By AFP —  In bankrupt Lebanon, Khalil Mansour has to queue for hours every day just to buy bread for his family, and some days he can’t afford it. In a country that was once nicknamed the “Switzerland of the Middle East” for its thriving banking sector before the financial crisis hit in 2019, the chronic lack of staples of the Lebanese diet was hard to bear. Lebanon defaulted on its national debt in 2020 and its currency has lost around 90 percent of its black market value.

The World Bank has branded the financial crisis as one of the worst since the 19th century, while the United Nations now estimates that four out of five Lebanese live below the poverty line. Faced with calls from international creditors for painful reforms in exchange for the release of new aid funds, the embattled government has been forced to end subsidies on most essential commodities — though not yet on wheat. The price of subsidized bread has increased, albeit less than without subsidies, but bakeries have started to ration staples. A bag of flat Arabic pita-like bread now officially sells for 13,000 Lebanese pounds (43 US cents). It costs more than 30,000 on the black market. “Last week I had to go three days without bread because I can’t afford to pay 30,000,” said Mansour, 48.

For Mansour and most Lebanese, buying bread means standing in long queues outside bakeries for hours, and sometimes by the time it’s their turn, the bakeries have run out of bread. “Today I queued for three hours, yesterday two and a half. What now?” Mansour said on Friday outside a bakery in Beirut. “I have to support my family. What else can I do?” asked Mansour, who earns the equivalent of $50 a month in a pastry shop.

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB — BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon appeared Friday to reject claims by the Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut that a Syrian ship docked in a Lebanese port is carrying Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia, following an inspection by Lebanese customs officials. A senior Lebanese customs official told The Associated Press that there was “nothing wrong” with the cargo of the Laodicea, which docked in the Lebanese port of Tripoli on Thursday, and that its papers were in order. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. The controversy surrounding the ship has underscored how Lebanon, a tiny Mediterranean country bordering Syria, has been in the crosshairs of Russia’s months-long war in Ukraine. The Laodicea is carrying 5,000 tons of flour and 5,000 tons of barley that Ukraine’s Embassy in Beirut says was illegally taken by Russia. After the embassy raised the alarm, Lebanese authorities initiated an investigation. The Russian Embassy, meanwhile, has told Lebanese media that the Ukrainian claim was “baseless.”

The U.S. Department of the Treasury had sanctioned the Laodicea in 2015 for its affiliation with the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad. According to the Ukrainian Embassy, the Laodicea is among scores of vessels that Kyiv alleges transported grain stolen by Russia. An embassy statement Friday said the ship had turned off its AIS tracking system in the Black Sea for 10 days, after docking earlier this month in Russia-controlled Crimea’s port of Feodosia. There, the embassy said, it was “loaded with barley and wheat flour illegally exported from the territories of Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson” in Ukraine — areas taken by Russia in the war.

By Najia Houssari — arabnews.com — BEIRUT: Angry citizens on Wednesday stormed bakeries and pastry shops in Lebanon as the country’s food crisis deepened. Long queues formed outside many stores with residents waiting impatiently in searing heat for subsidized bundles of bread. As stocks and tempers ran short, many people opted to buy other bakery products, some priced at 40,000 Lebanese pounds ($1.5) for 10 thin loaves. Others vented their frustrations by taking to social media platforms, blaming politicians and bakeries for the problem while slamming mafia organizations for selling subsidized flour on the black market and smuggling it to Syria.

In some places, soldiers were forced to intervene, removing protesters from shops, and defusing heated arguments between queueing customers. Lebanese Economy Minister Amin Salam said: “Around 49,000 tons of wheat are expected to arrive in Lebanon by the end of this week. Hopefully the ships will arrive faster. The crisis is the result of flour being stolen from our country. “A crisis cell headed by the economy ministry will be formed and a new mechanism will be set up for distributing wheat and flour fairly, and prosecuting those creating the crisis.” Lebanon’s inability to secure US dollars to continue subsidizing medicines, wheat, and fuel, on Wednesday resulted in petrol prices rising by 14,000 Lebanese pounds to reach 617,000 pounds per 20 liters.

Georges Brax, a member of the gas station owners’ syndicate, said: “The central bank used to secure 100 percent of the US dollars needed to import fuel, according to its Sayrafa platform rate. Now it provides only 85 percent. The remaining 15 percent needs to be secured based on the black-market rate.” Fadi Abu Shakra, a representative of the union for fuel distributors and gas stations in Lebanon, said: “We keep going backward. If the issue is not resolved, I don’t know where we could be heading.” At its Wednesday meeting, a ministerial committee set up to address the repercussions of the financial crisis on public facilities and headed by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, reiterated its previous recommendations to meet the demands of public sector employees, who have been on strike for more than a month, pending the approval of the 2022 budget and avoiding any burden on the state treasury.

