Latest Beirut News

Lebanese women wear masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. Lebanon, a country of nearly 5 million and over 1 million refugees, is going through an unprecedented economic crisis that preceded the pandemic and restrictions imposed to combat it. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Protesters in Lebanon clash with police over virus lockdown

Jan. 27, 2021 3:36 PM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese security forces opened fire in violent clashes Wednesday with dozens of protesters who took to the street in the country’s north for a third consecutive day to denounce deteriorating living conditions amid a strict lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. At least...

Lebanese protesters block a road with barrels and burned garbage containers during a protest against strict lockdown measures in Tripoli, north Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. Lebanon has hit a new daily record for COVID-19 fatalities, as protesters took to the streets for a second day to denounce strict lockdown measures put in place to curb an exhausting surge in infections. (AP Photo)

Lebanon surpasses record daily virus deaths amid protests

Jan. 26, 2021 4:11 PM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon hit a new daily record for COVID-19 fatalities Tuesday, registering 73 deaths as protesters took to the streets for a second day to denounce strict lockdown measures put in place to curb an exhausting surge in infections. The health ministry said the number of virus-related deaths,...

In this photo released by Lebanon's official government photographer Dalati Nohra, Lebanese Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbi, left, meets with Switzerland's ambassador to Lebanon Monika Schmutz Kirgöz, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Wehbi held talks Monday with Kirgöz days after Switzerland started a probe into possible money laundering and embezzlement at the country's central bank. (Dalati Nohra via AP)

Swiss envoy, Lebanese FM holds talks amid central bank probe

Jan. 25, 2021 7:39 AM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s foreign minister held talks Monday with the Swiss ambassador to Beirut after Switzerland started a probe into possible money laundering and embezzlement at the Mideast country’s central bank. Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbi and ambassador Monika Schmutz Kirgoz did not...

A medical staffer takes care of COVID-19 patients at the intensive care unit of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. Hospitals in Lebanon are reaching full capacity amid a dramatic surge in coronavirus cases across the crisis-hit Mediterranean nation even amid strict lockdown. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Top Lebanese hospitals fight exhausting battle against virus

Jan. 23, 2021 12:28 AM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — Death stalks the corridors of Beirut's Rafik Hariri University Hospital, where losing multiple patients in one day to COVID-19 has become the new normal. On Friday, the mood among the staff was even more solemn as a young woman lost the battle with the virus. There was silence as the woman,...

A security official checks people's IDs before the third hearing in the trial of Carlos Ghosn, former Nissan Motor Co. chairman, in Istanbul, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. Turkish prosecutors on Wednesday pushed for maximum 12 years in prison each for a Turkish private airline company official and two pilots who are accused of smuggling Ghosn out of Japan, Turkey's state-run news agency reported.(AP Photo/Mehmet Guzel)

Turkish pilots, official face 12 years jail for Ghosn flight

Jan. 20, 2021 10:28 AM EST

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish prosecutors on Wednesday sought the maximum possible 12 years in prison each for a Turkish private airline official and two pilots accused of smuggling the former Nissan Motor Co. chairman out of Japan, Turkey’s state news agency reported. In the third hearing in the trial of...

City worker Carlos Ruiz gives instruction to a COVID-19 patient after delivering a tank of oxygen to her home in the Iztapalapa borough of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. The city offers free oxygen refills for COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The Latest: Mexico hits another record for COVID-19 cases

Jan. 15, 2021 10:37 PM EST

Mexico posted a record spike in coronavirus cases on Friday, with 21,366 newly confirmed infections, about double the daily rate of increase just a week ago. The country also recorded 1,106 more deaths. It was unclear if the spike was due to the presence of the U.K. virus variant, of which only one case has so...

A street is empty of cars during a lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Lebanon's parliament has approved a draft law to allow the importing of vaccines into the tiny country to fight the spread of coronavirus. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanon OKs law to import vaccines as virus hits new record

Jan. 15, 2021 1:25 PM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s parliament approved a draft law allowing imports of coronavirus vaccines as the small nation hit a new record in case numbers Friday and more hospitals reported they were at full capacity. The new daily toll of 6,154 cases and 44 deaths came on the second day of a nationwide...

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a Syrian commercial plane coming from Lebanon, lands at Aleppo Airport, Syria, early Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Syrian Air conducted its first flight in a decade between the northern city of Aleppo and Lebanon's capital Beirut on Friday, resuming a round-trip route that's been halted since Syria’s conflict began in 2011. (SANA via AP)

Syrian Air makes 1st Aleppo to Beirut flight since 2011

Jan. 15, 2021 6:52 AM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian Air conducted its first flight in a decade between the northern city of Aleppo and Lebanon’s capital Beirut early Friday, resuming a round-trip route that's been halted since Syria’s conflict began in 2011. Precautionary measures against the coronavirus were in place,...

Police bike officers patrol on the empty waterfront promenade as the country starts a new lockdown, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. Lebanese authorities began enforcing an 11-day nationwide shutdown and round the clock curfew Thursday, hoping to limit the spread of coronavirus infections spinning out of control after the holiday period. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

At virus tipping point, Lebanon imposes all-day curfew

Jan. 14, 2021 12:45 PM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — It was a choice between containing a spiraling virus outbreak and resuscitating a dying economy in a country that has been in steady financial and economic meltdown over the past year. Authorities in Lebanon chose the latter. Now, virus patients struggling to breathe wait outside hospitals...

FILE - In this, July 19, 2020 file photo, a homeless woman sleeps on a bench on the Mediterranean Sea corniche in Beirut, Lebanon. The World Bank has approved a $246 million loan to Lebanon to provide emergency cash assistance to nearly 800,000 Lebanese reeling under the country’s compounded economic and health crises. The World Bank said in a statement late Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, that the loan would also support the development of a national social safety net in Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

World Bank approves cash assistance to crisis-struck Lebanon

Jan. 13, 2021 10:01 AM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — The World Bank approved a $246 million loan to Lebanon to provide emergency cash assistance to nearly 800,000 Lebanese reeling under the country’s compounded economic and health crises. The World Bank said in a statement late Tuesday the loan would also support the development of a...

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