Lebanon

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.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese army retirees scuffled with parliamentary guard troops as they briefly broke through a cordon leading to Parliament in downtown Beirut during a rally Monday. They were protesting their decimated monthly pay amid the country’s economic meltdown.

The troops managed to push the crowd back and fired teargas, forcing the elderly retirees to turn away from the street. After a short while, they gathered nearby to continue their protest and demand higher pay. They later dispersed.

NAHR EL-BARED, Lebanon (AP) — Thousands of Palestinians held prayers on a small soccer field in a refugee camp in northern Lebanon on Saturday, to mourn one of the scores of migrants who died after their boat sank off Syria’s coast this week, even as others vowed to undertake the same perilous voyage.

BEIRUT (AP) — The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said the Lebanese government’s slowness to implement desperately-needed reforms was exacerbating the country’s economic meltdown, even as officials met to discuss an urgent and long-delayed bailout.

The IMF statement followed a three-day visit to Beirut of the fund’s representatives to discuss with Lebanese officials the implementation of reforms drawn up under a staff-level agreement between the two sides in April.

21 Sep 2022; MEMO: The head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, said Saudi Arabia is ready to support Lebanon on the condition that there is a trustworthy president and government.

Geagea, who met with the Saudi Ambassador to Beirut, Walid Al-Bukhari, wrote on Twitter that they had discussed the upcoming presidential elections, adding that the only salvation for Lebanon is its "Arab depth", and "adhering to the constitution".

BEIRUT, Sept 20 (NNN-NNA) – The Lebanese pound, yesterday, sank to a new historic low against the U.S. dollar, on the parallel market, as the country continues to suffer from a steep financial crisis and political deadlock.

The exchange rate of the Lebanese pound declined to 39,000 against the dollar, down from the previous record low of 36,600 on Sept 13, Elnashra news website reported.

BEIRUT (AP) — Protesters scuffled with Lebanese security forces Monday outside the Justice Ministry in Beirut, demanding the release of two people arrested last week during a bank heist.

The clash came as a delegation from the International Monetary Fund held meetings in Beirut with officials over the country’s economic meltdown and the limited steps taken by the government to pull Lebanon out of the worst economic crisis in its modern history. The crisis is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement.