Lebanon

President Michel Aoun tells PM-designate Saad Hariri either to step down or form a government as soon as possible to tackle the country’s economic woes.

The current all-time low of the Lebanese currency — known as the pound or the lira — has riled people all over the country. They have been pouring into the streets for more than a week now, taking the country to the brink of a revolution.

Lebanon’s PM-designate, French President discuss Lebanese crisis, difficulties that hinder formation of government and possible ways to overcome them.

The COVID-19 pandemic is inflaming an already severe crisis of inequality across the globe, according to a report released by aid group Oxfam International. Lebanon, now ravaged by economic, political and health crises, must enact drastic reforms in order to survive, economists say.

The Lebanese prosecutor investigating August's port explosion in Beirut filed charges on Thursday against the caretaker prime minister and three former ministers, accusing them of negligence in relation to the deadly blast, Lebanon's state news agency reported.

The UN chief on Friday took note of five concurrent life sentences handed down to a Hezbollah militant, convicted in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut, fifteen years ago.  … However, to date, the convicted Salim Jamil  Ayyash remains at large.

France and the United Nations vowed Wednesday to keep providing humanitarian aid to Lebanon but urged the country's leaders to form a new government as a political deadlock in Beirut has blocked billions of dollars in assistance for the cash-strapped country hit by multiple crises.

In an interview with FRANCE 24, the UN's Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis lamented the absence of a functioning government in the country despite promises by the main political parties to form one quickly in the aftermath of the deadly August 4 Beirut blast. Kubis said he hoped a government would be formed "within days, definitely not weeks".

As it tries to pull out of its economic tailspin, Lebanon badly needs a functional cabinet able to make reforms. Such a government must have broad support, including from Hizbollah. The party’s domestic and external foes should accordingly stop attempting to curtail its role.

The United States imposed sanctions Friday on Gebran Bassil, the leader of Lebanon's biggest Christian political bloc and son-in-law of President Michel Aoun, accusing him of corruption and ties to Hezbollah.