Lebanon's Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti, a veteran diplomat and former Lebanese ambassador to the Arab League, resigned on Monday saying he could not continue given the poor performance of the government.
After meeting Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Monday morning at the Grand Serail he urged those in charge to change course.
“Lebanon today is not the Lebanon that we loved and wanted as a beacon and a model,” the resigned minister said. “Lebanon today is slipping into a failed state.”
He blamed an absence of vision as well as historical circumstances for the present crisis.
“In the absence of an effective will to achieve the required comprehensive structural reforms that our nation demands, I decided to resign from my duties as Minister of Foreign Affairs. I hope the government and those in charge of the state administrations reconsider many policies and practices in order to give priority to the people and the country over all other considerations and divisions.”
Lebanon in crisis
He said that instead of a clear will to fix the country's ills, he found a government and politicians with competing interests.
"What is required in the state-building process are creative minds, a clear vision, sincere intentions, a culture of institutions and the rule of law, accountability and transparency," he said.
"I participated in this government to work for one employer called Lebanon, but I found in my country (different) employers and contradictory interests. They did not agree on the interest to rescue the Lebanese people."
President Michel Aoun’s diplomatic adviser Charbel Wahbi was appointed as the new foreign minister later on Monday afternoon.
Before the announcement, a senior official confirmed that Mr Hitti would resign over the government's lack of achievements.
"He is mainly not happy with the performance of the government," the senior official told The National. But the source pushed back on media speculation that Mr Hitti was angered by Mr Diab's treatment of French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian during a recent trip to Lebanon and that he felt overshadowed by the head of one of Lebanon's most powerful intelligence agencies, Maj Gen Abbas Ibrahim, who travelled to Kuwait and Qatar in July as President Michel Aoun's personal envoy.
The source dismissed the reasons being put forward by the press, saying these "are not serious”.
The government has made little progress in passing needed reforms or tackling pressing problems like the mounting piles of rubbish, lengthening daily power cuts and rising poverty.
Put together in late January to address Lebanon’s worst-ever economic crisis after months of social unrest, the government has failed to implement the required reforms to receive financial aid from the international community. Negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, which began in May, have stalled.
During a two-day visit to Lebanon in late July, Mr Le Drian stated that Lebanon would not receive any support from the international community, including France, if it did not “wrap up negotiations with the IMF”, reform the electricity sector and increase the independence of the judiciary. He urged the Lebanese “to help us help you.”
In what was widely criticised as a blunder by Lebanese politicians, Mr Diab said a few days later that Mr Le Drian “lacked information” about government reforms.
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Hamilton’s 2017
Australia - 2nd; China - 1st; Bahrain - 2nd; Russia - 4th; Spain - 1st; Monaco - 7th; Canada - 1st; Azerbaijan - 5th; Austria - 4th; Britain - 1st; Hungary - 4th; Belgium - 1st; Italy - 1st; Singapore - 1st; Malaysia - 2nd; Japan - 1st; United States - 1st; Mexico - 9th
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
'Gehraiyaan'
Director:Shakun Batra
Stars:Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, Dhairya Karwa
Rating: 4/5
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Mane 51', Salah 53'
Chelsea 0
Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Bundesliga fixtures
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Ethree%20three%20212.7kWh%20motors%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201%2C000bhp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E15%2C600Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERange%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20530km%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dh500%2C000%2B%20est%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eearly%202023%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
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Sri Lanka World Cup squad
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
The biog
Name: Gul Raziq
From: Charsadda, Pakistan
Family: Wife and six children
Favourite holes at Al Ghazal: 15 and 8
Golf Handicap: 6
Childhood sport: cricket
The specs
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Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
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On sale: Now