing possibility. FPM ministers have overseen the Ministry of Energy since 2009.”

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Assaf writes, “European judges are slated to arrive in Beirut next week to investigate financial malpractice involving Banque du Liban (BDL) governor Riad Salameh. The scheduled visit is sparking controversy among local judicial circles. While some pundits consider the investigation to be legal in the sense that it falls within the framework of the United Nations Convention against Corruption — which Lebanon joined in 2009 — others deem it an encroachment on Lebanese sovereignty. The visit was announced by AFP last week via a judicial official who said delegations composed of prosecutors, investigating judges, and financial prosecutors from France, Germany, and Luxembourg, are scheduled to land in Beirut between Jan. 9 and 20, to investigate embarrassment, illicit enrichment, and money laundering claims. According to the same official, the competent authorities of the three countries have informed Lebanon’s chief prosecutor, Ghassan Oueidate, that the investigations will concern BDL officials and bank managers, in addition to Salameh. A source close to Oueidat’s office, who wished to remain anonymous, told L’Orient-Le Jour that the European magistrates’ initiative is in line with the mutual legal assistance decreed by the UN Convention.” 

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US Ambassador to Lebanon Nominated to Deputy Representative of the US to the UN
Yesterday, President Biden announced key nominations for various positions to be confirmed by the Congress, including current US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, for the positions of Deputy Representative of the US to the United Nations. Naharnet reports that “According to Lebanon’s MTV, a successor to Shea as U.S. ambassador to Lebanon is yet to be appointed.” [Naharnet] 

European Investigators to Visit Lebanon This Month on Salameh File
According to Reuters, “European investigators will visit Lebanon in January as part of a cross-border probe into alleged fraud by Lebanese central bank governor Riad Salameh to the detriment of the Lebanese state, three judicial sources said. French, German and Luxembourg judicial officials and investigators will participate in the trip, which aims to move forward the corruption probe into Salameh first initiated by Swiss authorities in 2021.” [Reuters]

LAF, UN Peacekeepers Rescue 200 Migrants Departing Lebanon 
According to AP News, “Lebanon’s navy and U.N. peacekeepers on Saturday rescued more than 200 migrants from a boat sinking in the Mediterranean Sea hours after it left northern Lebanon’s coast, the military said in a statement. Two migrants were killed in the incident.” [AP News]

Al-Zahrani Power Plant Halts Operations Amid Fuel Shortages  
According to LBC International, “Lebanon’s only active power plant in al-Zahrani has halted operation due to gas and oil shortage, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by Électricité du Liban (EDL) . . . EDL clarified that its announcement is directly correlated with the fact that no fuel shipment arrived during December 2022, according to the Iraqi fuel exchange agreement signed between the states of Lebanon and Iraq.” [LBC]

Houssari writes, “Millions of people across Lebanon gathered in markets, restaurants and nightlife venues on Saturday to welcome in the new year. But despite the good cheer and optimism, 2022 was a difficult time for most people in the country and the outlook for 2023 remains gloomy. Arab News spoke to intellectuals, academics and activists to get their views on what lies in store for the year ahead.”

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Delegation from Hezbollah Formally Visits Maronite Patriarch al-Rai
According to L’Orient Today, “A Hezbollah delegation called for ‘compromise’ on choosing Lebanon’s next president, following a meeting on Monday with Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai and as the country surpasses two months with no head of state.” [L’Orient Today] Hezbollah is considered to be a terrorist organization by the United States. 