سجعان قزي

@AzziSejean

كان يَنقُصُ غِبطةَ البطريرك بشارة الراعي أن يُحدِّدَ له بعضُ السياسيّين الوارثَي النعمة، والأحزابِ الحديثي العهد طبيعةَ علاقتِه بأبرشيّاتِه ودورِها. إذا بُلِيتُم بالجُبنِ فاسْتتِروا. الكمينُ الذي تَعرّضَ له المطران موسى الحاجّ ليس حادثًا بسيطًا وبريئًا. لم يُفتعَل لكي يُحَلَّ سريعًا. ولن يُحلَّ ذاتَ يومٍ من دون آثارٍ جانبيّةٍ وأضرار. والبطريركيةُ المارونيّةُ ليست قاضي تحقيقٍ لكي تُحدِّدَ المسؤوليّةَ الإسميّةَ عن نَصبِ الكمين. توجدُ مجموعةٌ حاكمةٌ بالتكافلِ والتضامنِ، أذْرعُها تَمتدُّ إلى جميعِ مفاصلِ الدولةِ ومؤسّساتِها وأجهزِتها وقُضاتِها وتَتوزَّعُ ارتكابَ الجُنحِ والجِنايات. وإذا لم تَكن هذه المجموعةُ وراءَ ما حَصلَ للمطران الحاجّ، فلتَتفضَّل وتَجِدْ حَلًّا فوريًّا للحادث وتَعتذر، وإلا تَدينُ نفسَها بنفسِها. لكن ما نَعرِفه هو أنَّ للحادثِ أبعادًا ترمي إلى التأثيرِ على مواقفِ البطريرك بشارة الراعي من عدّةِ قضايا، أبرزُها: انتخاباتُ رئاسةِ الجُمهوريّةِ، قيادةُ الجيش، حاكميّةُ مصرِف لبنان، تَسييسُ القضاء، سلاحُ حزبِ الله، مفاوضاتُ الطاقةِ مع إسرائيل، إلخ…

لا نَستَهْوِلنَّ هذه الروابط، فعلى وَقعِ هذا الكمينِ المدَبَّر، يريدُ البعضُ إسكاتَ صوت المعارَضة، وتحقيقَ أهدافٍ عدّةٍ في توقيتٍ محليٍّ وإقليميٍّ ودُوَليٍّ مليءٍ بالمفاجآت والتحوّلات. ولقد تَقصّدَ مُفتعِلو الحادثِ ربطَ مصدرِ المساعداتِ الماليّةِ والطِبيّةِ بواقعِ القطيعةِ مع إسرائيل لإحراجِ أطرافٍ سياسيّةٍ، فتُحجِمُ عن التضامنِ مع بكركي والمطران. هكذا، رأينا قياداتٍ مختلِفةً تلتزمُ الصمتَ، وأخرى تَتبرّأُ وتُزايِدُ، وأُخْرى تُسقِطُ حقَّها من المساعدات الآتيةِ إليها من أنسبائِها في إسرائيل.

By Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English — As Lebanese soldiers communicated during a counterterrorism simulation, American troops stood on a hilltop in northern Lebanon to observe an operation that marked the culmination of a two-week training exercise. Around 60 US personnel from the Navy, Marines, Army and Coast Guard participated in Resolution Union 2022, an annual exercise between the two armies focused on maritime security operations, mine countermeasures and explosive ordnance disposal. The live-fire event saw various branches of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) integrate air, naval, and ground capabilities during the operation.

Three separate operations were carried out in the exercise: long-range fire on hostile and terrorist targets using various tanks; closing in on a building housing a senior terrorist leader using ground and air support; chasing down a boat that was believed to have been used for the terrorist leader to escape the raided building; visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) of a ship used for smuggling; a rescue operation of injured personnel on board the vessel during the VBSS; and helicopter missile fire at a target on land. “This is a pretty sophisticated performance,” one senior US military member told Al Arabiya English. “This takes a high level of professionalism and education.” The military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak, lauded the LAF as being “one of the more advanced armies in the region.” The US military is one of the top in the world in integrating different attack and defense methods. Now they are trying to help other countries do the same to counter drug trafficking and terrorism while working to integrate the air defense systems of more advanced militaries in the region.

