For some, the search for fuel is just another headache in crisis-riddled Lebanon. For others, it will determine whether or not they are paid.
Scuffles broke out at petrol stations across the country on Friday, as the country’s fuel crisis worsened.
With the cash-strapped government unable to release dollars to fund imports of oil and other fuel, power cuts have become increasingly common. Now petrol is in short supply.
On almost every corner of Beirut, snaking lines of cars – often several kilometres long – waited for tankers to bring fuel to petrol stations. The long queues blocked roads, causing traffic to back up even more.
By early afternoon, petrol stations ran out of fuel and the queues dissipated, as motorists searched elsewhere.
Motorists in Beirut told The National that they had been sitting in queues for more than three hours, with no guarantee that the pumps would still being open when they reached the front.
Those who did make it to a working pump faced 10-litre limits.
One taxi driver said he had taken to waking up at 5am every morning in a bid to be first in line – but in spite of his efforts was still having to wait at least an hour behind other cars.
Randa Khoury, 52, said she had been forced to take a day off work to find fuel.
“I knew since yesterday I would have to spend the whole day searching for petrol. My car is not a luxury; it is critical to my work, and the worst part is I know I am going to have to repeat this next week.
“What happens when I can’t find one in time and I run out of petrol? I’ll have to take a taxi. But what happens when the taxis run out of petrol? What about the people who can’t afford to take taxis?”
For Georges, an Uber driver, who did not want to give his last name, boredom in the queue slowly turned into panic.
“I’m an engineer by training. For the past two years, I’ve driven a taxi. If I don’t get petrol today, I won't earn anything, then my child will go hungry. This is every day in Lebanon. It is stressful.
“My rule is, get up early, get fuel and then figure out the rest of your life.”
But some motorists are more than fed up. Disputes at petrol stations are nothing new in Lebanon but never have things seemed quite this bad.
In a video posted to Twitter, a man in the Qasqas neighbourhood of Beirut can be seen drawing a weapon and firing several shots in a dispute at the pump. Security forces were also seen managing queues at another station in the capital, in a bid to prevent conflict.
Elsewhere, angry motorists joined protesters in blocking main roads, setting fire to bins and temporarily disrupting traffic at several choke points across the city – including the busy Cola junction.
George Brax, a representative for the petrol station owners syndicate, told the media that the crisis was “humiliating citizens and gas station owners”.
“Halting imports all of a sudden and leaving the country without fuel is a criminal and destructive act.”
Mr Brax added that an electricity-generating ship which could meet part of the country’s power demands had arrived, but the Bank de Liban had yet to make the money available to pay for it, leaving it unused.
The rush on the petrol stations came just a few days after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said his group would turn to Iran to buy oil if the government did not find a means to address the crisis.
To compound matters, Friday also saw the start of a pharmacists' strike across Lebanon as the sector battles similar shortages.
Nine in 10 pharmacies closed in protest over the economic crisis.
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Australia: Juric 69', Leckie 86'
Thailand: Pokklaw 82'
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Selected fixtures
All times UAE
Wednesday
Poland v Portugal 10.45pm
Russia v Sweden 10.45pm
Friday
Belgium v Switzerland 10.45pm
Croatia v England 10.45pm
Saturday
Netherlands v Germany 10.45pm
Rep of Ireland v Denmark 10.45pm
Sunday
Poland v Italy 10.45pm
Monday
Spain v England 10.45pm
Tuesday
France v Germany 10.45pm
Rep of Ireland v Wales 10.45pm
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It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
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Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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