Heavily indebted Lebanon has passed a budget seen as a “first step” towards fixing its public finances but still has much to do to steer the country away from crisis. Investors are waiting to see if Gulf Arabs will offer a lifeline that may provide some breathing space. Lebanon has one of the world’s heaviest public debt burdens, after years of ...

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Tuesday signaled reservations about International Monetary Fund (IMF) proposals for Lebanon which he said included floating the Lebanese pound, which has been pegged at its current level for more than two decades. Hariri was speaking on the first day of a three-day parliamentary session that is expected to approve a state budget ...

Hundreds of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon protested in the capital Beirut and around their refugee camps against the government’s crackdown on businesses hiring foreign workers without permits. Demonstrators on Tuesday also demanded the Lebanese ministry of labour overturn a rule that requires Palestinian workers to obtain a work permit in order to gain employment. Last month, the ministry announced a one-month deadline for companies ...

A press conference scheduled for Monday evening to announce the joint run of Israel’s four Arab-majority parties in Knesset in the September 17 election, was called off at the last moment because two of the four parties said they would boycott it. The press conference was called by the Hadash and United Arab List parties with the blessing of a ...

CAIRO – 15 July 2019: An Egyptian security delegation arrived in Kuwait on Monday three days after the arrest of eight Egyptian fugitives convicted of supporting and financing militant operations in Egypt by the Kuwaiti Security Apparatus. The detection of the cell affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood – which is outlawed in Egypt – is a result of the interrogation ...

This year’s blockbuster ‘The Passage’ makes evident that despite political shifts, the line of defense of the country’s artists and intellectuals hasn’t changed The Egyptian 2019 film “The Passage” cost 100 million Egyptian pounds ($6 million) to produce – the costliest production in the history of Egyptian cinema, and apparently also the most profitable. In only two weeks, the film has brought ...

CAIRO (Reuters) – A museum commemorating the life and works of Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz has opened in Cairo, nearly 13 years after the Nobel laureate’s death. The Naguib Mahfouz Museum and Creativity Centre houses the belongings and personal library of Mahfouz, who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature – the only Arab to do so. The centre, in ...

Hanane Hajj Ali has two coping mechanisms for life: jogging and theatre. The first staves off osteoporosis and depression, but it also brings her into close contact with Beirut, the city that has put the actress, writer and activist through 30 years of war. Pounding the streets every morning, Ali observes the “savage transformation of Beirut” and confronts her complicated relationship ...

Palestinians on Monday denounced a campaign by the Lebanese Ministry of Labor against illegal foreign workers in the country. Residents of Al-Rashidiya refugee camp in southern Lebanon burned tires and blocked the entrances to the camp to protest the crackdown on illegal foreign workers. The protesters announced they will not allow Lebanese goods to enter Al-Rashidiya. The campaign earlier is ...

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Culture Minister Mohamed Daoud toured the city of Aley accompanied by several Arab ambassadors. The visit, aimed at promoting tourism in the region, included UAE Ambassador Hamad Saeed Al-Shamsi, Algeria’s Ambassador Ahmed Bouziane, Mohammed Karin (Morocco), Karim Boudali (Tunisia), Ambassador Nazih Al-Najari (Egypt), Badr bin Mohammad Al-Mantheri (Oman) and the charge d’affaires of the Saudi Embassy, Majed Abu ...