Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — From his small music shop on Beirut’s Hamra Street, Michel Eid witnessed the rise and fall of Lebanon through the changing fortunes of this famed boulevard for more than 60 years.

Hamra Street represented everything that was glamorous about Beirut in the 1960s and 1970s, with Lebanon’s top movie houses and theaters, cafes frequented by intellectuals and artists, and ritzy shops. It saw a revival the past decade, with international chain stores and vibrant bars and restaurants.

13 Feb 2022; MEMO: Lebanon has banned the newly-released movie 'Death on the Nile' due to the fact that the Israeli actress, Gal Gadot, plays a starring role in it. The Lebanese move follows closely in the footsteps of Kuwait which banned it earlier this week.

BEIRUT, Feb 12 (NNN-NNA) – Head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Stefano Del Col, yesterday called on Lebanon and Israel, to resume technical Blue Line talks, in order to reach agreements on a number of contentious areas along the Blue Line.

During this year’s first tripartite meeting with senior officers from the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Israel Defence Forces (IDF), in Ras Al Naqoura, south of Lebanon, Del Col urged both sides to use the tripartite platform, to build on previous accomplishments and move towards a more stable environment.

11 Feb 2022; MEMO: Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, indicated, on Thursday, difficulties in agreeing to a financial recovery plan critical to steering Lebanon out of its devastating economic collapse, calling it a "Kamikaze operation", Reuters reports.

A plan for addressing a $70 billion hole in the financial system is seen as the starting point for talks with the International Monetary Fund, and vital to reviving the paralysed banking system.

BEIRUT, Feb 10 (NNN-NNA) – The number of Lebanese people, who migrate from Lebanon to foreign countries, increased by 346 percent to 79,134 in 2021, from 17,721 in 2020, a report said yesterday.

The year 2021 witnessed the largest number of Lebanese migrants during the past five years, reported the quarterly online magazine, The Monthly, affiliated with Information International, a research centre in Lebanon.

10 Feb 2022; MEMO: Lebanese President Michel Aoun met with US envoy Amos Hochstein on Wednesday. Hochstein is mediating in the maritime border demarcation negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.

BEIRUT, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese experts believe that Lebanon is facing severe economic and financial challenges in 2022, urging the introduction of a comprehensive recovery plan which comprises thorough structural reforms to prevent the country from sliding further into collapse.

Patrick Mardini, president of the Lebanese Institute for Market Studies, told Xinhua that the main challenge facing the Lebanese government in 2022 is to achieve a budget balance.

08 Feb 2022; MEMO: Italy has donated military vehicles and other equipment to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), and 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the local population.

Last week at the Naval Base in Beirut, a ceremony for the donated materials took place in the presence of Italy's Ambassador to Lebanon, Nicoletta Bombardiere, commander of the Italian Joint Command Operations, General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, and the Italian Defence Attache in Lebanon, Colonel Marco Zona.

09 Feb 2022; MEMO: The number of Lebanese citizens who emigrated from the country in 2021 increased by 346 per cent compared with the previous year, a local consultancy company has found. According to the study conducted by Information International, as many as 79,134 Lebanese citizens left the country in 2021 compared with just 17,721 in 2020.

BEIRUT, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Lebanon's upcoming parliamentary polls must be held on time, U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea told Reuters, amid widespread concern that powerful parties may seek to postpone the May vote that could see them lose some power in the legislature.

"The international community is unanimous that the elections must be held on time in a fair and transparent manner," Shea told Reuters. "There's no wiggle room."

The UN Security Council last week "underlined the importance of holding free, fair, transparent and inclusive elections as scheduled on 15 May 2022".