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Hariri is importing a single-shot COVID-19 vaccine whose use is not yet approved in Lebanon or its country of origin

BEIRUT — Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is importing a Russian one-shot COVID-19 vaccine to Lebanon, despite it not being approved by the national vaccine committee. His party, the Future...

Emily Lewis, 20 April 2021

The Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc has said in a statement that preventing Judge Ghada Aoun from continuing investigations is a crime against the Lebanese. Aoun is considered an ally of President Michel Aoun, who founded the FPM

20 April 2021

Supreme Judicial Council calls on Judge Ghada Aoun to abide by public prosecutor’s dismissal order

BEIRUT — The Supreme Judicial Council, an administrative body that oversees Lebanon’s court system, called on Judge Ghada Aoun on Tuesday to abide by a judicial decision dismissing her from...

Georgi Azar, 20 April 2021

Lebanon has registered 1,608 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Thirty-six people have died, bringing the total death toll to 6,995

20 April 2021

Slow state compliance with conditions for a $246 million loan could delay aid by months, the World Bank says

BEIRUT — Lebanon has not yet complied with the required conditions to activate a $246 million loan intended to help the country set up a social safety net for its poorest families, and aid...

Abby Sewell, 20 April 2021

The Supreme Judicial Council has called on Judge Ghada Aoun to abide by Judge Ghassan Ouiedat’s decision to dismiss her from several financial crime cases, it said in a statement, adding that it has referred the matter to the Judicial Inspection Authority

20 April 2021

BDL unveils a new currency exchange platform, but its official launch date and exchange rate remain unclear

BEIRUT — Banque du Liban on Tuesday unveiled Sayrafa, a new currency exchange platform that will aim to establish an official parallel exchange rate between the lira and foreign currencies. BDL’s...

Omar Tamo, 20 April 2021

The Lebanese Army has received a final batch of food aid provided by Morocco, the army said in a statement. Morocco has sent a total of 90 tons of foodstuffs to Lebanon. Army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun in March said soldiers were “suffering and starving” amid the economic crisis

20 April 2021

Meanwhile, the head of Parliament's health committee, MP Assem Araji (Future/Zahle), told VDL radio (100.3) that no AstraZeneca-related complications have been reported in Lebanon

20 April 2021

Journalists, education workers and residents aged 55–64 with no comorbidities are now eligible to receive the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, an Impact platform representative told L'Orient Today

20 April 2021

Speaking at the end of his visit to Qatar, caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab warned of “the implications of the absence of Arab solidarity on the Lebanese crisis” and thanked Qatar for its “firm position on supporting Lebanon and its people, its security and its stability”

20 April 2021

Judge Ghada Aoun has arrived at the Justice Palace for a meeting with the Supreme Judicial Council about her refusal to comply with her dismissal from high-profile financial crime cases by Public Prosecutor Judge Ghassan Oueidat. Aoun's arrival was greeted by FPM supporters

20 April 2021

Lebanon’s crisis-hit farmers turn to growing hashish

BAALBECK — For three decades, Abu Ali planted potatoes to provide for his family, but Lebanon's economic crisis has driven up production costs and forced him to swap the crop for cannabis....

20 April 2021

The World Bank also said it has yet to receive the documentation required for the loan to take effect, including an official notice of Parliament's changes to the initial agreement and a legal opinion justifying the caretaker government’s authority to enter into the agreement

20 April 2021

The Lebanese government has not begun verifying prospective beneficiaries of a social safety net program to be set up through a $246 million World Bank loan, the bank said. The delay in verifications, which “should have started several months ago,” will likely hold up assistance

20 April 2021

Diab in Qatar, judicial spat hits streets, capital control law report promised: Everything you need to know today

Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up. While in Qatar on his first official foreign visit since taking office in January 2020, caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab...

20 April 2021