Lebanon

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.

10 March 2022; MEMO: Appeals judges at the Lebanon Tribunal, on Thursday, convicted another two men on charges of terrorism and murder for their role in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Al-Hariri, reversing their earlier acquittal, Reuters reports.

"The Appeals Chamber had unanimously decided to reverse the acquittals (…) we unanimously find misters (Hassan Habib) Merhi and (Hussein Hassan) Oneissi guilty," presiding Judge, Ivana Hrdlickova, said in a summary of the judgement read out in court.

BEIRUT, Mar 10 (NNN-NNA) – The International Organisation of Migration (IOM), yesterday, launched a project to support the livelihood of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese communities in Lebanon.

The one-year project aimed to shore up 604 Lebanese and Syrian people, by fostering employment and income-generating opportunities, in the communities lacking public services in North and Akkar governorates, and Beqaa Valley, according to the UN agency.

09 March 2022; MEMO: Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade Amin Salam has met with the ambassadors of Turkey and India and discussed ways to support Lebanon during the supply crisis resulting from the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Anadolu reported.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Economy quoted Salam as saying that the meetings aimed "to complement efforts to confront the repercussions of the crisis in Ukraine, and in the interest of food security."

03 March 2022; MEMO: The head of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party yesterday slammed the international community for not imposing sanctions on Israel. Walid Jumblatt referred to the recent sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine when he made his comments.

BEIRUT, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Germany's KfW Development Bank and the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) have signed an agreement to rehabilitate the municipal facilities damaged by the Beirut Port explosion in the next three years, a UN press release said Wednesday.

The rehabilitation work by the UNOPS also aims to restore critical urban services including roads and wastewater networks and provide solar energy solutions, with the financial support of 20 million euros (22.2 million U.S. dollars) from the KfW bank, according to the UN press release.

BEIRUT, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)'s new chief, vowed on Monday to ensure the sustained cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel, and to foster the respect of the Blue Line by both parties.