Lebanon’s central bank agreed to inject US dollars in the local economy in a bid to curb the local currency’s freefall which sparked violent protests across the country on Thursday evening.
The deputy head of the union of money changers in Lebanon, Mahmoud Halawi, said an agreement was reached for Banque du Liban “to support basic goods and meet the demands of citizens” with fresh dollars, but did not specify the amount.
Mr Halawi took part in an emergency Cabinet meeting convened by Prime Minister Hassan Diab after thousands of Lebanese took to the streets on Thursday evening to protest over the rapid devaluation of the Lebanese pound on the black market
Mr Halawi added that money changers would stick to sale rate of 3,940 pounds to the dollar. Similar announcements in the past have failed to halt the local currency’s slide.
Money changers went on strike for over a month from late April after several were arrested for manipulating the exchange rate, including the head of the union, Mahmoud Mrad, who was later released on bail. Many remain closed, pushing people to change money on the black market.
Local media questioned the effectiveness of the BDL's response. "This raises the question of how long the central bank will continue to provide liquidity to the local market," wrote local newspaper The Daily Star. "Its stated $22 billion reserves have a great deal of demand on them from other sectors, and are needed to guarantee essential imports worth $6 billion annually."
Speaking shortly after meeting President Michel Aoun and Mr Diab, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said that “it was agreed with President Aoun and President Diab to reduce the exchange rate of the dollar against the lira from today to under 4,000 Lebanese pounds to arrive at 3,200, but that will not be effective before Monday.”
“The procedures were agreed during the Cabinet session,” he said, without detailing them.
He dismissed rumours about the dismissal of central bank governor Riad Salameh, an oft-heard demand of protesters. “We need everyone and we do not need to dispense with them,” he said.
The BDL has allowed multiple exchange rates to co-exist in parallel for several months. On Friday, local newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour reported that the central bank had raised the exchange rate for cash withdrawals via money transfer companies from 3,200 pounds to 3,840 pounds to the dollar. The companies have not been allowed to hand over dollars to clients for weeks, even if the transfer was made in the American currency from abroad.
In a throwback to nationwide protests that started last October over the country’s economic crisis, protesters blocked roads with burning tyres and rubbisg, clashed with security forces and torched a branch of the central bank in the northern city of Tripoli on Thursday evening.
Civil Defence was unable to use its trucks to extinguish fires set by protesters because they had run out of fuel, the LBCI television station reported. Local media have reported in past weeks that the country may soon suffer from fuel shortages as the government struggles to pay for imports.
The devaluation of the Lebanese pound was triggered last year by a cash crisis in dollars, which have become increasingly hard to find. Though one dollar is officially worth 1507.5 Lebanese pounds, the American currency was reportedly sold for around 5,000 Lebanese pounds on Thursday.
On Friday afternoon, the state-run National News Agency reported that several roads in north Lebanon had been closed by protesters, including in Tripoli.
In the southern city of Saida, protesters set up tents in the city's main square, state news agency NNA reported.
“Money changers closed their shops in … Saida because of the high exchange rate of the dollar, claiming they are unable to adhere to the official price set by their union,” it reported.
In the eastern city of Baalbek, most shops and supermarkets were closed on Friday in protest over the high price of the dollar “and the losses incurred as a result of the manipulation of the exchange rate", NNA said.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The chef's advice
Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.
“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”
Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.
The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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Age 26
Born May 17, 1991
Height 1.80 metres
Birthplace Sydney, Australia
Residence Eastbourne, England
Plays Right-handed
WTA titles 3
Prize money US$5,761,870 (Dh21,162,343.75)
Wins / losses 312 / 181
TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
On racial profiling at airports
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
ZIMBABWE V UAE, ODI SERIES
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday - Zimbabwe won by 7 wickets
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
Scoreline
Germany 2
Werner 9', Sane 19'
Netherlands 2
Promes 85', Van Dijk 90'
Read more about the coronavirus
'Operation Mincemeat'
Director: John Madden
Cast: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfayden, Kelly Macdonald and Penelope Wilton
Rating: 4/5
Third Test
Day 3, stumps
India 443-7 (d) & 54-5 (27 ov)
Australia 151
India lead by 346 runs with 5 wickets remaining
On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE
Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them.
The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon.
“Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.”
Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.”
In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”
The specs
Engine: 2.5-litre, turbocharged 5-cylinder
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 400hp
Torque: 500Nm
Price: Dh300,000 (estimate)
On sale: 2022
