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Amid Lebanon's Economic Crisis, The Country's Health Care System Is Ailing

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by npr.org -- DEBORAH AMOS -- LAMA AL-ARIAN -- Like many Lebanese, Jesuit priest Gabriel Khairallah has been on the front lines of anti-government protests for more than three months. "I mean, what am I doing on the front? I am against corruption and seeking social justice, and the same for the doctors," he says. He's done much more than protest on the streets — in recent weeks, he also opened a low-cost medical clinic in the annex of Beirut's St. Joseph Church.

In Khairallah's clinic, which is run mostly by volunteers, the cost of a visit is about $5 and is waived for those who can't afford it. More than 30 doctors serve on a rotating basis, providing specialized care in cardiology, pediatrics, gynecology and orthopedics. Khairallah also corralled pharmacies to donate certain medicines. "We are collecting from every person of goodwill," says Khairallah. "We are not expecting a miracle. We hope to create a place where people feel respected."

A perfect economic storm

The need for such a clinic arose as Lebanon's economic woes sparked spontaneous mass protests last October. A million people took to the streets. Initially, anger surged over a new tax on Internet voice-call services, and expanded to demand the ouster of the government. The protests, peaceful for months, grew more violent in December, as riot police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to stop thousands from demonstrating in front of the parliament building. Lebanon is one of the most indebted nations in the world. For decades, the central bank serviced debt by offering high interest rates to attract capital. "But it reached a point that people began to realize it's not sustainable and the government is just accumulating more debt and the banks are further away from solvency," says Paul Salem, president of the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. Over the past 18 months, with a decline in oil prices, remittances from Lebanese working in the Gulf also have shrunk. "It's causing a reverse sucking motion," Salem says, "with people not sending money and trying to pull their money out."

Doubts Persist for Dem Voters About Female Nominee in 2020

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Doubts Persist for Dem Voters About Female Nominee in 2020

Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. greet each prior to the start of the Democratic presidential primary debate in Manchester, N.H. Friday.

by AP -- In a perfect world, Susan Stepp, a 73-year-old retiree, would be voting vote for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in New Hampshire's Democratic presidential primary Tuesday, she says. But that won't be happening. “I am not sure a woman is the best candidate to go up against Trump,” Stepp said recently as she stood in the back of a conference room listening to tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang as part of her hunt for the best candidate to challenge the Republican incumbent. Stepp's concern has coursed through the Democratic primary for months, registering in polling, interviews and, now, the first votes cast. In Iowa's caucuses last Monday, many Democrats did not prioritize breaking the gender barrier to the Oval Office and they viewed being a woman as a hindrance rather than an advantage in the race.

Only about one-third of Iowa caucusgoers backed a female candidate. Topping the caucus field were two men, former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders,. Women were only slightly more likely than men to back one of the three women in the race, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 3,000 Iowa voters. Most Iowa Democrats said it was important for a woman to be president in their lifetimes. But many voters, including about half of all women, said a female nominee would have a harder time beating Donald Trump in November. “He will just use that against her, like he did Hillary," Stepp said, looking back to Trump's 2016 race against Hillary Clinton in 2016. "He doesn’t debate. He just insults. I don’t think he would have that same effect if he went up against a strong man.” Stepp said she plans to vote for Sanders. Those perceptions present an undeniable headwind for the women in the race, who have spent months making the case that a woman can win. As they seek success in New Hampshire, both Warren and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar must work to energize voters about the chance to make history and persuade them it is possible this year, in this race against this president. “In 2020, we can and should have a woman for president," Warren said at a CNN town hall this past week, days after taking third in Iowa. Klobuchar came in fifth. The Associated Press has not called a winner in the Iowa caucus because the race is too close to call.

Swiss can't keep up with the times

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Swiss watches are getting out of date. Last year, Apple alone sold more watches than the entire Swiss watch industry combined, according to figures compiled by Strategy Analytics. Apple shipped an estimated 31 million smartwatches worldwide in 2019 — a 36% increase from the year before. Classic brands like TAG Heuer, Tissot and Swatch together sold 10 million fewer timepieces, as the Swiss watch industry saw a 13% dip in sales. It’s the first time Apple has outsold Swiss competitors over an entire year.

