Lebanon

5 May 2020; MEMO: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah insisted Germany’s decision to ban the group was a result of US pressure, in a televised speech yesterday.

BEIRUT, May 5 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanon received, on Monday, donation from Iran, for the fight against COVID-19.

“Iran’s help is much appreciated, while the country is struggling at the same time to fight against the virus,” Lebanese Health Minister, Hamad Hassan said, during a ceremony at the airport, to receive the donation.

The donation include 15 ventilators, 5,000 PCR tests and Personal Protective Equipment.

BEIRUT (AP) — It’s not just a lifestyle, it’s a livelihood. That was the motto used by some of Lebanon’s best-known nightclubs to raise money for thousands of bartenders, waiters and support staff who have been without a job since the country imposed a strict coronavirus lockdown in mid-March.

The club owners pulled together a three-day fundraising marathon: 150 DJs from around the world spun their records in five different virtual rooms over the weekend in a non-stop electronic music festival. By Sunday night, they had raised the equivalent of $36,000.

3 May 2020; MEMO: An economic rescue plan that will form the basis of Lebanon’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was panned by banks on Friday as one that would “further destroy confidence” in the country, reports Reuters.

The Lebanese government yesterday approved an economic rescue plan prepared by Prime Minister Hassan Diab in a bid to save the country from the worst economic crisis in its history.

The Lebanese presidency said on Twitter that the cabinet has unanimously approved the economic plan, after making minor amendments to the proposal.

Diab said it will be used to apply for loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that could save the deteriorating economy.

BEIRUT, May 1 (NNN-Xinhua) — Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced a comprehensive financial plan to save the country from its financial and economic crisis.

“This strategy is a clear roadmap aimed at managing the government’s public finances. We are on the right track to save Lebanon from its crisis,” Diab said during a televised speech following a meeting for the government to put the end touches on the plan.

Diab explained that the strategy is based on six pillars including the financial, economic, banking, monetary, social security and development factors.

BEIRUT, Apr 28 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese Energy and Water Minister, Raymond Ghajar, said on Monday that, drilling results in Block 4 of Lebanon’s territorial waters, proved the presence of gas in the geological region, bordering the Lebanese coast, it was reported.

“This region is promising, since the basic elements of a geo-petroleum system were confirmed, in the Lebanese sea, but the existence of a gas reservoir was not verified,” Ghajar said, during a press conference, to give updates on gas exploration in Lebanon.

27 April 2020; MEMO: Two banks in southern, and two in northern Lebanon were damaged in separate attacks over the weekend, as public anger grows over the country’s economic crisis.

A Fransabank branch in Sidon was assailed with a homemade bomb late on Saturday night, while a Credit Libanais building in Tyre was attacked with Molotov cocktails in the early hours of yesterday.

26 April 2020; AFP: Assailants lobbed an explosive device at a bank in Lebanon Saturday, in the latest attack on financial institutions in a country facing its worst economic crisis in decades.

The official National News Agency said the night-time assault targeted a branch of Fransabank in the southern port city of Sidon, damaging its glass facade.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties.

BEIRUT, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab said on Saturday that the government in Lebanon has lost, over the past years, the confidence of people because of its malpractices, LBCI local TV channel reported.

"The government has lost the confidence of people because officials worked on meeting their own interests instead of the interests of citizens," Diab was quoted as saying during his visit to the Directorate General of Internal Security Forces.