Al Jadeed HQ Target of Armed Attack
According to L’Orient Today, “Unknown people fired bullets on the Al Jadeed television station in Beirut’s Moseitbeh neighborhood Friday morning, the station said, in the third such non-lethal attack this week following a controversial comedy sketch implying sexual relations between southern Lebanese women and foreign UNIFIL peacekeepers.” [L’Orient Today]

Sunni Grand Mufti Comments on Presidential Vacancy, Decries Threat to Muslims and Christians Alike
According to Naharnet, “Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan on Tuesday called for ‘finalizing the presidential election as soon as possible,’ warning that ‘the country and citizens can no longer bear this vacuum that is destroying all of the state’s pillars . . . ‘Presidential vacuum is a rejected and dangerous thing and it threatens Muslims and Christians in their country that is built on the basis of the culture of citizenship and coexistence,’ the mufti warned.” [Naharnet]

Former Assistant Secretary of State Comments on Presidential Vacancy in Interview
According to L’Orient Today, “Former US Middle East diplomat David Schenker expects Lebanese Army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun to become the country’s next president ‘in the next three or four months,’ he told local news outlet Asas Media.” [L’Orient Today]

Issam Fares Institute of AUB Hosts Conference on Genocide, Political Violence
Last December, the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) held a hybrid conference in collaboration with the Armenian General Benevolent Union Lebanon and Lepsius Haus Potsdam on the occasion of the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. IFI Executive Director Joseph Bahout said, “This is the sixth conference that we hold around the same thematic of genocide, justice, memory, remembrance, reparation, and other very painful issues . . . we have started to build an intellectual and conceptual coherence around a very important theme, not only politically but intellectually and conceptually on how to think about past wounds and traumas, and how to treat them politically and historically . . . without [which], there can’t be a peaceful present nor a peaceful future.” [NNA]

Humud writes, “The Biden Administration’s FY2023 budget request states that UNIFIL’s ‘most effective functions, including its liaison mechanism and patrols along the Blue Line, will provide value even as Hizballah impedes the mission’s freedom of movement and restricts access, preventing full implementation of UNIFIL’s mandate.’ The August 2022 resolution reauthorizing UNIFIL’s mandate (UNSCR 2650) reiterated that, per the 1995 status of forces agreement between Lebanon and the United Nations, ‘UNIFIL does not require prior authorization or permission to undertake its mandated tasks and … is authorized to conduct its operation independently.’ The language reportedly is intended to counter what UNIFIL has described as ‘misinformation’ among some residents that UNIFIL is not authorized to patrol without the presence of the LAF. A 2020 U.N. Secretary-General assessment of UNIFIL (S/2020/473) stated that in some instances, the local population hindered UNIFIL patrols unless they were accompanied by the LAF. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah described the resolution as a ‘violation of Lebanese sovereignty.’ UNSCR 2650 also extended for an additional six months a provision contained in UNSCR 2591 (2021) authorizing UNIFIL to take ‘temporary and special measures’ to assist the LAF by providing food, fuel, medicine, and logistical support.”

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McDonough writes, “A new public opinion poll of Lebanese citizens, commissioned by the Washington Institute and conducted by a regional commercial firm in November 2022, reaffirms ongoing frustrations amidst the country’s political and economic crises. Responses reveal an increased interest in international connections as pessimism on regional issues grows . . . This analysis is based on findings from a personal interview-survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,000 Lebanese citizens, conducted in November 2022 by a highly experienced, independent regional commercial company. The sampling was done according to standard geographical probability procedures, yielding a statistical margin of error of 3%. Strict quality controls and assurances of confidentiality were provided throughout. Full results can be viewed on The Washington Institute’s interactive polling data platform. Additional methodological details, including demographic breaks and other relevant information, are readily available on request.”

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Reports of Int’l Meeting Concerning Lebanese President
According to Naharnet, “Informed sources have told al-Akhbar that France is still trying to involve Saudi Arabia in the Lebanese details, while the latter is still refusing to discuss candidate names . . . The Saudis and the Americans are not interested in the Lebanese file, despite the French and Qatari initiative, the daily said.” [Naharnet]

PM Mikati Delivers Statement Affirming Need for Reforms
According to Naharnet, “Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday that sweeping reforms remain vital to rescue the stricken economy, despite a return to modest growth this year.” [Naharnet]

