Middle East Experience

Surfside's mayor expressed fear the entire Jewish neighborhood building could collapse after part of it collapsed.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: 1 dead, 51 missing after building collapse in Miami Jewish neighborhood

JPost One-on-One weekly 'Zoomcast': Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman with Prof. Cyrille Cohen, head of immunotherapy at Bar-Ilan University
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Will coronavirus ever go away?

Lebanon’s central bank asked the government on Thursday to provide it with a legal basis to lend it foreign currency from mandatory reserves to fund subsidized fuel imports.The statement by the bank came after a meeting with President Michel Aoun and caretaker energy minister Raymond Ghajar earlier on Thursday to discuss worsening fuel shortages across the country.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“If the government insists on borrowing ... it should approve the suitable legal framework that would allow the central bank to use the liquidity provided by the mandatory reserves,” the bank said.It did not specify what legal framework would be required to allow it to lend to the government from the reserves.Mandatory reserves, hard currency deposits parked by local lenders at the central bank, represent a percentage of customer deposits and are usually not drawn upon except in exceptional circumstances, with the correct legal permission.The bank said it could, under the law, lend to the government from such reserves during circumstances of “exceptional danger”, as Lebanon was going through now.The country is in the throes of a deep economic crisis that is posing the worst threat to its stability since the 1975-1990 civil war. Shortages of fuel in past weeks have forced motorists to queue for hours for dribbles of gasoline, with squabbles erupting among frustrated citizens.The request is an indication that Lebanon has all but run out of foreign reserves to fund a program that subsidizes basic goods such as wheat, fuel and medicine. The program costs Lebanon around $6 billion a year, half of which is spent on fuel.The central bank, which again called for setting up a new government to begin reforms, said the subsidies scheme was important for the country’s social and economic stability, but had to be streamlined to cut waste.Read more:Lebanon raises price of bread amid crippling economic crisisLebanon’s migrants working at petrol stations feel the pain of fuel shortagesMore blackouts expected as Lebanon private generators starved of fuel
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Lebanon central bank says use of reserves to fund fuel imports needs legal basis

The Mossad-CIA story in the Mike Pompeo, Yossi Cohen era
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Pompeo to 'Post': Iran unwound nuclear deal in a matter of months

Rather than promoting peace, the delegitimization and boycott efforts have the opposite effect.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: My Word: The apartheid label and libel

Tunisian official news agency TAP reported Thursday that full lockdown will be decreed in worst-hit areas. The agency, which quoted Sami Mourali, a member of the scientific committee to fight the coronavirus, said target areas are those where incidence is of 400 infections per 100,000 persons..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: As toll rises, Tunisia to decree full lockdown in COVID worst-hit areas

Rudolph Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and a lawyer for former US president Donald Trump, has been suspended from law practice in New York state, a New York state appeals court ruled.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Rudy Giuliani is suspended from law practice in New York State

Russia is promoting its archaeological and historical restoration projects in Syria, as it tries to expand its influence in Syria by dominating the Syrian antiquities sector.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Russia presses soft power in Syria by restoring Palmyra, Apamea

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister on Friday approved a proposal to finance fuel imports at the rate of 3,900 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, instead of the previous 1,500 pound rate, amidst worsening gasoline shortages.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The weaker exchange rate, which will effectively decrease the subsidy on fuel, is expected to raise the price of gasoline for consumers but enable the government to supply fuel for a longer period of time.Lebanon is in the throes of a financial crisis described by the World Bank as one of the deepest depressions of modern history. Fuel shortages in past weeks have forced motorists to queue for hours for dribbles of gasoline.Lebanon’s subsidy program, introduced last year as the country’s economic meltdown translated to harsher living conditions, covers basic goods such as wheat, medicine and fuel and costs around $6 billion a year.Half of that amount is spent on fuel.Lebanon’s central bank asked the government on Thursday to provide it with a legal basis to lend it foreign currency from its mandatory reserves to fund the subsidized fuel imports, an indication that the bank has all but run out of reserves.Mandatory reserves - hard currency deposits parked by local lenders at the central bank - represent a percentage of customer deposits and are usually not drawn upon except in exceptional circumstances, with the correct legal permission.Lebanon’s foreign currency reserves stood at slightly more than $15 billion in March. The Central Bank has not given an updated figure since then.Read more:Lebanon central bank says use of reserves to fund fuel imports needs legal basisLebanon’s migrants working at petrol stations feel the pain of fuel shortagesLebanon raises price of bread amid crippling economic crisis
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Lebanon caretaker PM approves financing fuel imports at weaker exchange rate

Veterinarians in Gaza are warning that the lack of medicines and fodder will affect animals who have suffered injuries or psychological problems during the latest Israeli war.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Gaza’s pets also traumatized by Israeli shelling