Lebanon

BEIRUT, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday urged the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to intervene in Israel's violations of the country's airspace.

The prime minister's remarks came during his meeting at the Grand Serail with Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, head of UNIFIL, a day after the peacekeeping mission marked the 44th anniversary of its establishment, the Council of Ministers said in a statement.

17 March 2022; MEMO: Lebanon is gearing up for parliamentary elections on 15 May following the closure of candidate registration for the vote this week, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The polls will be the first since the Arab country was rocked by popular protests in 2019 on the back of economic deterioration and energy shortages.

So far, 1043 candidates have submitted their applications to run for parliamentary seats, with women making up 15 per cent of the candidates, with 155 hopefuls.

17 March 2022; MEMO: Raja Salameh, the brother of the Head of Lebanon's Central Bank, was arrested on Thursday, following his interrogation at a courthouse east of Beirut, Judge Ghada Aoun told Reuters.

Reuters reports that a judicial source separately said that Aoun had charged Salameh with "complicity in illicit enrichment" that also involved his brother, Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh.

Riad Salameh has not been charged with a crime. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

BEIRUT, Mar 17 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanon’s cabinet approved an electricity reform plan yesterday, a critical step in addressing the country’s financial crisis, according to a statement by the Council of Ministers, or Lebanon’s cabinet.

The plan includes the construction of new power plants and the establishment of an electricity regulatory authority in 2022, as requested by western donors and the World Bank.

BEIRUT, Mar 17 (NNN-NNA) – An official Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for Lebanon, revealed yesterday that, 53.1 percent of the country’s residents are poor and 16.2 percent categorised as extremely poor.

Issued by the Central Administration for Statistics and the World Bank, the index is derived from 19 indicators across five dimensions, including education, health, financial security/well-being, basic infrastructure and living standards.

15 March 2022; MEMO: Lebanon's prime minister announced on Monday that he does not plan to stand as a candidate in the parliamentary election scheduled for May. Najib Mikati said in a televised speech that he wishes to allow the new generation to speak and define its options through the election, and he called upon Lebanese citizens to turn out to vote, calling the process a "national duty" which should not be neglected.

13 March 2022; MEMO: Before Lebanon's devastating financial crisis struck, Faraj Faraj thought university could set him on a path out of a cramped family home in a poor area of Beirut and towards financial independence, Reuters reports.

Instead, like increasing numbers of Lebanon's young people, soaring costs forced the 19-year-old to drop out of studying just over a year ago, before he had finished secondary school.

BEIRUT, March 13 (Reuters) - Before Lebanon's devastating financial crisis struck, Faraj Faraj thought university could set him on a path out of a cramped family home in a poor area of Beirut and towards financial independence.

Instead, like increasing numbers of Lebanon's young people, soaring costs forced the 19-year-old to drop out of studying just over a year ago, before he had finished secondary school.

BEIRUT, Mar 12 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanon, yesterday, banned the export of more than 20 food items manufactured in the country, in light of the escalating food shortage, exacerbated by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, according to a statement by Lebanon’s Industry Ministry.

Food items such as meat, processed vegetables and fruits, dairy goods, milled grain products, sugar, bread, coffee beans and tea are all prohibited from being exported, the statement reads.

BEIRUT, Mar 11 (NNN-NNA) – A Lebanese judge, yesterday issued travel bans, against the heads of the boards of five big Lebanese banks.

Ghada Aoun issued the bans against Salim Sfeir of the Bank of Beirut, Samir Hanna of Bank Audi, Antoun Sehnaoui of SGBL, Saad Azhari of BLOM Bank, and Raya Hassan of Bankmed.

Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister, Saade Chami, said a day earlier that, a hole in Lebanon’s financial system is expected to grow to 73 billion U.S. dollars, and losses in the central bank reserve will increase as the country’s financial crisis remains unaddressed.