Civil society groups and some lawmakers have decried opacity in the tender process and a lack of involvement of the Public Procurement Authority. "Marginalising or disregarding" the role of the authority undermines the effectiveness of Lebanon's 2021 public procurement law, 10 civil society groups said in a statement Tuesday.

Beirut, Lebanon - A last-minute decision in Lebanon to delay daylight savings by a month has been met with opposition from the influential church, leaving the small country divided between two time zones. Wracked by a crippling economic meltdown and political deadlock, a seemingly odd question was added on Sunday to...

Sheikh Thani Bin Abdullah Bin Thani Al-Thani of Qatar, who serves as a UNHCR advocate, has been the biggest contributor to the fund, providing more than $110 million to date, or more than half of total contributions.

Lebanon and the IMF reached a conditional agreement in April 2022 on a $3-billion-dollar loan needed to save the country's economy, in free fall since 2019. But nearly a year after Beirut signed the agreement, officials have yet to enact the substantial changes required to kickstart the 46-month financing program.

Lebanon's economic meltdown, described by the World Bank as one of the worst in recent global history, has plunged most of the population into poverty, according to the UN. Many of the hundreds protesting on Wednesday were retired servicemen whose army pensions have lost most of their value, and depositors...

Lebanese central bank governor Riad Salameh maintained his innocence following a second day of questioning before European investigators in Beirut as part of a probe into his personal wealth. Salameh, 72, is part of the Lebanese political elite widely blamed for a crushing economic crisis that began in late 2019.

Salameh had been summoned to appear on Wednesday but failed to show up, alleging that "the presence of international judges in Lebanon and the investigation into the financial matters is in conflict with national sovereignty". The judiciary rejected his claim and the session was rescheduled for Thursday.

BEIRUT, LEBANON - The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Thursday it had not observed any border crossings after Israel said it killed a suspect wearing an explosive belt who may have entered from Lebanon. The Israeli army said on Wednesday it was probing the possible involvement of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement...

Salameh had been summoned to appear at Beirut's justice palace on Wednesday morning but objected to the session and instead sent a legal representative, the judicial official told AFP on condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Western fashion was once largely taboo in Saudi Arabia, but with the kingdom undergoing great social changes, a designer is welcomed home to mentor its Fashion Commission.

Officially pegged at 15,000 to the dollar, the pound was trading at 100,000 against the greenback, dealers said -- a dizzying plunge from 1,507 before the economic crisis hit in 2019. The currency's market value was at around 60,000 to the dollar in late January.

A Lebanese judge has asked central bank chief Riad Salameh to appear before visiting European investigators, a judicial official said Monday, part of a multinational probe into his personal wealth. The embattled central bank chief faces embezzlement accusations in separate investigations in Lebanon and abroad, looking into the fortune he...

Israeli airstrikes targeting a weapons depot in Syria killed two pro-Iran fighters and wounded three soldiers, a war monitor said. "Israeli strikes targeted a weapons depot belonging to pro-Iran forces located... between Tartus and Hama provinces," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Beirut, Lebanon - Lebanon's commercial banks do not have enough liquidity to pay back depositors, the secretary general of the country's banking association said on Wednesday The letter that laid out the banks' positions, was signed by the Association of the Banks of Lebanon (ABL)'s Fadi Khalaf.  The letter said...

Decades of unsustainable policies and fundamental neglect, capture of state resources by elites, alleged corruption, and vested interests cripple the power sector in Lebanon.

Lebanon opened its probe following a request for assistance from Switzerland's public prosecutor probing more than $300 million in fund movements by Riad Salameh and his brother. Last month, Swiss media reported that 12 banks in the European country had received a large part of the money Salameh is alleged...

Lebanon is navigating a devastating economic crisis that has plunged more than 80 percent of the population into poverty. Strikes and absenteeism have paralyzed public services, the state is barely able to provide a few hours of mains electricity a day, and the local currency has lost most of its...

In February, Economy Minister Amin Salaam announced that supermarkets would be able to start pricing items in dollars, while customers could pay in dollars or Lebanese pounds at the volatile market rate. Domestically produced fruit and vegetables were still priced in the local currency. Some restaurants and clothing shops had...

Beirut, Lebanon--Lebanon intends to triple the tariffs it charges on imports in local currency, as the state seeks to boost its revenues amid a worsening economic crisis. Caretaker finance minister Youssef Khalil requested to change the rate at which customs fees are calculated from 15,000 pounds per U.S. dollar to...

Lebanese central bank chief Riad Salameh is accused of embezzling millions of dollars. He faces faces investigations related to suspicions of money laundering and illicit enrichment in Lebanon and abroad after he amassed a fortune in the country mired in financial crisis.

Youssef Akiki believes he may be the last commercial maker of the sheep wool "labbadeh", a waterproof and warm cap colored off-white, grey, brown or black.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia--The Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) will support UNICEF with funding in order to contain the spread of waterborne diseases in Lebanon. In this regard an agreement was signed in Riyadh by Prince Abdulaziz bin Talal bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AGFUND, and...

Riad Salameh, who became the head of the central bank in 1993, has come under increased scrutiny both at home and abroad

The death toll from an attack blamed on the Islamic State group in Syria has risen to 68, a war monitor said, the deadliest attack in over a year. "A total of 61 civilians and seven soldiers have been killed in the attack," said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the...

Lebanon's cash-strapped banks have imposed strict restrictions on withdrawals, barring depositors from accessing their savings, especially those in US dollars.

