Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — Long before the pandemic struck, they lived and worked in conditions that rights groups called exploitative — low wages, long hours, no labor law protections.

Now, some 250,000 registered migrant laborers in Lebanon — maids, garbage collectors, farm hands and construction workers — are growing more desperate as a crippling economic and financial crisis sets in, coupled with coronavirus restrictions.

BEIRUT, May 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported 63 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, the largest single-day increase since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Lebanon has seen an increase in cases in recent weeks after it began easing lockdown measures as part of a gradual re-opening of its crisis-hit economy. Many of the new cases are the result of Lebanese expatriates returning home, Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad.

The country of about 6 million has recorded 1,024 cases and 26 deaths, according to the Health Ministry.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon is at risk of a major food crisis and many Lebanese may soon find it hard to afford bread because of an acute financial crunch and the fall-out of COVID-19, the prime minister warned.

Writing in the Washington Post, Hassan Diab also warned of a global food security emergency triggered by the pandemic. He said attempts to restrict food exports must be resisted and called on the United States and the European Union to set up an emergency fund to help the Middle East avoid a severe crisis.

KFAR CHOUBA, Lebanon (AP) — Twenty years after Hezbollah guerrillas pushed Israel’s last troops from southern Lebanon, both sides are gearing up for a possible war that neither seems to want.

Israeli troops are striking Hezbollah targets in neighboring Syria and drilling for what could be an invasion of Lebanon. The militant Hezbollah group is beefing up its own forces and threatening to invade Israel if provoked. The bitter enemies routinely exchange warnings and threats.

BEIRUT, May 20 (NNN-NNA) – The Lebanese cabinet agreed on Tuesday, to end the academic year for schools and cancel official exams, amid increases in COVID-19 infections in the country.

Students will take no official exams but continue their online education until the end of this month, it said.

Meanwhile, all students will pass their classes with certificates issued by their schools as proposed by Education Minister, Tarek Majzoub.

BEIRUT, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese shops and businesses re-opened on Monday following a decision by the cabinet to reduce general mobilization measures adopted in fight against COVID-19 given the dire economic conditions prevailing in Lebanon, Elnashra, local independent newspaper, reported.

Clothes shops, restaurants, cafes, beaches, hotels and other retail businesses and companies opened their doors after over a month of closure which caused heavy financial losses.

The economic losses due to COVID-19 outbreak were estimated at 120 million U.S. dollars daily.

BEIRUT, May 16 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese Finance Minister, Ghazi Wazne, said on Friday that, Lebanon may cut down half of the number of banks operating in the country, by restructuring the banking sector, a local media outlet reported.

“We have a total of 49 commercial banks and we will reduce the number gradually in different ways, including mergers,” Wazne was quoted as saying by Elnashra, a local independent online newspaper.

BEIRUT, May 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Lebanon has imposed a “total” shutdown after experiencing a resurgence in reported coronavirus cases.

The curfew will start on the evening of May 13 and stay in place until the morning of May 18.

The number of cases has risen to its highest point in more than a month after the lockdown was rolled back.

People “should stay home and avoid going out except for urgent cases”, Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad said.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) — Living in a slum built precariously on the banks of a sewage-tainted river in Lebanon, Faiqqa Homsi feels her family being pushed closer and closer to the edge.

A mother of five, she was already struggling, relying on donations to care for a baby daughter with cancer. The coronavirus shutdown cost her husband his meager income driving a school bus. She hoped to earn some change selling carrot juice after a charity gave her a juicer. But as Lebanon’s currency collapsed, carrots became too expensive.

“It is all closing in our face,” Homsi said.

11 May 2020; MEMO: Lebanon has renewed a strict night-time curfew after a spike in local cases over the weekend, with the government warning that if numbers do not drop, a 48-hour lockdown could be imposed.