Since 2006, the US has invested over $2.5 billion in the LAF, which has used this training and weaponry provided by Washington to defeat an extremist militant organization in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in 2007 and become one of the first armies in the region to push ISIS entirely out of it borders in 2017. But there have been mounting concerns over the LAF’s ability to decide between war and peace, which the Iran-backed Hezbollah arguably has complete control over. Nevertheless, US support has continued to bolster the LAF and this has been observed as recently as this month when American lawmakers agreed to reroute US taxpayer funds to include “livelihood support” for Lebanese soldiers.

by middleeasteye.net – A bodyguard of Gebran Bassil, the leader of Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and son-in-law of President Michel Aoun, has been charged by the FBI for gun smuggling. George Ajaltouni allegedly purchased weapons at gun shows and dealerships in Ohio and shipped them to Lebanon by hiding them in secret compartments in modified cars, according to an indictment reviewed by Middle East Eye. Between May 2011 and September 2014, Ajaltouni worked with another Lebanese man, Jean Youssef Issa, to send hundreds of firearms, mainly handguns, to Lebanon. Issa was recently arrested after a red notice was issued by Interpol. Ajaltouni, 47, is currently believed to be residing in Batroun, Lebanon, which is also the hometown of Bassil, who served as foreign minister from 2014 to 2020. The FBI has also released an indictment for Nakhle “Mike” Nader, a former Cleveland, Ohio, resident and acquaintance of Ajaltouni. Nader has been charged with four counts of income tax evasion related to various businesses he owned and operated in Ohio.

Mr Ajaltouni is also charged with naturalisation fraud after obtaining naturalisation and US citizenship in 2009 that he was not entitled to nor eligible to receive, according to the indictment. The indictments were filed between 2016 and 2019 but were unsealed on Tuesday. Shortly after their release, pictures appeared online of Bassil and Ajaltouni together at a table having drinks. A second image shows Ajaltouni shaking hands with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

by arabnews.com — DUBAI: A newly elected Lebanese MP from the “change” bloc has accused several of her fellow politicians of intimidation and sexual harassment. Cynthia Zarazir said that she found pornographic magazines, condoms and rotten food in the office assigned to her in parliament, and had been the victim of catcalling by MPs from […]

by naharnet — MP Cynthia Zarazir of the ‘change’ bloc on Tuesday decried the “disrespect” and “bullying” she has faced ever since entering parliament’s building for the first time. “Ever since I entered parliament, I have not been shown any respect that suggests that those whom I will be present with for four years are firstly humans and secondly respectable people,” Zarazir said on her official Twitter and Facebook accounts, shortly after she faced several bullying and name-calling instances in parliament. “Below are some examples that point to their high manners: – Catcalling by pro-government MPs whose misogyny outweighs their manhood. – Being given a filthy office where I found Playboy magazines and used condoms on its floor and in it drawers. – Bullying over my family name. – Not being given a car parking spot!” Zarazir added in a tweet. “These people are dealing with an elected MP in this manner, so how will they deal with the people who have no voice!” she lamented.

Speaking to MTV, Zarazir said she found files at the office carrying the name of “Hajj Mohammed” and that she is yet to determine the “full identity” of the MP or former MP who used to occupy the office. “There was total chaos. The files were on the floor and the erotic magazines were on the tables. Even rotten food was forgotten on the table and used and unused condoms were inside the drawers and on the table,” MTV quoted Zarazir as saying. “Every day I communicate with the employees at parliament so that I get a parking spot for my car. In the first two sessions, I had to use the small car of a friend to be able to park it, and when I requested that from them several times, I was told by MP Ali Hassan Khalil: ‘Go buy a small car. You have money,’” the MP told MTV.

By Jamie Prentis — nationalnews.com — — Chaotic scenes marked the Lebanese Parliament’s first legislative session since the May 15 elections, with MPs given the task of voting on 40 draft laws on Tuesday. Among the items approved include a proposed amendment of Lebanon’s banking secrecy laws and a $150 million loan from the World Bank to support wheat imports for the next six to nine months. Insults were traded on the floor of Parliament, particularly between MPs from Amal — the party of Speaker Nabih Berri — and those from the opposition bloc the Forces of Change, which is linked to the October 2019 protests against the ruling class that led to the collapse of the government.

In one session, Forces of Change MP Cynthia Zarazir was branded a “cockroach” by Amal MP Kabalan Kabalan. ‘Heads held high’ in Lebanon as pride in Cedars basketball team salves Asia Cup loss The amendments to the banking secrecy laws are one of a number of prerequisites for $3 billion in funds from the International Monetary Fund. However, the bill has been watered down from its original version and allows government institutions to lift secrecy specifically in cases of criminal investigations, including in illicit enrichment, money laundering and terrorism financing. But the original draft law would have allowed banking secrecy to be lifted to investigate “all financial crimes”.

Tense scenes could be witnessed outside Parliament as well: family members of the victims of the August 2020 blast that struck Beirut’s port protested in front of the building, demanding that MPs pass a law that would classify the port’s silos as a monument to the more than 200 people who died. “We want [the MPs] to keep the silos as a memorial to the victims that lost their lives,” Mariana Fodoulian, whose 29-year-old sister Gaia died in the blast, told The National.