Constitutional Council Rejects Two Appeals of Invalidation Regarding Parliamentary Elections
According to L’Orient Today, “The Constitutional Council rejected on Thursday the last two appeals to invalidate the results of the May 2022 parliamentary elections, the National news agency reported, citing the president of the council, Tannous Mechleb. The first rejected appeal is that of Jad Ghosn (Charbel Nahas list) against Razi al-Hage (Lebanese Forces) and Hagop Pakradounian (Tashnag), in Metn (Mount Lebanon II). Ghosn obtained more preferential votes than Hage, but his list did not reach the electoral coefficient needed to be elected. The second was the appeal submitted by Haidar Issa (Free Patriotic Movement) against Ahmad Rustom (pro-Future Movement) for an Alawite seat in Akkar (North Lebanon I).” [L’Orient Today]

AbiNader writes, “We all have our stories of Lebanon during the holiday season – at least of the end of year celebrations. My first visit was in 1974 as I was returning to Lebanon from North Yemen (at the time), having served as Peace Corps Training Director in Sanaa. And I thought New York knew how to show off during the holidays! Lights, music, comradery, and a waning feeling of better days to come – despite the growing presence of refugees in the country – were the hallmarks of the season, regardless of affiliation.” 

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“The first parliamentary elections since the beginning of the financial crisis and the October 2019 uprising; the end of Michel Aoun’s mandate; a cholera outbreak; the national currency’s continued depreciation …. For more than three years now, Lebanon has been careening down a treacherous slope of economic and social crisis, and the balance sheet of the past year unfortunately does not inspire any reasonable hope that the downward trend is about to, finally, be reversed. Despite the many political changes that could have allowed for a renewal in the country, Lebanon is facing an unprecedented situation at the end of 2022: a dual executive-level power vacuum in the absence of both a president and a fully empowered government. In this context of political procrastination, no major reforms have been embarked upon by those in charge, while at the same time the injustices in the country continue to thrive.”

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Suspects in UNIFIL Fatality Identified
According to L’Orient Today, “Lebanese security services have identified suspects in an attack on UN soldiers that left one peacekeeper dead, a judicial source told AFP on Thursday, adding that the soldiers were chased by gunmen.” [L’Orient Today]

Arab League Secretary General Urges Election of President
According to Naharnet, “Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said Thursday that Lebanon can not bear a presidential vacuum and that the league is willing to play its role in a Lebanese dialogue. During the Arab Economic Forum in Beirut, Abul Gheit considered that the way to recovery is by electing a new president and making reforms, urging parties to rise above the divisions and to prioritize Lebanon’s interests.” [Naharnet]

Analysis on Remittances During the Holiday Season
According to AP News, “Lebanon will receive roughly $6.8 billion in remittances this year, up from almost $6.4 billion in 2021, as they continue to be a core component of the country’s shrinking and battered economy. The World Bank estimates they are worth almost 38% of the country’s gross domestic product. Apart from the remittances sent from abroad, many of the diaspora return during the holiday season, bringing with them much-needed cash dollars.” [AP News]

AbiNader writes, “We all have our stories of Lebanon during the holiday season – at least of the end of year celebrations. My first visit was in 1974 as I was returning to Lebanon from North Yemen (at the time), having served as Peace Corps Training Director in Sanaa. And I thought New York knew how to show off during the holidays! Lights, music, comradery, and a waning feeling of better days to come – despite the growing presence of refugees in the country – were the hallmarks of the season, regardless of affiliation.” 

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Hamadi writes, “In the span of a decade, Lebanon’s median household income is now roughly a quarter of what it once was. The report, based on a survey of 1,209 households conducted between November 2021 and January 2022, underlines the depths to which Lebanon has sunk amid a three-year economic crisis that the World Bank has called one of the worst globally since the mid-19th century. What does it mean to live with a decimated income? How are people getting by? L’Orient Today interviewed three different people to understand how their lives have changed since the beginning of the crisis.”

