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Labour unions could help untangle the mess Lebanon s politicians have left behind. AFP
Lebanon s architects are leading the fight against corruption
A vote at Beirut s Order of Engineers and Architects is a more important event than it seems
The national editorial
Paul Naggear is in many ways the opposite of an average politician in Lebanon. And for tragic reasons, he has proven something of a rallying figure for those opposed to the country s increasingly corrupt leaders. After his three-year-old daughter was killed in last year s catastrophic blast at Beirutâs port, images of the pair walking through the city streets in 2019 at a protest against corruption went viral in her memory. A television interview with Mr Naggear after Alexandra s death, in which he accused those in positions of power of criminal negligence, was also beamed far and wide. It was a harsh reminder that those whose lives were torn apart after the blast were largely powerless to do anything about it.
For Mira Hasbini, Lebanon's disastrous financial crisis came down to something very basic: surgeons couldn't find enough screws to fix her aged mother's broken bones.
Places of worship will be open at 30 per cent capacity and restaurants and cafes will be closed, but delivery services will remain operational.
The measures mimic those imposed for Catholic Easter in early April and will likely resemble those to be implemented for Eid Al Fitr as announced by officials on March 26.
Covid-19 measures during Ramadan have been slightly more lenient, with restaurants and malls operating at limited capacity. A curfew between 9.30pm and 5.00am has been enforced and group iftars and Ramadan tents are banned.
The Lebanese authorities are working with religious organisations to encourage adherence to safety measures as the country experiences a slight improvement in Covid-19 numbers.
Economic distress, rampant corruption, a self-serving ruling elite, and the ever-looming fear of armed militias – not much is going their way but protesters in both Iraq and Lebanon have found a reason to smile.
In campus elections in Lebanon, they turned into candidates and gave a drubbing to opposing student groups backed by traditional political parties that feed off sectarianism and propagate it. In Iraq, they are gearing up to challenge the established parties on the hustings and in the upcoming general election. Their message: they may have been beaten by the system but they are not ready to concede defeat.