Lebanon

BEIRUT, Jun 22 (NNN-NNA) – The World Bank released yesterday, a report calling on the Lebanese authorities to quickly reform the education sector, and increase investment for better children’s education.

Dubbed Foundations for Building Forward Better: An Education Reform Path for Lebanon, the report said, “change can be brought only through a comprehensive reform agenda, that rests on political will and stakeholder commitment.”

BEIRUT, June 20 (Reuters) - The leader of Lebanon’s biggest Christian political party said on Sunday he still wanted Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri to form a new government, and blamed political opponents for months of political paralysis.

Lebanon's politicians have argued over the structure of a new government since the last one quit in the aftermath of the devastating August 2020 Beirut port explosion, leaving the country adrift as it sinks deeper into economic crisis.

19 June 2021; MEMO: Lebanese authorities announced on Friday the thwarting of half a billion in counterfeit US dollars through Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport, Arabi21 reported.

In a statement, the internal security services confirmed that its customs staff at the airport had foiled the smuggling of $480 million in counterfeit US dollars.

The money was hidden in the luggage of three Lebanese citizens who were heading for Turkey.

BEIRUT (AP) — The European Union’s foreign policy chief Saturday berated Lebanese politicians for delays in forming a new Cabinet, warning the union could impose sanctions on those behind the political stalemate in the crisis-hit country.

Josep Borrell made his comments at the presidential palace near the capital Beirut after meeting with President Michel Aoun. It was the first meeting in a two-day visit to Lebanon.

17 June 2021; MEMO: At least $250 million in UN humanitarian aid intended for refugees and poor communities in Lebanon has been lost to banks selling the local currency at highly unfavourable rates, a Thomson Reuters Foundation investigation has found.

BEIRUT, Jun 16 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanon and the Netherlands signed yesterday, an agreement to boost ties between economic bodies and businessmen in the two countries.

The agreement was signed by Toufic Dabbousi, head of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Tripoli and North Lebanon, and Mohammad Sinno, president of the Lebanese Dutch Business Association.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s currency hit a new low on Sunday, as the country’s economic and political crisis worsened with no apparent solutions in the near future.

The currency has lost more than 90% of its value since October 2019, when anti-government protests erupted. Inflation and prices of basic goods have skyrocketed in the country, which imports more than 80% of its basic goods.

The U.S. dollar hit 15,300 Lebanese pounds on the black market, a level not seen since March. The official rate still stands at 1,515 pounds to the dollar.

BEIRUT, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and 11 others were seriously injured on Sunday in a traffic accident on the Ablah highway in the Zahle district of the Bekaa governorate in eastern Lebanon, the National News Agency reported.

The accident happened when a truck rammed into an automobile repair shop.

Rescue teams had to use hydraulic cutting tools to free stuck wounded people and transported them to nearby hospitals.

BEIRUT, Jun 12 (NNN-NNA) – The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and the Lebanese Armed Forces, concluded yesterday, a five-day live firing exercise near the UNIFIL’s headquarters, in the southern city of Naqoura, according to a statement by UNIFIL.

The Steel Storm drill, led by UNIFIL’s Force Commander’s Reserve, and conducted between the two forces twice a year, involved armoured assets, machine guns and small arms live fire, the statement said.

BEIRUT, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and several others were injured on Sunday in clashes among Palestinian factions in the Rashidieh camp in southern Lebanon, Elnashra news website reported.

Violent clashes started in the early morning hours after members of Fatah movement raided the house of a Palestinian national wanted over drug trafficking, the report said.

It added that a number of people were besieged in their houses in the vicinity of the ongoing clashes inside the camp.