Lebanon

BEIRUT, Dec 4 (NNN-NNA) – Hundreds of Syrian refugees have headed home, in the first batch to leave Lebanon, since protests broke out in the small Arab country, more than a month ago.

Since the early hours of Tuesday, scores of Syrians boarded buses in several locations in Lebanon, before heading back to their hometowns in war-torn Syria.

Vanessa Moya of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said, some 225 Syrian refugees were scheduled to head back to Syria, raising the number to about 27,000 refugees who have returned to Syria over the past two years.

BEIRUT, Dec 3 (NNN-NNA) – A UN senior official, said, Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine, constitute a flagrant violation of international law.

The remarks were made by Rola Dashti, executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA), during a celebration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, at ESCWA’s headquarters in Beirut.

Dashti also voiced commitment to safeguarding the rights of the Palestinian people.

BEIRUT (AP) — Nadyn Jouny’s sister taped up two messages in her memory inside a closet at the family home — one of motherly love tinged with pain, another of defiance.

The first Jouny wrote to her 9-year-old son on the one day a week she was allowed to see him under a custody ruling by a Shiite religious court. “Peace be upon the holy nights when you fall asleep near me,” she wrote. “Peace be upon the trace of love painted on your face and features ... This is my night.”

BEIRUT, Dec 1 (NNN-NNA) – The Arab League assistant secretary general said, Arab funds are ready to help Lebanon, once the political crisis in the country is over.

“Lebanese officials must accelerate the formation of a new government, because any economic support is not possible without a new cabinet supported by the Lebanese people,” Hossam Zaki was quoted as saying.

Zaki said that the Arab League may hold an exceptional economic meeting soon.

BEIRUT, Nov 30 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese demonstrated on Friday, to protest against the naturalisation of Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

The protesters gathered in front of the headquarters of the EU delegation in Lebanon, complained about the economic burden imposed by refugees in Lebanon, which exacerbates the economic deterioration.

They added that Lebanon has done its full duties towards refugees in the past years.

BEIRUT, Nov 28 (NNN-NNA) – The Lebanese Syndicate of Gas Station Owners, announced Wednesday, that, it will start an open strike on Thursday (today), because of its huge losses caused by the increase in the price of U.S. currency to the Lebanese pounds.

Gas stations in Lebanon are losing money because they are buying fuel from oil importing companies by paying in U.S. dollars, while they are selling it to clients in Lebanese pounds. Meanwhile, gas stations’ owners need the U.S. dollars, because they pay their suppliers with the U.S. currency.

25 Nov 2019; MEMO: Clashes broke out between anti-government demonstrators and supporters of the Shi’ite groups Hezbollah and Amal in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, early on Monday, as tensions escalated when demonstrators blocked a main bridge, Reuters reports.

BEIRUT, Nov 23 (NNN-NNA) – Russian Ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, slammed the U.S. disruptive role in Lebanon, local media reported.

“What we see in Lebanon today is America’s subversive role in the country and nothing more,” Zasypkin was quoted as saying, by Elnashra, an online newspaper.

The ambassador said that “there are foreign powers taking advantage of the protests happening in Lebanon, to implement their agendas.”

BEIRUT (AP) — On one of Beirut’s main commercial streets, store owners are cutting salaries by half or considering shutting down. Shops advertise sales, but still can’t draw in customers. The only place doing a thriving business: the store that sells safes, as Lebanese increasingly stash their cash at home.

It’s a sign Lebanese fear their country’s financial crisis, which has been worsening for months, could tip over into disaster.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese security forces scuffled with protesters as they sought to prevent lawmakers from attending a session of parliament on Tuesday, continuing a month-long wave of demonstrations against politicians blamed for taking Lebanon toward economic collapse.

Queues built at banks that reopened after a one-week closure, with police deployed at branches and banks imposing tight restrictions on hard currency withdrawals and transfers abroad.