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Beirut port truck drivers reach compensation agreement, averting strike

BEIRUT — Truck drivers at the Port of Beirut will sign an agreement to boost their salaries and improve their benefits, putting off a threatened strike that was threatening to hamstring port...

Rana Tabbara, 17 September 2021

The 14-member Lebanese Forces parliamentary bloc will vote against granting Premier Najib Mikati’s cabinet confidence on Monday, the party announced in a statement. Fouad Makhzoumi (Ind./West Beirut) also announced that he would not give the new government his vote of confidence

17 September 2021

Renewed fears of de facto end to subsidies as fuel prices are hiked

BEIRUT — The government came one step closer to ending fuel subsidies on Friday, with the Energy Ministry releasing an updated list of prices that are nearly 40 percent higher than the next-most...

Richard SALAME, 17 September 2021

Prime Minister Najib Mikati has addressed the arrival of Iranian fuel to Lebanon for the first time, saying on Friday he was “saddened by the violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty” but did not fear sanctions because the import operation did not involve the Lebanese government

17 September 2021

Lebanon has registered 857 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. Four more people have died, raising the death toll to 8,228

17 September 2021

A cargo ship carrying 31,000 tons of diesel procured as part of a fuel deal between Lebanon and Iraq began offloading in northern Deir Ammar on Friday, the Energy Ministry said, adding that another ship should arrive by the end of the month

17 September 2021

US issues sanctions tied to supporters of Hezbollah, Iran

WASHINGTON — The United States said on Friday it was imposing sanctions on Lebanon- and Kuwait-based financial conduits that fund the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah as well as financial...

17 September 2021

Flooding from heavy rains has caused significant damage to property, agriculture and roads in Qobeiyat, Akkar, L’Orient-Le Jour reports. The Higher Relief Committee’s secretary-general said a Lebanese Army team will go to the area tomorrow to assess the extent of the damage

17 September 2021

Mikati’s business empire criticized by human rights activists over post-coup telecom dealings in Myanmar

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s new billionaire prime minister, Najib Mikati, has made a fortune off the M1 Group, a Lebanon-based holding company he co-founded along with his brother that has netted the two...

Ghada Alsharif, 17 September 2021

Wanted former Minister Fenianos cries foul in Beirut port explosion probe

BEIRUT – Wanted former Public Works Minister Youssef Fenianos has claimed that he is the victim of “great injustice” in the Beirut port explosion probe, , the NNA reports, a day after an arrest...

17 September 2021

BDL informed incoming Finance Minister Youssef Khalil that $1.14 billion from Lebanon’s apparent sale of its IMF SDRs had been deposited in the ministry’s account at BDL, the NNA reports. Officials from BDL, the Finance Ministry and IMF declined or could not state the buyer

17 September 2021

The Energy Ministry has hiked gasoline prices by nearly 40%, with the price of 20 liters of 95-octane gas leaping from LL126,400 to LL174,300 and 98-octane gas jumping from LL130,500 to LL180,000. With the lira’s recent appreciation, this marks an 87% increase in dollar terms

17 September 2021

BDL’s foreign assets fell by $1.64 billion to $12.9 billion, excluding eurobonds, in the first half of September, the central bank’s latest balance sheet shows. BDL said the plunge was due to a transaction involving foreign securities and liabilities, and did not affect liquidity

17 September 2021

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (Amal/Zahrani) has called a session of the legislature for Monday to review the incoming cabinet’s ministerial statement and vote on whether to grant it confidence, which would end more than 13 months of caretaker-status governments

17 September 2021

Incoming Finance Minister Youssef Khalil has signed a forensic audit contract with Alvarez & Marsal, the NNA reports. The company will submit an initial report to Khalil within 12 weeks of starting work

17 September 2021

The IMF “stand[s] ready to engage with the new government” of Lebanon, IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice said in a press briefing, but added that he didn’t “have any timeline, deadline, mission dates.” Resuming negotiations with the IMF is a priority of the new government

17 September 2021

Cabinet statement approved, lira up sharply, Iranian diesel arrives: Everything you need to know today

Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up. The cabinet approved a ministerial statement charting the course the government will follow in addressing Lebanon’s...

17 September 2021