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After their refugee camp was burned down, aid flowed in. They are the ‘lucky’ ones

BHANIN, Minyeh-Dinnieh — A few days after the torching of the camp where they used to live, Syrian families lined up outside the Bhanin municipality building as trucks unloaded piles of goods...

Abby Sewell, 5 January 2021

Lebanon has recorded 3,620 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, a new record for the small Mediterranean country. Seventeen people have died, bringing the death toll to 1,516

5 January 2021

A statue of slain Iranian general Qasem Soleimani has been erected along the highway leading to Beirut's airport, marking the one-year anniversary of his assassination by the US. On Sunday and Monday, local media outlets reported that residents in some areas burned his picture

5 January 2021

Caretaker PM Hassan Diab has approved caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan's proposal to sign a deal with Pfizer for COVID-19 vaccines, his office announces. President Michel Aoun this morning approved the deal, which Hassan has said will secure around 2 million doses

5 January 2021

Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan has urged private hospitals to increase their COVID-19 bed capacity within a week, warning that noncompliance will lead to repercussions, including halting access to public insurance services such as the National Social Security Fund

5 January 2021

Arrivals at Beirut Airport will be reduced to 20% of those in January 2020 and all passengers will have to undergo two PCRs tests: one on arrival and a second a week later. Passengers must quarantine in a hotel until the first test result, then self-isolate until the second

5 January 2021

During the lockdown period, wholesale food suppliers can open between 5 a.m. and 12 p.m., and supermarkets, greengrocers, butchers, other food stores and food delivery services can operate between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m., according to the full decision issued by the cabinet secretariat

5 January 2021

The Association of Banks in Lebanon has said in a statement that around 20 percent of bank branches will remain open during the lockdown period, at 20 percent staff capacity, and that banks will ensure ATMs are supplied daily with cash for withdrawals

5 January 2021

The World Bank estimates that the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion caused between $3.8 and $4.6 billion worth of damage to physical assets, with destruction to the port amounting to about $350 million. It also estimates the blast cost the Lebanese economy $2.9 to $3.5 billion

5 January 2021

Caretaker Agriculture Minister Abbas Mortada has said his ministry has successfully campaigned to exempt shops selling fertilizers and agricultural seeds from closing during the upcoming lockdown, the NNA reports. He added that price inspections in vegetable markets will continue

5 January 2021

The Lebanese lira’s market exchange rate has exceeded 8,500 to the dollar for the first time since Dec. 16. The lira had been trading just below 8,500 for the past week

5 January 2021

Lebanon’s expected use of the Pfizer vaccine was not due to any World Bank requirements, but because the company offered 600,000 free doses, Abdul Rahman Bizri, a member of the scientific committee on COVID-19, told Al-Akhbar. He noted that negotiations with AstraZeneca had begun

5 January 2021

New lockdown, a grim record, BDL assets drop: Everything you need to know to start your Tuesday

Lebanon will go on nationwide lockdown starting Thursday and continuing until Feb. 1, the ministerial committee on COVID-19 announced. There will be an overnight curfew between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m....

5 January 2021