DAILY NEWS
Brazil Donates Four Thousand Tons of Rice to Lebanon
At a market value of $2 million USD, Lebanon received the first batch of a 4 million kilo donation of rice from Brazil. According to MTV, “The transportation of this rice from warehouses of the Brazilian National Supply Company to the port of Beirut was arranged through a partnership of the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations’ Cooperation Agency (ABC) with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).” [MTV]
Families of Port Explosion Victims Call for Investigation to Continue
In a rally outside the Palace of Justice on Thursday, families of the victims of the August 4th Beirut Port Explosion urged the court to take a decision regarding the recusal lawsuits that are currently obstructing the investigation into the blast. [Naharnet]
Cabinet Approves Draft 2022 Budget
Following today’s session of cabinet, Prime Minister Najib Mikati confirmed that the 2022 draft budget has been approved and now must be voted on in Lebanese parliament. Speaking in a press conference, Mikati said, “this is the first step towards recovery, the budget is a demand from the International Monetary Fund but it is also an internal need . . . We are facing big challenges as we can’t secure foreign financing anymore like we used to, so we have to reach an IMF deal to secure foreign financing.” [L’Orient Today] He added, commenting on the negotiations with the IMF, that “the economic recovery plan is not easy…We think it is a difficult process, a Kamikaze operation.” [Reuters]
OPINION & ANALYSIS
Al-Monitor
Egypt Plans To Export Gas To Lebanon By End Of February
Hagar Hosny
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the American Task Force on Lebanon, a non-profit, nonpartisan leadership organization of Lebanese-Americans.