BEIRUT: The Lebanese government will resume negotiations with the International Monetary Fund while beginning reforms demanded by donors, according to a draft policy program that aims to tackle one of the worst financial meltdowns in history.
New Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government will also resume negotiations with creditors over a restructuring of public debt on which Lebanon defaulted last year, the draft seen by Reuters on Wednesday said.
The government was agreed on Friday after more than a year of political conflict over seats in cabinet that left the country rudderless as more than three-quarters of the population fell into poverty and shortages crippled normal life.
The cabinet is due to meet on Thursday to approve the draft, which will then go to a vote of confidence in parliament.
Underscoring the gravity of the situation, the policy program was drawn up in a matter of days, much faster than the weeks the process has taken in the past.
The draft said the government was committed to resuming talks with the IMF for a short- and medium-term support plan.
Donors want to see Lebanon enact reforms, including measures to tackle the corruption and graft that led to the economic collapse, before they will unlock billions of dollars of assistance already earmarked for the country.
Talks with the IMF broke down last summer when Lebanon’s political elite and banking sector objected to the scale of financial losses set out in a recovery plan drawn up by the previous government.
The draft program said the Mikati government would renew and develop the previous financial recovery plan, which set out a shortfall in the financial system of some $90 billion — a figure endorsed by the IMF.
The government will also draw up a plan to “correct the situation of (the) banking sector,” which has been paralyzed since late 2019, the draft said.
Lebanon’s financial system unraveled in late 2019.
The root cause was decades of profligate spending by the state and the unsustainable way in which it was financed.
As dollars dried up, depositors were frozen out of their accounts. The value of hard currency savings has plummeted by up to 80 percent since then, with the Lebanese pound collapsing by 90 percent from a peg that had existed for more than two decades.
The program draft said the government was committed to all the articles set out in a reform initiative drawn up by France, which has been at the forefront of efforts to help Lebanon.
The government will work with parliament to pass a capital control law, the draft document said.
It also said parliamentary elections due next spring would be held on time.
Lebanon to resume IMF talks, begin reforms, draft policy statement says
https://arab.news/ve2q8
Lebanon to resume IMF talks, begin reforms, draft policy statement says
- New government will also resume negotiations with creditors over a restructuring of public debt
- The draft said the government was committed to resuming talks with the IMF for a short- and medium-term support plan
Newcastle agree $74.30 million fee for Brentford’s Wissa
- The 28-year-old DR Congo international has been the number one target for Newcastle
LONDON: Newcastle United have agreed a fee of 55 million pounds ($74.30 million) to sign Brentford striker Yoane Wissa, according to English media reports.
The 28-year-old DR Congo international has been the number one target for Newcastle since it became clear their striker Alexander Isak wanted to join Liverpool.
Isak was poised to complete a British record 125 million-pound move to the Premier League champions on Monday.
Wissa scored 45 goals in 137 Premier League appearances for Brentford since arriving from French club Lorient but has not featured this season as he held out for a move.
Last week he issued a statement via social media pleading with Brentford to allow him to join Newcastle.
Wissa, who had two years of his contract remaining at Brentford, is expected to have a medical at Newcastle later on Monday before completing his move.
His arrival will be a boost to Newcastle manager Eddie Howe whose side have had two 0-0 draws in their opening three games.
Pakistan uses drones to help rescuers evacuate thousands as floods devastate Punjab
- Since last week, rescuers, backed by the military and emergency services, have evacuated more than 700,000 people
- Punjab government saays drones deployed this week in Multan, Jhang and other districts, with priority to save lives
JHANG, Pakistan: Emergency workers in Pakistan’s Punjab province used drones to find people stranded on rooftops by massive floods as the government expanded what it called its largest rescue operation, with more than 700,000 evacuated, officials said Monday.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department warned of more heavy rain in Punjab’s flood-hit districts and elsewhere in the country, where weeks of above-normal rainfall and the release of huge volumes of water from dams in neighboring India last week caused rivers to overflow into low-lying regions.
