Some in Lebanon are casting blame on Iran, the supporter of the country’s Hezbollah party, after the country’s first case of the new virus was discovered on a flight from the Iranian city of Qom this week. The existence in Lebanon of the new virus that first emerged in China has been politicized by some in Lebanon’s deeply divided population, ...

Palestinians say they are working with Israel to combat the virus The Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Lebanon said on Sunday they have taken precautionary measures to prevent the outbreak of the coronavirus in their territories. While the PA and Jordan said no cases of coronavirus have been found among their citizens, Lebanon confirmed the first case of a 45-year-old woman ...

Lebanon’s economic and political crisis over the past four months has hit Syrian refugees particularly hard. Beirut and Beqaa Valley, Lebanon – For Mahmoud, a Syrian refugee working in Beirut, the sharp economic and financial downturn gripping Lebanon has brought old anxieties from his homeland bubbling to the surface. “About the economy, if it is going to [collapse] or something ...

Qatar will stand by Lebanon during its current economic crisis, Qatari Finance Minister Ali al-Emadi told a conference in Doha on Saturday. Lebanon is facing the worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, rooted in decades of state waste and corruption that has landed the country with one of the world’s heaviest public debt burdens. Lebanon’s “economic and political ...

Like so many in Lebanon, Samir Hamdan grew up being told that Lebanon’s political system was necessary to protect his sect. Thanks to the sectarian power-sharing agreement that ended the 15-year civil war in 1990, his small Druze minority was guaranteed seats in parliament and positions in government. But now in his twenties, Hamdan says that system has not just ...

Tens of thousands of people have formed a human chain across Lebanon in a show of national unity as part of a historic civil disobedience campaign. Amid a sea of Lebanese flags and music blaring from loudspeakers, people joined hands along coastal roads aiming to span 171 kilometres from the south to the north. Nationwide protests, ignited in part by ...

Wildfires that have swept across Lebanon since Monday have burned swathes of the country’s forest and killed at least one person, prompting Beirut to deploy water cannon and call on its neighbors for help. The cause of the flames, which has spread from woods south of Beirut up to pine forests in the north, remains unknown, though some officials have ...

The push is further adding to Lebanon’s severe financial and economic crisis, with officials warning the country’s economy can’t withstand the strain The conflict between Iran and the U.S. that has created tensions throughout much of the Middle East is now also being felt in Lebanon, where Washington has slapped sanctions on the Iran-backed Hezbollah and warned they could soon ...

Lebanon on Tuesday expressed its support for Cyprus in the face of Turkish provocations in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The issue was on the agenda of talks between Defence Minister Savvas Angelides and his Lebanese counterpart Elias Bou Saab who is visiting Cyprus. Saab said his country understands the Cypriot position and supports it “because Cyprus is always interested ...

The Lebanese Civil Defense Directorate said that 104 fires have erupted in Lebanon since Monday night. Civil Defense Director General Gen. Raymond Khattar said “Lebanon has not seen anything similar for dozens of years, with fires reaching houses and institutions and burning forests home to natural biodiversity.” The Syrian coastal regions endured similar fires. The disaster was caused by dry ...