Decimated by two explosions that destroyed extensive areas of the capital Beirut earlier this month, Lebanon is now facing a sudden second wave of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the verdicts in the investigation into the assassination of former (...)
In the aftermath of the Beirut explosion on 4 August, fingers immediately pointed to the Lebanese Shia group Hizbullah.
The theory was that the explosion was a message to Lebanese Future Movement leader Saad Al-Hariri ahead of the International (...)
Even before the Lebanese government resigned last week in the wake of the explosion that took place in the capital Beirut on 4 August, there were demands for holding early parliamentary elections and replacing the cabinet.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab (...)
Concern is rising that Lebanon will be dragged into a new and debilitating conflict between the Lebanese Shia group Hizbullah and Israel at a time when both sides are suffering from domestic crises.
In Lebanon, the government backed by Hizbullah is (...)
The Lebanese pound continued to plummet on the international exchanges this week, and it is now selling at 7,000 to the dollar after having stood at 1,500 to the dollar before the present crisis in the country started.
However, the fortunes of its (...)
Lebanon this week seemed closer to economic and political collapse than at any other time in its recent history, with the streets still in uproar at the national currency the lira falling to 6,000 to the dollar compared to an official rate of (...)
Moves to lift the lockdown in Lebanon due to the Covid-19 pandemic do not bode well for the country, as protesters have now come back onto the streets in order to put pressure on the government.
Various political currents have been interfering in (...)
Lebanon was once famous for its large middle class, which after the end of the country's civil war was well known for its habit of eating in fancy restaurants, embarking on skiing trips and buying clothes from major brands.
In 1997, the Lebanese (...)
Lebanon received some good news from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about its reform plans to save the country from a dire financial crunch, with Minister of Finance Ghazi Wazni saying on Friday that the IMF was ready to assist.
Lebanese (...)
Six months before the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Lebanon had been struggling amid a financial meltdown. The country's economic crisis had reached a peak with the slowing of flows of money from abroad, street protests against the (...)
Lebanon said it would default on its Eurobond debt this week as the country verged on becoming one of the most indebted states in the world.
On 7 March, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said in a televised address that Lebanon, suffering a severe (...)
Even before a vote of confidence could be held in the new Lebanese government, the country shouldered further security woes with the attack early this week on Lebanese army units in Hermel, a Hizbullah stronghold, leading to the deaths of three (...)
By Lebanese standards, the government of new Prime Minister Hassan Diab was formed at lightning speed. One month after he was tasked with forming a cabinet, Diab announced a government supported by the 8 March Alliance, Hizbullah, the Amal Movement (...)
The situation in Lebanon is becoming critical, as the protests that have been taking place in the country over recent months have now turned to unprecedented violence.
On Sunday, 145 people were injured during clashes between protesters and the (...)
When Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, warned that Lebanon and Mount Lebanon region are on the brink of starvation, there was uproar. Many accused him of returning to being a provincial and sectarian leader. In (...)
On Wednesday, Iran attacked two bases in Iraq that are used by the American troops with missiles. Before the attacks, the Lebanese people were holding their breath out of fear their country will be the launchpad for Iran's revenge for the (...)
The Lebanese people are holding their breath out of fear their country will be the launchpad for Iran's revenge for the assassination of Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Al-Quds Force, through an attack by (...)
The exchange rate of the Lebanese lira on the black market and in exchange offices continued to hike, reaching 2,000-2,050 Lebanese lira per dollar, exceeding the official rate by one third, by the end of last week.
While by any standards this is (...)
The crisis in Lebanon is back to square one after protesters rejected MP Mohamed Safadi's nomination as prime minister. But why did the Lebanese street reject him and was his nomination a manoeuvre to achieve another goal? No one envies Safadi and (...)
As Lebanese protesters carried their unprecedented protest movement against the ruling establishment into its fourth week, former prime minister Saad Al-Hariri reportedly failed to persuade Hizbullah and the Amal Movement to offer a partial (...)
Despite warnings from Hizbullah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, promises by Lebanese President Michel Aoun and counterdemonstrations by the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) led by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, anti-government demonstrations have (...)
A “dead end' was the words of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri as he submitted his resignation on Tuesday declaring his failure to resolve a crisis unleashed by huge protests against Lebanon's ruling elite.
“I am going to the Baabda (...)
Lebanon is in the midst of one of the most perilous crises in its history. The country that experienced a short civil war in 1958 and then a gruelling 15-year-long civil war that began in 1975 has never been gripped by such a severe economic crisis. (...)
Demonstrations in Lebanon are continuing despite a reform package which Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri had hoped would defuse the situation. Protesters were unimpressed with the Al-Hariri initiative. After years of economic and political (...)
Despite fears of a possible outbreak of war between Hezbullah and Israel, a sudden calm descended after Sunday's flareup on the Lebanese-Israeli border following Hezbullah's strike against an Israeli military site.
The rapidity with which both sides (...)