Source: L'Orient Today
The official website of the Kataeb Party leader
Security & Justice
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Gaps in Coastal Radar Enabled Israeli Raid in Batroun, Army Commander Says
Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, detailed to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati how Israeli forces likely exploited gaps in the country's coastal radar system during the recent raid carried out in Batroun. The briefing comes as Lebanese officials seek answers on how Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 unit carried out the landing undetected.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Tuesday 29 November 2022 15:09:50
BDL Extends Circular 161 Until End of December
Banque du Liban on Tuesday again extended the validity of Circular 161, meaning it will remain in force until the end of December.
The circular was originally released on Dec. 16 last year. It allows banks to sell dollars to depositors at the Sayrafa rate, and has been repeatedly renewed by the central bank since.
The Sayrafa rate stood at LL30,300 to the dollar on Monday night, while the rate on the parallel market reached a new record low on Tuesday, trading around LL40,700 to the dollar.
The dollars exchanged under the implementation of Circular 161 are provided directly to banks by BDL at the Sayrafa rate and are drawn from the country's foreign exchange reserves, the exact level of which is not known.
This 11th extension of the circular comes as caretaker Finance Minister, Youssef Khalil, announced last Wednesday that he had sent a note to the central bank asking it to calculate, as of Dec. 1, the customs duties using an exchange rate of LL15,000 to the dollar, instead of the official exchange rate of LL1,507.5, which is still in force.