In Multan and Jhang districts, residents on Monday waded through floodwaters carrying their belongings to roadsides and higher ground. They said they had waited for rescuers before crossing on their own nearly 5-foot (1 1/2-meter) -deep water to reach safety, while many others remained stranded.
Since last week, rescuers, backed by the military and emergency services, have evacuated more than 700,000 people, said Irfan Ali Kathia, director general of the Punjab Disaster Management Authority. More than 500,000 farm animals were also moved to safety, he said.
“We are handling an unprecedented situation, and we are responding to the country’s biggest-ever floods by using the latest technology and all available resources to save lives,” Kathia told The Associated Press. The Punjab government said drones were deployed this week in Multan, Jhang and other districts.
“Our priority is to save lives and ensure a steady supply of essential items to survivors,” Kathia said.
The deluge has swamped Narowal, Sialkot and Kasur districts while entire villages have been submerged in Jhang and Multan.
‘Everything is gone’
On dusty roadside embankments, displaced families complained of being abandoned.
“We have been destroyed. Everything is gone in the flood,” said Haleema Bibi, 54, who fled her damaged home in Jhang with seven relatives. They now shelter under the open sky without tents or food.
“Whatever we had to eat has nearly finished. You can see how miserably we are living,” she told The Associated Press.
Allah Ditta, a farmer from the same district, said he and his neighbors slept on plastic sheets and carts. “Rescuers came once by boat, but no one has brought us supplies. We keep looking to the road, hoping someone will come with help,” he said.
Authorities in Punjab say they had set up more than 1,000 relief camps, but government figures show that only about 36,550 of over 800,000 evacuees are housed in them. It is unclear where the vast majority were staying.
Evacuations also took place in southern Sindh province, where Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah warned of a possible “super flood” of the Indus River if water levels top 900,000 cubic feet per second.
Officials blame the catastrophic flooding on weeks of heavier-than-normal monsoon rains, compounded by cross-border waters released from India’s swollen rivers and dams last week. The Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej rivers rose simultaneously, inundating wide swaths of farmland and villages.
India had alerted Pakistan about the water release, marking the rivals’ first public diplomatic contact since a military crisis brought them to the brink of war in May.
Punjab, home to some 150 million people and the country’s main wheat-growing region, has recorded 33 flood-related deaths in 10 days — far fewer than the catastrophic 2022 floods — but damage is widespread.
Pakistan’s weather center said Punjab received 26.5 percent more monsoon rainfall between July 1 and Aug. 27 compared with the same period last year. Nationwide, at least 854 people have died in rain-related incidents since late June.
Pakistan’s monsoon season typically lasts until the end of September.
Pakistan offers support as Afghanistan earthquake kills over 800, injures 2,500
- Magnitude 6 earthquake on Sunday night causes devastation in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Nangarhar provinces
- Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, with one in June 2022 killing at least 1,000 people across country
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered support to Afghanistan on Monday as it reels from one of its deadliest earthquakes, which officials say have killed over 800 people and wounded more than 2,500.
The magnitude 6 earthquake killed at least 800 people and injured over 2,500 in Afghanistan’s eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar when it took place on Sunday night, Afghan government spokesman Mawlawi Zabihullah Mujahid said. The jolts were felt in several areas of northwestern Pakistan on Sunday night, including the country’s capital Islamabad. However, Pakistan did not report any loss of lives from the calamity.
“On behalf of the people and government of Pakistan, I extend my heartfelt condolences & prayers to the bereaved families,” Sharif wrote on social media platform X. “We stand in solidarity with our Afghan brothers & sisters in this hour of grief, and we are ready to extend all possible support in this regard.”
The earthquake leveled homes of mud and stone in Afghanistan’s areas bordering Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The quake was Afghanistan’s deadliest since June 2022, when tremors of magnitude 6.1 killed at least 1,000 people in the country.
The devastation also prompted UN Secretary General António Guterres to offer support to Afghanistan.
“The UN team in Afghanistan is mobilized and will spare no effort to assist those in need in the affected areas,” Guterres wrote on X.
Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
A series of earthquakes in its western region killed more than 1,000 people last year, underscoring the vulnerability of one of the world’s poorest countries to natural disasters.
There are fears that the disaster will further stretch the resources of the country, which is already grappling with humanitarian crises, from a sharp drop in aid to a huge pushback of its citizens from neighboring countries Pakistan and Iran.
Israel sends tanks deeper in Gaza City, more families flee
- Residents said Israeli forces sent old armored vehicles into the eastern parts of the overcrowded Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, then blew them up remotely, destroying several houses and forcing more families to flee
CAIRO: Israel pushed tanks deeper into Gaza City and detonated explosives-laden vehicles in one suburb as airstrikes killed at least 19 people on Monday, Palestinian officials and witnesses said.
Reports of the offensive came as the president of the world’s leading genocide scholars’ association said it had passed a resolution saying the legal criteria have been met to establish that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
There was no immediate response from Israel on the reported offensive or on the statement from the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Israel has in the past strongly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
The Israeli military said its forces were continuing to fight Hamas across the enclave and over the past day had struck several military structures and outposts that had been used to stage attacks on its troops.
Residents said Israeli forces sent old armored vehicles into the eastern parts of the overcrowded Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, then blew them up remotely, destroying several houses and forcing more families to flee.
Israel is pushing ahead with a plan to take full control of the whole Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City, with the goal of destroying Hamas after nearly two years of war.
In leaflets dropped over Gaza City, its military told residents to head south immediately, saying the army intended to expand its offensive westward of the city.
“People are confused, stay and die, or leave toward nowhere,” Sheikh Radwan resident Mohammad Abu Abdallah told Reuters.
“It was a night of horror, explosions never stopped, and the drones never stopped hovering over the area. Many people quit their homes fearing for their lives, while others have no idea where to go,” the 55-year-old said over a chat app.
SECURITY CABINET CONVENED
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet late on Sunday to discuss a new offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as the bastion of Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Local health authorities said the 14 people, including women and children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on houses in Gaza City as tanks briefly crossed into Sheikh Radwan.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on those reports.
A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.
Israel’s military has warned its political leaders that the planned Gaza City offensive could endanger hostages still being held by Hamas. Protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and the release of the hostages have intensified in past weeks.
The war began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 251 taken hostage. Twenty of the remaining 48 hostages are believed to still be alive.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 63,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials, and it has plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis and left much of it in ruins.
Ceasefire talks ended in July in deadlock and efforts to revive them have so far failed.
Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera speaks on Gaza protests
- Thousands of anti-war protesters attended a march at the festival at the weekend
DUBAI: Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera spoke to Deadline magazine at the midway point of the famed Italian event and touched on the ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza and related protests in Venice.
Thousands of anti-war protesters attended a march on Saturday, with Barbera telling Deadline the protesters did not wish to enter the festival grounds.
“They didn’t want to enter. I think around 30 people tried. I asked the organizers of the protest whether they wanted to send a delegation to the red carpet and they said they weren’t interested in doing that and that they didn’t want to interfere with the festival.”
When pushed by Deadline, whose journalist Andreas Wiseman said: “I thought they had said they wanted to march to the festival center,” Barbera countered with: “No, I don’t think so. I offered them a place on the carpet and they said no.”
Plans for the protest gained momentum after Venice4Palestine, an organization of Italian and international film professionals, issued an open letter last weekend calling on the festival to condemn the suffering caused by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
In Deadline’s interview, published on Sunday, Barbera said: “We made an initial statement and then at the pre-opening of the festival the president of the Biennale made a very strong statement against the war in Gaza. There was a priest alongside him who had been refused entry to Israel in recent weeks and who has been very supportive of Palestine.”
When asked if he would make a personal statement, Barbera said: “I would do but the Biennale doesn’t make political statements. That’s the reason I haven’t so far.”
When it comes to the roster of international films on the festival’s screening agenda, Barbera said: “There are very few Palestinian films each year, this year even less perhaps, because of the war. I saw only one film that could have had the profile of a Competition film. It wasn’t quite good enough for us, from my point of view, so we declined and I think the film will screen at another festival.”
