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France targets $357 mn at Lebanon aid conference

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by english.alaraby.co.uk -- France said on Monday a forthcoming conference on Lebanon needs to gather $357 million in aid to meet the most urgent needs of the battered country's population. The conference on Wednesday, co-hosted by President Emmanuel Macron and United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, coincides with the first anniversary of the blast that disfigured Beirut and killed more than 200 people. Former colonial power France has spearheaded international efforts to lift Lebanon out of crisis. A first conference in the immediate aftermath of the blast collected 280 million euros ($332 million at current rates). "The situation has worsened," Macron's office said on Monday.

Citing a UN estimate, his office said Lebanon's new needs amounted to $357 million and concerned food security, education, health and clean water supply. World powers have made much of their help conditional on Lebanon installing a government capable of tackling corruption. A local probe into the catastrophe has yet to yield significant arrests or even identify a culprit, with politicians widely accused of stalling progress. In the past year, Lebanon has plunged into political and financial crisis and on Monday newly designated prime minister Najib Mikati said there was no chance of a cabinet lineup by mid-week to coincide with the anniversary. The institutional vacuum is holding up a potential financial rescue plan for Lebanon, which defaulted on its debt last year and has since sunk into what the World Bank has described as one of the world's worst crises since the mid-19th century. Wednesday's conference is to tackle emergency needs only and will not be concerned with structural financial assistance, Macron's office said.

الرئيس ميشال سليمان: بين الأوّل من آب والرابع منه…

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Michel Suleiman - Wikipedia

By: https://www.annahar.com/

الأوّل من آب، يومٌ منير يَلْتَفُّ الشعب اللبناني فيه كلّ عام حول المؤسّسة العسكرية، كذلك يُعبّر المجتمع الدولي عن ثقته بهذه المؤسّسة لأنها جيش الوطن لا جيش النظام، جيش اللبنانيين لا جيش السياسيين وحصصهم، جيش القيَم الإنسانية الحضارية لا جيش السلطة "البوليسية" المُتَسَلّطة …

الرابع من آب، أصبح يوم الضمير! ويوم العِبرَة للجميع.

عِبرَة مُؤلِمة ودرسٌ قاسٍ، تعلّمنا منهما أن السبيل الأفضل لحماية الأرواح والأرض والمُلكِيّة هو في حسن تطبيق الدستور والقوانين وفي القيام بالواجبات المنصوص عليها على جميع المستويات، وفي السهر الدؤوب على رصدِ ومراقبة كلّ الأخطار المُحدقة بالوطن والشعب، دون أيّ إهمال !

"بين الأوّل من آب والرابع منه"… جامِعٌ مُشتَرَك يَتَظهّر بنَهرٍ من دماء التضحية الزكيّة، دماء شهادة العسكريين وتضحيات المواطنين، وكلّ من روى تراب الوطن في الضنّية ونهر البارد وفي المواجهات مع العدوّ الإسرائيلي، كما في الاغتيالات السياسية والعسكريّة وفي التفجيرات المُدمّرة، أمّا أفظعها لُبنانيًا وعالمِيًا فانفجار مرفأ بيروت، إرهابيَةً كانت أسبابه أم غير ذلك .

PM Designate Najib Mikati: . "Frankly, with regard to the government, I was hoping the pace would be faster,

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Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati [Spencer Platt/Getty Images]

by AFP -- Beirut: Lebanon’s newly designated prime minister Najib Mikati said Monday that a cabinet lineup would not be announced by mid-week to coincide with the anniversary of the deadly Beirut port blast. "Frankly, with regard to the government, I was hoping the pace would be faster," he said after meeting President Michel Aoun, whom he said he would now see again on Thursday. The government of Hassan Diab, who is still caretaker prime minister, resigned en masse days after the August 4 explosion that killed more than 200 people last year. Mikati, who has already been prime minister twice in the past and is also the country’s richest man, was designated on July 26 to form a government after Saad Hariri threw in the towel.

The Lebanese pound, which has lost more than 90% of its value in less than two years, weakened. Dollars were changing hands at a rate of around 20,000 pounds after Mikati spoke, compared to 19,200/19,300 before his comments, a dealer said.

Gunmen kill 2 at funeral for Hezbollah commander in Lebanon

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by saudigazette.com.sa -- BEIRUT — Five persons including an official of Hezbollah, the Lebanese branch, were killed in gunfire shooting in the coastal region of Khaldeh south of Beirut on Sunday, according to local media reports. The media reported that gunmen opened fire during the funeral of Ali Shibli, a Hezbollah member, who was shot dead in the area on Saturday. The attack on the funeral was followed with exchange of gunfire and rocket propelled grenades between followers of Hezbollah and armed locals. Shibli is known as owner of a mini market in Khaldeh and official of Hezbollah. His store was set afire a year ago when one of the locals was shot dead.

The Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Sunday that he had called on the army to take immediate measures to restore calm in Khaldeh area that witnessed armed clashed in the wake of the murder of a citizen on Saturday. In a statement, the presidency said the president followed up on the sorrowful security incidents in Khaldeh, south of Beirut, that led to the killing and wounding of some citizens. Aoun called for the arrest of the shooter and safeguarding the ,obedient of citizens. Meanwhile the Lebanese Army announced that its forces have intensified their deployment in Khaldeh. The army command warned that its forces will open fire on any armed man on road, or any person planning to shoot from any place. National News Agency reported earlier in the day that gunshots and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) were heard at Aaramoun and Khaldeh during the funeral of a Hezbollah official.

