Lebanon

10 April 2022; MEMO: Kuwait has vowed support to cash-strapped Lebanon, the Lebanese government said on Sunday, reported Anadolu Agency.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati received a phone call from Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah.

A statement issued by Mikati's office said Sheikh Ahmed said Kuwait "will spare no efforts to support Lebanon and help it to bounce back."

BEIRUT (AP) — Rising food prices as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine are increasing the risk of malnutrition of millions of children in the Middle East and North Africa, the U.N. children’s agency warned Thursday.

UNICEF added that families are struggling to put food on the table during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when observant Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset.

Countries in the Middle East and North Africa have been hard hit by wars and poverty and the coronavirus has only made things worse.

06 April 2022; MEMO: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are to offer support to Lebanon, whose government declared the state and its Central Bank was bankrupt earlier this week.

04 April 2022; MEMO: Lebanon as a State, and its Central Bank, has gone bankrupt, according to Deputy Prime Minister, Saadeh Al-Shami.

"The State has gone bankrupt as did the Banque du Liban, and the loss has occurred, and we will seek to reduce losses for the people," Al-Shami told the local Al-Jadeed channel.

He said the losses will be distributed among the State, the Banque du Liban, banks and depositors.

"There is no conflict of views about the distribution of losses," he added.

BEIRUT, Apr 5 (NNN-NNA) – The fourth Consultative Group (CG) meeting of the Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework (3RF), yesterday warned against an escalating humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, a statement by the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon reported.

The group emphasised the need for Lebanon to swiftly embark on a roadmap to exit this unfolding crisis, through an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a comprehensive economic stabilisation and recovery programme.

BEIRUT (AP) — Pope Francis will visit Lebanon in June, the president’s office said Tuesday, in an apparent show of support for the country experiencing an unprecedented economic meltdown.

Francis has held special prayers for Lebanon and has repeatedly said he plans to visit the small country since the economic meltdown began in October 2019.

BEIRUT, April 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi on Saturday urged the Lebanese government to work to rebuild the country's education system.

"For the future of Lebanon and its children, it is critical that the Lebanese government and all stakeholders work together to rebuild the education system," Rochdi said in a statement, noting that UN agencies have provided significant support.

BEIRUT, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has opened a general security academy in Lebanon to implement effective border and migration management policies, a statement by the United Nations reported on Thursday.

The General Security Academy for Training and Education and Cybersecurity aims to ensure that the Lebanese General Security and its partners have professional and well-trained personnel to implement effective border and migration management policies that respond to the rapidly changing needs, said the statement.

28 March 2022; MEMO: Lebanese Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, is a suspect in a case the European Union's criminal justice agency said, on Monday, had led to the freezing of some 120 million Euros ($132 million) of Lebanese assets, prosecutors in Germany said, and Reuters reports.

BEIRUT (AP) — Layal Aswad was already exhausted by Lebanon’s devastating two-year economic collapse. Now, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sends food and energy prices soaring even further, she finds herself struggling to put food on the table for her family of four.

“Even bread is not something we take for granted anymore,” said the 48-year-old housewife, standing recently in a supermarket aisle in front of gallons of cooking oil whose prices had risen to an all-time high.