Lebanon's Aoun Says France, Along With Other States, Ready to Help Country Amid Economic Crisis

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French President Emmanuel Macron meets with Lebanese President Michel Aoun at the United Nations headquarter

by sputniknews.com -- Aoun wrote on his official Twitter account that Lebanon plans to work with its international partners to fight corruption. "I talked on the phone with French President Emmanuel Macron … A number of countries, first of all, France, have expressed readiness to help Lebanon", the press office of the Lebanese presidency quoted Aoun as saying on Twitter on Saturday." Lebanon’s new government adopted a program of measures this month aimed at preventing the country’s economy from collapsing. The country’s banking system will be revised as part of the new plan. The plan is set to be approved next week by parliament, which also needs to hold a vote of confidence in the new Lebanese government. In January, a new cabinet was formed in Lebanon. The government of Saad Hariri, consisting of 30 ministers, resigned in late October of last year, amid large-scale anti-government protests triggered by an economic crisis.

Lebanese president vows to get security situation under control

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BEIRUT, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun assured on Friday that he will not allow the security situation to get out of control, said a presidency statement. "It is very important to control the security situation in order to maintain stability and civil peace, and protect the image of the state and its institutions," the president said during a meeting for the Higher Defense Council. Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab stressed during the meeting the need to intensify coordinated efforts among security and military agencies to preserve stability and take precautionary measures to avoid any negative developments. The meeting comes ahead of the parliament's meeting next week to discuss the cabinet's ministerial statement and vote on it at a time when protesters are threatening to cut off the roads leading to the parliament. Lebanon has recently witnessed several conflicts between riot police, security forces and protesters. Protesters, who have been in the streets since Oct. 17 last year, are demanding a government of specialists who are totally independent from political parties, to fight corruption, prosecute corrupt people, and hold early parliamentary elections. Supported by the parliamentary majority forces, Diab formed a government that includes 19 ministers of specialists and academics on Jan. 21.

New Lebanese Cabinet Approves Economic Policy Blueprint

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By Najia Houssari Financial Prosecutor Judge Ali Ibrahim on Thursday met with the Banking Control Commission of Lebanon (BCCL) to discuss claims that the owners of five Lebanese banks had moved personal funds worth $2.3 billion abroad. The meeting took place on the same day as Lebanon’s new Cabinet approved a policy statement aimed at rescuing the debt-ridden country from one of its worst economic crises in decades. The ministerial statement will now be submitted for discussion at a session of Parliament planned for next week. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday revealed the bankers’ transfers and expressed his “concern over the fate of the depositors’ money.”

The BCCL has described the information on the transfers as “inaccurate” and pointed out that “all banks have made transfers, and the law does not have the right to learn who the owners are.” Berri is opposed to any attempt by banks to impose capital controls on clients’ deposits despite savings restrictions and limits on dollar transfers abroad having been in place since November last year. Meanwhile, activists in the country’s civil movement have called for new street protests against the ministerial statement which they have branded as “a revised version of the previous government’s data that does not take peoples’ demands into consideration.”

Bloodied but determined, Lebanese protesters take stock

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By AJ Naddaff BEIRUT (AP) — At a Beirut hospital ward, five Lebanese protesters with bandaged eyes and faces huddled in a circle, their arms wrapped around each other, and they vowed to be back on the streets soon, despite their wounds from recent clashes with police. “We are coming back,” said one of them, 20-year-old Charbel Francis. Such resolve by some protesters signals that demands for sweeping government reforms won’t be squashed easily, even as security forces throw up cement barriers and resort to more violent means of crowd control, such as rubber bullets. But the recent descent into clashes after three months of peaceful protests has also triggered introspection and divisions among the demonstrators about their next moves. More than 500 people, including over 100 security forces, have been injured in confrontations outside the Parliament building in downtown Beirut last month.

Most of the injuries occurred on January 18. For hours, protesters hurled stones, firecrackers and flares at police who responded by firing tear gas, water cannons and shooting rubber bullets. More than 150 people were injured that night, many of them struck in the head and eyes. It was a shocking reversal for a popular uprising against a corrupt political class that started in mid-October and had been characterised by its striking peacefulness — particularly compared to the bloodbath in Iraq, where a similar uprising has resulted in the death of more than 500 protesters since October, most of them shot dead by security forces.