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Doctors warn that another COVID-19 surge may be imminent as infections tick up

BEIRUT — With many of Lebanon’s businesses reopening their doors and some activities returning to normal, cases of COVID-19 have begun to creep up, bringing warnings that hospitals might soon be...

Emily Lewis, 10 March 2021

For the third time this year, the Economy Ministry has raised the cost of subsidized bread. Large bundles will still cost LL2,500, but shrink from 930 to 870 grams, a 6.9% price hike per gram. Small bundles will shrink and cost less, resulting in about the same price per gram

10 March 2021

Lebanon has registered 3,581 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. Forty-six more people have died, bringing the total death toll to 5,180

10 March 2021

The municipality of Beirut, along with the Economy Ministry, has announced plans to crack down on private generator owners who are not following pricing rules or the requirement to install meters to measure consumption for billing purposes

10 March 2021

The Lebanese Army says it has completed distribution of the LL150 billion allocated to date to compensate the owners of homes damaged in the Beirut port explosion. A total of 20,297 housing units have received compensation, about a third of the 62,087 the army assessed as damaged

10 March 2021

As part of the ongoing crackdown on parallel market money changers, State Security raided shops and homes of unlicensed exchangers in Mount Lebanon and the Bekaa, arresting a number of them and seizing “large sums” of currency along with computers and cellphones, the agency said

10 March 2021

The Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement traded barbs today, with the FPM accusing the LF of “lying and political hypocrisy” after the LF said in a statement that it was not behind the blocking of roads by protesters as some FPM and Hezbollah-affiliated sites had implied

10 March 2021

Hundreds of people gathered in Saida’s Martyrs’ Square and are marching through the streets in protest against the deteriorating economic situation and living conditions, local media report

10 March 2021

‘Bad options’ and ‘no easy solutions’: The lira’s path to crisis and the challenges of solving Lebanon’s currency woes

BEIRUT — Over the weekend, the value of the Lebanese lira descended to record lows of LL10,800 to the dollar, breaking a historic and psychological milestone in the currency’s collapse. In...

Emily Lewis, 10 March 2021

The Association of Public Administration Employees has announced plans for a strike Friday to coincide with the scheduled parliamentary session. The association said in a statement that a public employee’s “salary is no longer sufficient for his minimum living requirements”

10 March 2021

Firass Abiad, the director of Rafik Hariri University Hospital, has warned on Twitter of “tough times ahead” as coronavirus infections and critical cases are on the rise once again. Lebanon reported 3,939 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, the highest number in more than a month

10 March 2021

MP Ali Hassan Khalil (Amal/Marjayoun-Hasbaya) said on Twitter he has proposed a law to give every member of the army and security forces a monthly payment of LL1 million for a six-month period. Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun this week said soldiers are suffering and starving

10 March 2021

Lebanon’s Parliament is set to meet Friday with a draft agenda of only three items including a $246 million loan from the World Bank to help Lebanese authorities set up a social safety net for impoverished families

10 March 2021

BDL’s dwindling reserves and the path to armageddon

A senior public official recently told me that foreign currency reserves at Lebanon’s central bank were now close to $16 billion. The term “reserves” is actually a misnomer, implying that this...

Dan AZZI, 10 March 2021

Lead investigative judge into the Beirut port explosion Tarek Bitar has issued judicial writs aiming to uncover “how the ammonium nitrate was purchased, the owners of the shipment and the companies involved,” the NNA reports. Bitar was appointed to the job just over two weeks ago

10 March 2021

As protesters attempt to close off various roads across the country for the ninth day in a row, the army this morning said in a statement that it has begun removing blockades and reopening roads “in order to preserve the safety of citizens”

10 March 2021

Roadblock warning, exchange shops close, Hariri returns: Everything you need to know this Wednesday

Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up . As protesters blocked roads across much of Lebanon for the eighth day running, some health officials warned that the closures...

10 March 2021