Martyr Ahmad Tawfiq laid to rest in Telhayat, mourned nationwide
- Martyr Ahmad Tawfiq, who succumbed to his wounds Monday night, was laid to rest in Telhayat, his hometown in Akkar, on Tuesday. Tawfiq was shot on the 10th day of the revolution during a crackdown by the army on protesters in Tripoli.
- In Zahle, Baakline, Sidon, Baalbeck, Tyre, Kfar Ruman, and Beirut, protesters held candlelight vigils in memory of Tawfiq and the other 5 martyrs of the revolution. In Tripoli's Gemmayzat, where Tawfiq was shot, protesters gathered outside the office of the Free Patriotic Movement demanding its closure. Protesters in Akkar tore down a giant poster of President Michel Aoun.
- No public officials released any statement about Tawfiq to date.
785 restaurants in Lebanon closed down since September
- According to a statement by the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Clubs, and Pastry Shops in Lebanon, 785 food and beverage companies shut down between September 1st, 2019 and February 1st, 2020. 240 of the closures occured in January, the statement says.
- More than 25000 employees got laid off as a result. Employees in the sector, however, work on part—time contracts or half salaries. Sales in the F&B industry have dropped by 75%, according to the statement.
- The head of the Syndicate ended the statement by adding that raw materials are purchased from suppliers in USD at the black market’s exchange rate of 2500 LBP.
Lebanon risks 'implosion', World Bank says
- Lebanon is at risk of "implosion, unless it develops a new governance model that's less corrupt and more transparent," said the World Bank, according to a report by Bloomberg.
- "You (politicians) cannot continue doing what you've been doing for years when you see what the reaction on the street is, and when you see what the state of the economy is," the World Bank's most senior official for the Middle East and North Africa states.
- The price of the Eurobonds has plunged to 74 cents from 90 cents to the dollar in early February. Meanwhile, the credit rating agency Fitch said that Lebanon's financial situation points towards a restructuring of the debt.
REPOSTED FROM @Megaphonenews