The image of black smoke covering Lebanese skies as a result of a fire or an explosion has become an almost daily thing since the August 4's #BeirutPort blast.
Fellow citizens in #Lebanon can't seem to catch a break.
Another “mystery-fire” is reported by local sources in the Ouzai area in #Beirut’s southern suburbs.
A closer look at the fire in the Ouzai area. Local sources saying it is a warehouse for paint. The person recording the video is heard shouting “their are explosions happening inside.”
Saudi-owned al-Hadath cites a "security source" claiming that the explosion in Ain-Qana, South Lebanon, happened at a #Hezbollah base/position.
Local Lebanese TV @ALJADEEDNEWS confirms that the explosion in Ain-Qana, South #Lebanon, did not happen at a gas station, but also says it cannot confirm whether the explosion was a result of an attack or not.
Pro-#Hezbollah journalist/commentator confirms that the explosion in Ain-Qana, South Lebanon, happened at a storage facility for "explosive remnants of war (ERW)." Zahran claims that no lives were lost.
First footage from within the vicinity of the explosion in Ain-Qana, South of #Lebanon, which clearly shows that the position is not a gas station but rather a building/house.
Seems like the pro-#Hezbollah journalist first claimed that the explosion in Southern #Lebanon happened at a “weapons depot,” before he retracted it [deleted it] and changed his narrative.
A "security source" told @Reuters that the explosion in southern Lebanon "hit a house belonging to the Iran-backed #Hezbollah group."
Hezbollah imposed a security cordon around the area.
The Arabic version of the statement given to @Reuters by the "security source" claimed that the explosion was a result of a "technical error/[accident]."
This intends to debunk any theory of an 'attack' that would inherently force the group to respond.
State-sponsored @NNALeb: "The explosion that occurred in a house in the town of #AinQana -- the causes of which remain unknown -- has coincided with intensive Israeli enemy flights over Nabatiyeh and Iqlim al-Tuffah, since the morning hours."
Given the chain of events taking place in the region over the past few months, the probability of today's explosion being an attack holds. Also, as @DavidADaoud puts it: "Israeli reconnaissance flights in Lebanese airspace are a near-daily occurrence..."
#Iraq's fiscal break-even oil price will be above $90/bl in 2024. Here's why per the @IMFNews who concluded last weekend its 2024 Article IV consultation with #Iraq authorities:
-Economic growth is projected to continue amid fiscal expansion... #oott
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-but medium-term vulnerabilities to oil price volatility have increased significantly
-significant fiscal adjustment required, through controlling public wage bill, to ensure fiscal sustainability & reduction of oil dependence
-Int'l reserves increased to $112bn.
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-while expansionary budget was under-executed in 2023, fiscal balance declined from surplus of 10.8pc of GDP in 2022 to a deficit of 1.3pc in 2023, due to lower oil revenues and an increase in expenditure (mostly a result of salaries and pensions).
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Fun fact about #Lebanon's newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs:
A battle over the Lebanese embassy in DC took place in 1989, when Abdallah BouHabib was the ambassador. The Taif Agreement had gone into effect and Elias Hraoui was elected President in December of that year.
Hraoui, immediately fired Michel Aoun from all his self-proclaimed posts, removed #Lebanon’s veteran ambassador to Washington, Bouhabib himself, and handed control of the embassy to the No. 2 diplomat at the time, Sleiman Rassi.
Yet Aoun - who was holding out with 20,000 troops at the presidential palace in Baabda refusing to recognize the Hraoui gov't - sent Bouhabib a telegram ordering him to stay put.
BouHabib, a staunch Aoun supporter, continued to occupy the ambassador’s office and residence.
Many fallacies are often perpetuated in media [esp. Arab] about alliances & geopolitics in the MENA region, mainly for propaganda purposes. For instance, since penning the normalization deal with #Israel, state-sponsored media in the #UAE insists that #Iran & #Turkey inch closer.
However, here’s a microcosm of how intricate the relation of the two is:
🇹🇷 & 🇮🇷 are at the opposing ends in: 🇮🇶, 🇸🇾 & now Azerbaijan/#Armenia; they overlap in #Libya & on Palestine. One could argue that if Ankara was to invest more in #Lebanon, it’ll be at odds with Tehran.
#Iran has remained largely silent on the dispute between Turkey & others in the East Med.
With Syria in mind, developments in Armenia [which I predict will be contained] could lead to another front of Russian-Iranian alignment in face of Turkey.
Mustafa Adib is not the hero some people are portraying him to be. But Adib, banking on French support & the suffocating situation on the ground, had a stronger hand in negotiating his government formation process - unlike his predecessors. The PM-designate though that:
•parties will cave-in following the Aug 4 explosion & Int’l pressure, resulting in them facilitating the formation of a gov’t that can enact certain reforms and tap into some $$s.
However, reality hit hard. #Lebanon, as usual, is just another piece of the regional chessboard.
Hence why, regional patrons of the sectarian ruling mafia decided to “freeze” the situation until November 3rd. When the Iranians [Hezbollah] and the Saudis [economic support: CEDRE/IMF] figure out who will occupy the Oval Office next, concessions & compromise become possible.
Today, the Lebanese Forces, a far right Christian militia-turned party, decided to commemorate in a typical militia-styled march the assassination by the fascist Syrian Social Nationalist Party of its founder Bachir Gemayel, ex-president-elect, in 1982.
Meanwhile, the SSNP had already commemorated its Wimpy Operation of 1982 in a similar fashion donning the same black uniform.
The followers of both parties often butt heads on Sept 14 of every year, in what i’d like to dub as the “derby of Lebanon.”
The tradition requires SSNP supporters to accuse, every year, the late President Gemayel of being a Zionist traitor due to his party’s alliance with the Israeli army during the civil war. They also celebrate Habib Chartouny, the alleged operative that conducted the assassination.