Lebanon

BEIRUT, Feb 20 (NNN-NNA) – The Lebanese government, yesterday, condemned Israeli strikes on the Syrian capital, Damascus, which caused destruction and civilian casualties.

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement, denouncing the “attack on the sovereignty of Syria” and “violation of the most basic rules of international law,” said the report.

BEIRUT, Feb 11 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese Agriculture Minister, Abbas Hajj Hassan, said yesterday that, the intensified U.S. sanctions on Syria would not stand in the way of Lebanon’s efforts to provide humanitarian support for its neighbour.

The Lebanese government is “aware of the Caesar Act and its conditions, and it won’t stand in our way of going to Syria,” Hajj Hassan said, in a televised interview with Alghad TV.

He was referring to the U.S. legislation in 2019, that sanctions the Syrian government.

BEIRUT, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- A drastic decline in rain and snowfall this year is posing dire consequences to Lebanon's agricultural livelihoods, Lebanese officials and experts have warned.

"The decline in rain and scarcity of snow are all factors that negatively affect the stock of ground and drinking water and the ability to irrigate crops and fruit trees and provide wild animals with their water and food needs," said Michel Afram, director general of the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institution.

BEIRUT (AP) — Most wealthy Gulf Arab nations followed Saudi Arabia’s lead in recent years and ostracized crisis-hit Lebanon because of the growing influence of the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. The exception was Qatar.

Doha has been silently expanding its influence in Lebanon. It continued receiving Lebanese leaders and pumped tens millions of dollars into helping the country’s armed forces amid a historic economic meltdown.

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.