Lebanon

BEIRUT, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday called for the election of a new president for Lebanon within the constitutional time frame before President Michel Aoun's tenure ends on Oct. 31, a statement by the Council of Ministers reported.

"I hope that the parliament succeeds in electing a new president for the country within the constitutional time frame because the challenges facing Lebanon require a strong cooperation among constitutional institutions," Mikati said at a Beirut forum to discuss difficulties facing Lebanon's youth.

3 October 2022; MEMO: A Lebanese depositor withdrew his savings by force from a bank in Beirut on Monday, according to a banking association, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The Association of Depositors said, on Twitter, that the depositor stormed a Blom Bank branch in Haret Hreik in the southern suburb of Beirut and "retrieved his savings".

The Association shared a video of the bank holdup on its Twitter page.

3 October 2022; MEMO: Lebanon will send its comments on a US proposal to delineate its maritime border with long-time foe, Israel, to the American official mediating talks by Tuesday, a top Lebanese official said on Monday, Reuters reports.

Deputy Parliament Speaker, Elias Bou Saab, said the Lebanese government would not respond to the proposal officially until US Envoy, Amos Hochstein, responded to its concerns, which it expected him to do by the end of the week.

BEIRUT, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's Ministry of Economy and Trade launched Monday a UN-supported plan to reboot the country's ailing economy.

The plan, with support from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), identified short-term actions in three key sectors, namely agribusiness, tourism, and the digital economy, to "initiate recovery by rapidly generating employment opportunities and additional income," said an ESCWA statement.

BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon on Saturday delivered a maritime border demarcation proposal to President Michel Aoun, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker Nabih Berri on Saturday, as negotiations with Israel progress.

Lebanon and Israel have been officially at war since Israel’s creation in 1948 and both countries claim some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea.

BEIRUT, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese parliament on Thursday failed to elect a new president for Lebanon to replace incumbent President Michel Aoun when his term ends on Oct. 31.

The first round of voting was attended by 122 parliament members, with 36 votes for Michel Mouawad, 11 for Salim Edde, 63 blank votes, and 12 uncounted votes.

A second round didn't take place because the session lost the quorum.

Parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said he would call for another session once a consensus is reached on a presidential candidate.

29 Sep 2022; MEMO: Meeting in the capital, Beirut, Lebanon's Parliament on Thursday failed to elect a new president, threatening to deepen the country's continuing crises, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Candidate, Michel Mouawad, backed by the Lebanese Forces Party, failed to get the necessary votes to win the post, and pushed to hold another voting session, according to local media.

Current President Michel Aoun's six-year term ends on 31 October.

BOURJ HAMMOUD, Lebanon (AP) — Jihad Michlawi, 31, has struggled to makes ends meet as a chef in crisis-hit Beirut. The Palestinian had never considered taking a perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe until friends who successfully did so convinced him.

Now, he’s one of dozens of survivors from a capsized migrant boat that left Tripoli, Lebanon last week heading toward Italy carrying some 150 Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians.

27 Sep 2022; MEMO: Lebanon's first grain shipment from Ukraine under the Istanbul grain export deal arrived in the port of Tripoli yesterday, Anadolu news agency reported.

Ukrainian Ambassador Ihor Ostosh said, during the reception held to receive the ship, that Kyiv seeks to prevent a food crisis despite the negative impact of the Russian invasion.

26 Sep 2022; MEMO: Lebanon's Parliament passed the 2022 budget on Monday, using an exchange rate for customs tax revenues that lies far below the market value of the Lebanese pound, falling short of economic reform measures that would pave the way for an IMF deal, Reuters reports.

An agreement with the lender of last resort is seen as a first crucial step for Lebanon to begin exiting a three-year financial implosion that has left most people poor and plunged the country into its worst crisis since the 1975-90 Civil War.