{"id":28117,"date":"2019-01-05T04:24:11","date_gmt":"2019-01-05T04:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=28117"},"modified":"2019-01-05T04:24:11","modified_gmt":"2019-01-05T04:24:11","slug":"us-says-key-plotter-in-uss-cole-attack-may-have-been-killed-in-yemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=28117","title":{"rendered":"US says key plotter in USS Cole attack may have been killed in Yemen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nBEIRUT: Businesses and public-sector agencies in Lebanon staged a strike on Friday amid growing anger over a fragile economy crippled by an eight-month delay in forming a government.<\/p>\n

\nBeirut\u2019s port was closed, along with state institutions such as the National Social Security Fund. The gates to the electricity company compound were locked with chains and flights stopped for an hour at Rafic Hariri International Airport.<\/p>\n

\nThe strike was called by the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers, with the backing of the new cross-sectarian Sabaa Party.<\/p>\n

\n\"\"\u201cThe country is heading toward collapse … this is what all the politicians are saying,\u201d said Victoria El-Khoury Zwein, a cofounder of Sabaa. \u201cWhat we are saying is that the country is in crisis and therefore we need a government that should be running affairs during this crisis and come up with a quick rescue plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nBechara Asmar, head of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers, said: \u201cThe strike is directed toward politicians who failed to produce a Cabinet. Is demanding that a government solve the problems a shame?\u201d<\/p>\n

\nLebanon\u2019s national debt has soared to $84 billion, or 155 percent of the gross domestic product, and unemployment is at 36 percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe global ratings agency Moody\u2019s has given the economy a \u201clow (+)\u201d grading because of \u201cthe deterioration in the regional economic and political environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nInternational donors have pledged more than $11 billion in aid and development loans for Lebanon, but the funds are frozen until the country has a stable government. Prime Minister Saad Hariri has been unable to form a Cabinet since parliamentary elections last May because of squabbling over ministerial posts that must be distributed according to a strict sectarian power-sharing system.<\/p>\n

\nThe paradox of Friday\u2019s strike action was not lost on many Lebanese. \u201cYou have countries where people are protesting to bring down the government. Here we are protesting to form one,\u201d Philippe Safar, who runs a barbershop in Beirut, told Arab News.<\/p>\n

\nNevertheless, many ignored the strike call and went about their business as usual. \u201cThe Lebanese don\u2019t go out and protest because they are split, they know that each sect takes its share,\u201d said Abbas, a tobacco shop owner in Beirut\u2019s Hamra district.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cLebanon won\u2019t become a united nation until sectarianism is canceled. The government should be the people\u2019s guide, not the sects.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nIbrahim Slim, a telephone shop owner, also argued that Lebanon\u2019s problem was sectarian division. \u201cAt the end of the day, those protesting are going down with their sects and political parties, not with the country and united,\u201d he told Arab News.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT: Businesses and public-sector agencies in Lebanon staged a strike on Friday amid growing anger over a fragile economy crippled by an eight-month delay in forming a government. Beirut\u2019s port was closed, along with state institutions such as the National Social Security Fund. The gates to the electricity company compound were locked with chains and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":28118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}