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Former Ambassador David Hale Interviewed by L’Orient Today
In a L’Orient Today interview,  former US Ambassador to Lebanon, Ambassador David Hale, said, “Without the election of a president, the legislation on key reforms, so far pending, cannot be realized . . . Only the Lebanese leaders can make things happen . . . Even if a presidential vacancy is bad, electing the ‘wrong president’ would be worse.” [L’Orient Today]

Medicines and Baby Milk in Limited Supply Amid Recent Surge of Lira Rate
According to Naharnet, “The head of the Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon, Joe Salloum, warned Wednesday that the dramatic surge in the dollar exchange rate on the black market has led to ‘a near-complete halt of the delivery of medicines and baby milk to pharmacies’.” [Naharnet]

Corniche al-Nahr Branch of Crédit Libanais Bank Site of Scuffle
According to L’Orient Today, “A scuffle broke out on Tuesday in a branch of the Crédit Libanais bank in Corniche al-Nahr, Beirut, during an action led by a depositor, accompanied by activists, to recover his blocked savings from the bank, the Cry of the Depositors group confirmed to L’Orient-Le Jour.” [L’Orient Today]

AbiNader writes, “We all have our stories of Lebanon during the holiday season – at least of the end of year celebrations. My first visit was in 1974 as I was returning to Lebanon from North Yemen (at the time), having served as Peace Corps Training Director in Sanaa. And I thought New York knew how to show off during the holidays! Lights, music, comradery, and a waning feeling of better days to come – despite the growing presence of refugees in the country – were the hallmarks of the season, regardless of affiliation.” 

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Khatlab writes, “Joseph Ibrahim Nehmeh, like many other people born in Mount Lebanon, left his homeland for Rio de Janeiro at the end of the 18th century.”

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Lebanon Receives $8.86 Million from World Bank for Waste Management
According to L’Orient Today, “The World Bank awarded an $8.86 million grant to Lebanon on Tuesday to launch a project on waste management. The grant announcement comes as Lebanon continues to struggle with an unprecedented economic crisis and against the backdrop of the yearslong mishandling of waste management in the country.” [L’Orient Today]

French Foreign Minister Urges Speedy Election of President
According to Naharnet, “French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Tuesday urged the ‘speedy election’ of a president in Lebanon and the formation of a new government to ‘carry out badly needed reforms’.” [Naharnet]

UK Removes Travel Warnings to Most of Lebanon
According to the National, “The UK has updated its travel advice to Lebanon, removing advice ‘against all but essential travel’ for much of the country . . . Whereas earlier the country map on the UK Foreign Office website was coloured entirely yellow or red, much of Lebanon is now shaded in green. [The National]

Lebanese Lira Breaks 45,000 LL to 1 USD on Black Market
According to L’Orient Today, “The Lebanese lira broke a new depreciation record on the parallel market Tuesday, while the authorities have still not adopted reforms to curb the economic and financial crisis that has paralyzed the country since 2019.” [L’Orient Today]

AbiNader writes, “We all have our stories of Lebanon during the holiday season – at least of the end of year celebrations. My first visit was in 1974 as I was returning to Lebanon from North Yemen (at the time), having served as Peace Corps Training Director in Sanaa. And I thought New York knew how to show off during the holidays! Lights, music, comradery, and a waning feeling of better days to come – despite the growing presence of refugees in the country – were the hallmarks of the season, regardless of affiliation.” 

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Kanaan writes, “In many secular, Lebanese Christian and other faith households alike, Christmas occupies a special place: Christmas lights wrap around trees, lighting up streets lined with nativity scenes. A Christmas tree lights up a room, loved ones exchange gifts, and feasts shared among people often lead to a food-induced coma. The country’s Christmas traditions are as varied as they are festive, from seasonal treats to widespread religious customs.”

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Top Ranking Senators Menendez, Risch Urge Biden Administration to Levy More Sanctions Against Corrupt Lebanese Financial and Political Elite
According to L’Orient Today, “The two top-ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the US Senate urged the Biden administration to levy more sanctions against Lebanon’s financial and political elite who are engaging in corruption and undermining the rule of law.” [L’Orient Today]

LAF, UNIFIL Hold Joint Memorial for Irish Peacekeeper
According to AP News, “The Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers held a memorial at the Beirut airport on Sunday for an Irish soldier killed by a mob that opened fire last week at two vehicles belonging to the U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. The attack that killed 24 year-old Pvt. Seán Rooney of Newtowncunningham took place near the southern town of Al-Aqbiya on Wednesday night, as he and seven other Irish peacekeepers from U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL, were on their way to the Beirut airport.” [AP News]

