Lebanon’s Economic Crisis: 'No Food, No Gas, No Hope' - BBC Newsnight

Oct 27, 2021 • As Lebanon’s crisis continues to intensify, how are people trying to cope in the midst of financial devastation?

Earlier this month violent clashes in Beirut touched off fears of renewed civil strife in Lebanon.

The country has been mired in crisis of late - political, economic, Covid, and on top of all that the devastating port blast in August 2020.

As if that's not bad enough a brain drain of the educated professionals has been gathering pace.

Leaving carries shame, so there are no reliable statistics about that flight.

Newsnight’s Mark Urban reports from Beirut.

Deadly Clashes in Beirut Escalate Fears over Lebanon’s Dysfunction

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The fighting further traumatized the small Mediterranean country, a patchwork of sects that has tumbled into an abyss of devastating political and economic crises.


Protests led by Shiite political parties, including Hezbollah, turned violent as the groups pushed for the removal of the judge investigating the August 2020 Beirut Port explosion.Credit | Anwar Amro/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Armed clashes between sectarian militias transformed Beirut neighborhoods into a deadly war zone on Thursday, raising fears that violence could fill the void left by the near-collapse of the Lebanese state.

Rival gunmen, chanting in support of their leaders, hid behind cars and dumpsters to fire automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades at their rivals. At least six people were killed and 30 wounded. Residents cowered in their homes, and teachers herded children into the hallways and basements of schools to protect them from the shooting.

It was some of the worst violence in years to convulse Beirut, aggravating the sense of instability in a small country already buffeted by devastating political and economic crises and inviting recollections of its civil war that ended more than three decades ago.

Since the fall of 2019, Lebanon’s currency has plummeted more than 90 percent in value, battering the economy and reducing Lebanese who were comfortably middle class to poverty. The World Bank has said Lebanon’s economic collapse could rank among the three worst in the world since the mid-1800s. » | Ben Hubbard and Marc Santora | Published: Thursday, October 14, 2021; Updated: Friday, October 15, 2021

Le Liban à nouveau face au spectre de la guerre civile : RÉCIT - Des échanges de tirs ont fait au moins six morts en marge d’une manifestation organisée par les mouvements chiites Hezbollah et Amal contre le juge en charge de l’enquête sur l’explosion du port de Beyrouth. »

Israel Accuses Syria of Providing Scud Missiles to Hizbollah
THE TELEGRAPH: Israel's president has accused Syria of double-dealing amid allegations that Damascus has handed over an arsenal of Scud missiles to the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hizbollah.

Reports claim that Hizbollah operatives have been trained in the use of Scuds, some models of which have a longer range than its current arsenal and could hit any city in Israel from Lebanon.

They say Israel is threatening to bomb targets in both Lebanon and Syria if additional claims that the missiles have been physically moved across the border and placed under Hizbollah control are verified.

"Syria claims it wants peace while at the same time it delivers Scuds to Hezbollah whose only goal is to threaten the state of Israel," Shimon Peres, the Nobel peace prize-winning Israeli president said yesterday.

The United States, which has been moving towards closer relations with Syria, is also said to be alarmed. Washington this year agreed to send its first ambassador to Damascus for five years, but a hold has been put on his taking up his appointment. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Tension Mounts as Hezbollah Win Predicted
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: THE militant Islamic group Hezbollah looks set to consolidate its influence on power in Lebanon when voters go to the polls here on June 7.

Backed by Iran and Syria, the Hezbollah-led coalition known as March 8 is favoured to win a majority in parliament.

Led by the charismatic Shiite cleric Hassan Nasrallah, who is loathed in the West but loved across the Muslim world, Hezbollah is nevertheless expected to extend the current power-sharing arrangements under a new government of national unity.

With about 20 parties competing for attention in Lebanon's intractably complicated system - in which power is divided between the country's Sunni, Shiite, Druze and Christian populations - the Mediterranean country is in the grip of election fever. >>> Jason Koutsoukis Herald Correspondent in Beirut | Saturday, May 9, 2009

An Arab Country As You Might Never Have Imagined
Watch video: Out of the Closet in the Lebanon
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