Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — Three years into a crippling financial crisis, Lebanon’s Central Bank on Wednesday set a new exchange rate that effectively devalued the country’s currency by 90% but did little to bridge the gap with the soaring black market rate.

The dramatic measure is meant to stabilize the free-falling Lebanese pound and eliminate the multiple exchange rates that currently exist, a key demand of the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package for Lebanon.

31 Jan 2023; MEMO: The money exchange shop in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley was buzzing with business. Cell phones pinged endlessly and employees shouted out various rates as customers flocked in carrying plastic bags of the crashing local currency to buy US dollars, Reuters reports.

"Welcome to the Wall Street of Lebanon," grinned the storefront's owner, a machine gun leaning on a rack behind him in case of a robbery.

BEIRUT, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese foreign ministry on Sunday condemned the recent deadly Israeli raid in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank.

The ministry said it held "Israel fully responsible for the escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories ... and the Gaza Strip, and the repeated violation of the sanctity of the holy mosque" in Jerusalem.

26 Jan 2023; MEMO: The Lebanese lira has fallen to a record low against the US dollar, it has been reported. The currency has lost more than 95 per cent of its value since the beginning of the country's economic crisis in 2019. On Wednesday, it hit a low of LL57,000 against the US dollar on the black market.

25 Jan 2023; MEMO: Lebanon's top Public Prosecutor, on Wednesday, charged the Beirut Port blast investigating judge and ordered the release of those detained in connection with the explosion, after rejecting the judge's surprise resumption of the probe, Reuters reports.

The moves by Ghassan Oweidat signal escalating opposition by Lebanon's ruling establishment to efforts by Judge Tarek Bitar to reopen the probe into the 4 August, 2020, blast that killed more than 220 people.

BEIRUT, Jan 25 (NNN-NNA) – Former Lebanese Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, and two former ministers, were charged with homicide with probable intent yesterday, over the Beirut port explosions in 2020, the local al-Jadeed TV reported.

Tarek Bitar, a Lebanese judge, tasked with investigating the Beirut port explosions, also charged Abbas Ibrahim, chief of Lebanese General Security, State Security director, Major General Tony Saliba, and former Lebanese army commander, Jean Kahwaji, in connection with the blasts.

23 Jan 2023; MEMO: The Judge investigating the 2020 Beirut port explosion has unexpectedly resumed his inquiry, more than a year after it was paralysed by political resistance to his attempts to interrogate top officials, Reuters reports.

The surprise decision was confirmed on Monday by several judicial sources, one of whom said Investigator, Judge Tarek Bitar, had issued new charges against eight senior and mid-ranking officials but did not identify them.

21 Jan 2023; MEMO: Facebook users who search for "Hassan Nasrallah", the head of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement now see a warning message about "Dangerous Individuals and Organisations" and are given the choice between continuing to their search results or cancelling the search.

BEIRUT, Jan 22 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanon said, it will immediately pay its dues to the UN operating budget to preserve the country’s voting rights in the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

“We have completed all the steps to pay the required amount to the UN. After contacting the prime minister and finance minister, it was found that the final payment process will be completed directly, in a way that preserves Lebanon’s voting rights in the UNGA,” Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

BEIRUT (AP) — A building collapsed in a neighborhood in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo early Sunday, killing at least 16 people, including one child, and injuring four others, state media reported.

The five-story building housing about 30 people is in the Sheikh Maksoud neighborhood under the control of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. It collapsed overnight, according to the report, after water leakages weakened the structure’s foundation.