With Lebanon's political and economic crisis showing no signs of abating, its currency on Wednesday hit a record low against the dollar on the black market. The pound has lost more than 95 percent of its value against the greenback since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2019.

They have warned they will reconsider "all ties" with Lebanon if parliament fails to elect a president amid a worsening financial crisis. The warning came after the ambassadors or representatives of the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt met Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut.

Lebanon has adopted a policy of dissociation from Syria's years-long war but on Wednesday, it sent its first high-level official delegation and rescue team to Damascus since the start of the conflict. The delegation met with Assad and expressed readiness to open Lebanon's air and sea ports to help send...

Lebanese Banks Association is demanding a capital control law that would enshrine informal restrictions on withdrawals in hard currency and Lebanese pounds.

The Paris gathering is to be attended by representatives from France, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. Lebanon is being run by a caretaker government and is also without a president as lawmakers have repeatedly failed to elect a successor to Michel Aoun, whose mandate expired at the...

Lebanon, whose flag bears a cedar tree, is known for its greenery, with forests covering 13 percent of its territory.

The Lebanese pound has been officially pegged at 1,507 to the greenback since 1997, but its market value began to slide in late 2019 and hit record lows of more than 60,000 this month. "Starting tomorrow, one dollar will be worth 15,000," a central bank source told AFP Tuesday. "There...

"This very important commitment gives us the opportunity to support Lebanon’s economic development, at this critical juncture. And I want to assure our brothers in Lebanon that Qatar will always be there in support of a better future for Lebanon and its people," he adds.

The deal will see the state-run QatarEnergy receive a minority 30 percent stake in two blocks of Lebanon's exclusive economic zone, according to Lebanese caretaker PM Najib Mikati. French company TotalEnergies and Italy's Eni will both retain 35 percent shares in the blocks.

Beirut, Lebanon--Two Lebanese lawmakers on Friday entered the second week of a sit-in inside the crisis-hit country's parliamentary chamber, vowing to remain inside until fellow MPs elect a new president. Parliamentarians Najat Saliba and Melhem Khalaf, both independents, began their protest on January 19, after colleagues met and failed for an...

Since its early days, the probe has faced a slew of political and legal challenges, with high-level officials who had been charged in the case filing lawsuits against the judge investigating them. In December 2020, lead investigator Fadi Sawan had charged former prime minister Hassan Diab - who had resigned...

The central bank "took a decision to freeze all the accounts" of Hassan Moukalled as well as those of his sons Rayyan and Rani and two businesses that he owns, it said in a statement. The US Treasury had issued the sanctions on Tuesday, calling Moukalled "a corrupt money exchanger...

Families of victims killed in the 2020 Beirut blast rallied to support the judge probing the disaster, after he was charged by Lebanon's top prosecutor in the case. Security was tight at the palace of justice in Beirut, where dozens of family members of the victims gathered to support the...

Investigative judge Tarek Bitar crossed all red lines earlier this week by daring to charge several powerful figures over the blast and reviving a probe that was suspended for over a year amid vehement political and legal pushback. One of history's biggest non-nuclear explosions, the August 4, 2020 blast destroyed...

Lebanese protesters blocked roads and burnt tires near the central bank in Beirut as the local currency plummeted to a new low against the dollar. Since 2019, Lebanon has been in an economic crisis dubbed by the World Bank as one of the worst in recent global history, pushing much...

Ghassan Oueidat had in 2019 overseen a security services investigation into cracks in the warehouse where the ammonium nitrate was stored. In total, 13 people are being prosecuted, including five officials whom Judge Tarek Bitar indicted earlier.

The August 4, 2020 explosion at the Beirut port killed more than 200 people and destroyed swathes of the capital. Authorities said tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer haphazardly stocked in a port warehouse since 2014 had caught fire, causing one of history's largest non-nuclear explosions.

A survey published by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia says poverty levels can reach 36 percent of the total population in 2024.

Prosecutors from Germany, France and Luxembourg have been in Beirut as part of the money laundering investigation. 

Continuing with their probe into Lebanon's money laundering and embezzlement, investigators from Europe will question Lebanon's central bank chief Riad Salameh next month as part of a probe into his and his brother's affairs, according to a judicial official. Both Salameh and his brother Raja deny any wrongdoing.

"We slept here, and we hope that today will bring new hope to Lebanon," said lawmaker Najat Saliba in a video posted on social media on Friday. Fellow MP Melhem Khalaf said it was urgent to elect a president "who can save Lebanon", in an online message posted the night before.

Investigators from France, Germany and Luxembourg began hearing witnesses Monday as part of the case of suspected financial misconduct including possible money laundering and embezzlement.

European investigators began questioning high-profile witnesses in Lebanon as part of a probe into central bank governor Riad Salameh's wealth, a judicial official said. The long-serving central bank chief is among top officials widely blamed for Lebanon's unprecedented economic crisis, dubbed one of the worst globally in recent modern history...

Lebanon has charged seven people for participating in an attack against United Nations peacekeepers that killed one Irish soldier in mid-December, a judicial official said. Private Sean Rooney, 23, was killed and three others injured on December 14 when their UN Interim Force in Lebanon vehicle was attacked near Al-Aqbiya...

On Twitter, UNIFIL confirmed it was assisting the Lebanese Navy "in search and rescue operation at sea between Beirut & Tripoli where a boat in distress with a large number of people on board was found."