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With one week of lockdown left, doctors caution against squandering gains

BEIRUT — Exactly one week before a 24-hour COVID-19 lockdown is set to end, doctors warn that Lebanon is not yet in the clear even as hospitals witness a small reprieve from a surge of...

Ghada Alsharif, 1 February 2021

Lebanon has registered 2,020 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Sixty-three more people have died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 3,145

1 February 2021

Protesters have blocked the roads leading to Al-Nour Square in Tripoli amid a heavy army deployment, the NNA reports. Protests in Lebanon’s second city have been ongoing since Jan. 25, resulting in clashes with security forces and the death of one demonstrator

1 February 2021

The spokesman for the families of the firefighters killed in the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion has said that Judge Fadi Sawwan informed him he will “resume his investigation” into the blast “immediately after the end of the countrywide lockdown,” the NNA reports

1 February 2021

The Economy Ministry has raised the price of partially subsidized bread by an average of 5.6%, citing a global increase in wheat prices and depreciation of the local currency. A 450-gram loaf will now cost LL1,750, while a 930-gram loaf will cost LL2,500

1 February 2021

Tripoli’s tycoons appear completely out of their depth as clashes flare up in the city

The days of friendly slogans and patriotic chants in Abdel-Hamid Karami Square seem now a long way off. Automatic weapons, Molotov cocktails and grenades: these have characterized violent riots...

Alexandre KHOURI, 1 February 2021

BDL’s latest interim balance sheet shows an additional LL194.4 million in circulation outside BDL in the second half of January, putting the total over LL32.5 trillion. The bank’s foreign assets, which represent its reserves, have fallen by about $265 million over the same period

1 February 2021

The Syndicate of Food Importers has issued a statement warning of a 50 percent depletion of food stocks in the coming weeks due to the combination of the difficulty in accessing foreign currency for imports and the reduction in importers' incomes during the coronavirus lockdown

1 February 2021

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri says he has proposed a solution to the ongoing cabinet formation impasse but that demands for a “blocking third” have stalled progress. President Michel Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil reportedly want veto power for their party, the FPM

1 February 2021

Hezbollah fighters downed an Israeli drone that flew into Lebanese airspace over the Marjayoun border town of Blida this morning, Hezbollah’s Central Media reports. An Israeli army spokesperson tweeted that there were no concerns over data leaks

1 February 2021

The Beirut Traders Association has issued a statement calling on the government not to extend the coronavirus lockdown due to end on Feb. 8, saying its extension will lead to increased unemployment and shop closures

1 February 2021

The activist Rabih Labaki has been released from detention at the Ramlet al-Baida police station. Labaki, who was arrested following demonstrations in Beirut Saturday night, was greeted by a small number of protesters who had been calling for his release

1 February 2021

Families of those killed in the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion have gathered in Sassine Square ahead of a march to the nearby home of Judge Fadi Sawwan, the lead investigator in the case, to call for justice and accountability nearly six months after the blast

1 February 2021

The Imperial Jet saga: How courts and arbitrators ruled against Lebanon, but the state still came out ahead financially

BEIRUT — Amid a snowballing economic crisis, an ongoing political stalemate and an out-of-control surge in COVID-19 numbers, Lebanon got a spot of good news last month with the results of a...

Abby Sewell, 1 February 2021

Bou Assi criticized the existing subsidy scheme, whereby BDL provides US dollars to importers of wheat, fuel and medications at the official exchange rate of LL1,515, as "unsuccessful, unhelpful and unsustainable." He said it benefits traders rather than the wider population

1 February 2021

The Lebanese Forces parliamentary bloc has proposed a draft law to establish an electronic card system for the distribution of financial assistance to Lebanon's most vulnerable families, MPs George Okais (LF/Zahle) and Pierre Bou Assi (LF/Baabda) announced in a press conference

1 February 2021

The Bsharri Governmental Hospital has said in a statement that it has suspended surgeries, clinics and non-emergency treatment due to a high demand for COVID-19 services, adding that the “financial burden” of the pandemic has caused the hospital a LL200 million deficit

1 February 2021

Members of Parliament’s health committee Assem Araji (Future/Zahle) and Fadi Alame (Amal/Baabda) have called on the judiciary to take action to combat the smuggling of pharmaceutical drugs, following reports over the weekend that subsidized medications had ended up in the DRC

1 February 2021

Protests persist, lockdown decision, Michel Murr dies: Everything you need to know this Monday

Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up . Protests continued Sunday in Tripoli over deteriorating living conditions amid the lockdown and decades of state neglect. A...

1 February 2021

174,000 people have registered to receive the COVID-19 vaccine so far, with the majority of people signing up from Beirut and Mount Lebanon, caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan said in an interview with Al-Jadeed Sunday night

1 February 2021