The Lebanese Army said on its Twitter account that it had deployed units to Khaldeh town to “control the situation” and restore calm. The Lebanese Army and the security source said gunfire was exchanged. Local media showed footage of heavy gunfire and fires blazing in buildings in the area. Several hours following the initial clashes, a senior official said tensions had calmed down. The Lebanese Army said it had arrested four people in connection with the clashes. Several political parties voiced concern over the incident as it continued to unfold, reflecting a country on edge amid fears it could escalate and compound Lebanon’s multiple crises amid a political vacuum. — Agencies

President Michel Sleiman: الجيش في الاول من آب هو دائماً الاول في " شرف "حماية لينان ونظامه الديمقراطي

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الجيش في الاول من آب هو دائماً الاول في " شرف "حماية لينان ونظامه الديمقراطي، الاول في "التضحية"والتصدي للارهاب ومناهضة العنصرية والتعصب، الاول في "وفائه" للانسان وحقوقه، الاول في صمته وصيانة حرية التعبير. في هذا الاحد ليبارك الله الجيش وقيادته ويحفظهم من الشرور والبلايا ليبقى السبّاق في تحمل المسؤوليات واخذ التحديات بصدر ه برحابة ورضى وشجاعة

Lebanese patients’ deaths due to medicine shortages ‘will become common’

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Importers of medicine and medical supplies in Lebanon requires BDL ‘to pay all outstanding payments for import companies.’ (Supplied)

By Najia Houssari - arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: A Lebanese child, Zahra Tleis, died on Friday, after being stung by a scorpion, and her family being unable to find an antidote to treat her, due to medicine shortages in the country. Some vital medicines can only now be found on the black market, but are sold at exorbitant prices. The director of Rafik Hariri Governmental Hospital, Dr. Firas Abiad, said “unfortunately, losing patients due to medicine shortages will become more common.” The head of the National Health Authority, Ismail Sukkarieh, revealed to Arab News that even treatments for dog bites were missing from shelves. “Such injections should be be available in large quantities in hospitals, and especially governmental hospitals, but have gone missing due to negligence and the medicine crisis.” Sukkariyeh said the Lebanese people “are paying the price for the irresponsibility of officials and the accumulation of ill-conceived, corrupt and scandalous policies.” He warned that the country will completely collapse if the situation persists.

Lebanon has been facing an economic collapse since 2019, described by the World Bank as “one of the world’s worst crises since the 1850s.” More than half of the population now lives under the poverty line as the local currency, the lira, has lost over 90 percent of its value against the US dollar. With the depletion of foreign currency reserves at the Lebanese central bank, the Banque du Liban (BDL) and delays in opening lines of credits for imports, the health sector has been facing increasing pressure and fuel shortages. The country’s electricity company, Electricité du Liban (EDL) has also been unable to provide power due to fuel shortages, and some regions have had to ration electricity for 22 hours a day. Owners of private generators have also been affected by the diesel and fuel crisis, and have resorted to rationing as well.

To combat shortages, Lebanese expats bring home suitcases full of medication

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by uk.news.yahoo.com -- Forget packing clothes, perfume, sweets and the other usual gifts. As Lebanon experiences a severe shortage of medication, many Lebanese expats going home for summer vacation are packing their suitcases full of medicine for their families and friends. Lebanon is still in the throes of an economic crisis, marked by the extreme devaluation of the Lebanese pound, which has led to unrest and shortages of essential goods. With pharmaceutical importers in debt to suppliers abroad and unable to open new lines of credit from the Bank of Lebanon, drug imports have been halted for more than a month. In protest of the shortages, a pharmacist association organised a nationwide general strike for several days in early July. To help alleviate the strain on their families and friends, Lebanese expats returning home for the summer have packed their suitcases with out-of-stock goods: essential medicines, first-aid supplies and even sanitary pads, as shown in photos posted on social networks.

Paulina Queralt, a singer living in France, made a call on social media asking any Lebanese expats heading to Beirut to take along a suitcase of medicine she prepared for a relative who was hospitalised after an accident. “I’m ready to pay for an extra suitcase,” she wrote in this tweet. However, Beirut-based journalist Anaïs Renevier warned expats against sending expired medications to clinics in Lebanon, saying: “Here, medicines are not recycled. This will create additional pollution.” ‘I had to bring three months’ worth of diabetes medication for my mother’ Jessy El Murr lives in the United Arab Emirates and travelled to Lebanon on July 20. The past few weeks, videos showing protesters breaking into warehouses filled with boxes of medication have been circulating on social media. The video below, posted on YouTube on July 7, shows activists in a medication warehouse in Tripoli, in northern Lebanon. They said they discovered boxes of medications – blood pressure pills, anti-inflammatory drugs and fever and cough medicines – that were out of stock at pharmacies. ‘In Lebanon, everything is in short supply: I even sent baby diapers and pacifiers’ Rima Tarabay, a psychologist, has started a solidarity drive initiative from Paris.