Libanon

[…] The violence came amid widespread anger over the harsh economic conditions in the country, where mismanagement by the ruling class has been rampant for years, preceding the economic meltdown that started in late 2019.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun left office last October, finishing a six-year term that saw a deepening political divide and a worsening economic crisis. Since Aoun's departure, the Lebanese parliament has convened — and failed — more than 10 times to elect a new president.

The central bank has confirmed the new official rate of 15,000 pounds per dollar, up from little more than 1,500.

Some two million people in Lebanon, including 1.29 million Lebanese residents and 700,000 Syrian refugees, are suffering some form of food insecurity as a result of the multiple crises afflicting the country, with the situation expected to get worse in the months ahead, UN agencies said on Thursday.

An Irish soldier of the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon near the Israeli border was killed and three wounded after their convoy came under fire, Irish officials said Thursday.

A UN peacekeeper from Ireland serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been shot and killed, reportedly while on patrol, and three other ‘blue helmets’ have been injured during the incident, the mission said in a statement on Thursday. UNIFIL said the incident took place in Al-Aqbieh, “just outside” the mission’s area of operations in south Lebanon.

Observers are warning of a power vacuum in Lebanon after President Michel Aoun left the presidential palace on Sunday, October 30, a day before completing his term in office, with no replacement.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Thursday signed a letter approving a landmark US-brokered agreement laying out the country’s maritime boundary with Israel, Lebanon's top negotiator told reporters. Israel was set to follow suit in approving the deal, which marks a diplomatic departure from decades of hostility, later in the day.

Lebanon's parliament failed on Monday to elect a president for the fourth time, with just a week left until outgoing President Michel Aoun's term ends and warnings of a constitutional crisis growing louder.

Lebanon's parliament failed to elect a president for the third time on Thursday, bringing the country closer to institutional deadlock amid a deep financial crisis. Outgoing President Michel Aoun's term ends on October 31 and divisions remain among political blocs over the makeup of a new cabinet.