US Court of Appeals Determines Depositors’ Cases Against Lebanese Banks Can Be Tried in US Jurisdictions
According to Reuters, “The court decision, issued on Thursday in a case brought by Lebanese depositors against leading lender Bank Audi, overturned a federal district court’s decision that said Beirut courts had ‘exclusive jurisdiction’ to try cases against Lebanese banks.” [Reuters]

PM Mikati Alludes to Ongoing International ‘Presidency Solution’ In Preparation
According to Naharnet, “Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati revealed Monday that foreign countries are ‘preparing’ a solution for the Lebanese presidential crisis [but clarified that ‘things take time’].” [Naharnet]

Prison Break in Jib Jenin, Bekaa – Twenty Six Prisoners Escape
According to L’Orient Today, “Twenty-six prisoners in Jib Jenin prison, in Western Bekaa, escaped through a ventilation opening, L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the Bekaa reported on Monday. Security forces managed to capture one of the escapees Monday morning, a security source said, adding that the army’s intelligence services in the Bekaa later arrested seven more.” [L’Orient Today]

Azhari and Madi write, “Lebanon’s economic meltdown, now in its fourth year, has seen the currency lose more than 95% of its value and left eight in 10 Lebanese poor, according to the United Nations. With foreign currency coffers dwindling, the state has already lifted subsidies on fuel and most medication. Hiking the rate at which the customs fee is calculated, officials say, will boost state revenues and is a step towards unifying various exchange rates . . . The tariff jump came into effect on Dec 1. Import taxes began being calculated at an exchange rate of 15,000 Lebanese pounds per dollar instead of the old 1,507, meaning traders suddenly had to pay much more to bring in products like home appliances, telephones or car parts. That is set to pile even more financial pressure on people struggling to make ends meet.”

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Alameddine, Abdallah, and Hallak write, “For parents who are mentally or financially drained by Lebanon’s economic crisis, maintaining Christmas traditions is no easy feat . . .This Christmas resonates differently for most Lebanese families. While the country is in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis, some parents are doing their best to communicate the holiday spirit to their children despite the fact that their lives have changed drastically over the past three years.”

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PM Mikati Visits Naqoura, Vows Punishment on Those Who Killed UNIFIL Soldier
According to Reuters, “Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said on Friday that those responsible for the killing of an Irish soldier on a U.N. peacekeeping mission two days ago ‘will be punished’.” [Reuters] LAF Commander in Chief General Joseph Aoun was also present at the UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura. 

UN Secretary General Condemns Attack 
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in a statement said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the death of Seán Rooney, a UNIFIL soldier of Irish nationality who served in Southern Lebanon. Guterres called for a, “swift investigation by relevant authorities to determine the facts related to the incident and the need for accountability.” [Naharnet]

Mikati Meets with Select Ministers
According to L’Orient Today, “A meeting of 20 ministers took place on Friday at the Grand Serail in Beirut, chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, to decide on a ‘mechanism’ to continue the management of current affairs in the absence of a president.” [L’Orient Today]

Minister of Transport and Public Works Tests Soon to Be Launched Buses Donated From France
According to L’Orient Today, “Caretaker Minister of Transport and Public Works Ali Hamiyeh participated in a Friday test session of buses donated to Lebanon by France and announced that some of them will be put into service as soon as Monday.” [L’Orient Today]

AbiNader writes, “More than half of the country’s professional healthcare staff have chosen to emigrate, if they have not done so already, seeking better earnings so that they may feed their families and send their children to school. This has been the situation since the Beirut Port blast and the economic implosion that has left Lebanon dependent on international aid and remittances from overseas. Even if the government begins a process of paying its arrears, most hospitals are refusing to admit patients knowing that the country is bankrupt and neither the availability nor affordability of medical care will change soon.”

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Atallah writes, “Inara, an international charity, is organising a concert that features children affected by war.”

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