Arabic press review: Filmed assault of Lebanese minister sparks controversy

Lebanese minister’s assault sparks on-line controversy

Footage of a Lebanese minister being assaulted by disgruntled residents has sparked controversy on social media, the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper reported on Monday.

Walid Fayad, minister of power and water, was shoved by a Lebanese man on Sunday exterior a restaurant within the capital Beirut.

A gaggle of individuals confronted Fayad after he left the restaurant and requested him to clarify himself for consuming out when their households couldn’t afford fundamental wants.  

Sri Lankan home employees in Lebanon caught between two crises

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One man then approached the minister and stated: “I’ve a message from the Lebanese individuals and I hope you perceive me… At this time, I’m conveying you this message to get up,” earlier than he pushed the minister with power, inflicting him to hit the wall behind him.

The video provoked a variety of reactions on social media, with some condemning using violence whereas others saying it was justifiable. 

Lebanon, a rustic of round six million individuals, is grappling with an unprecedented monetary disaster that the World Financial institution says is on a scale normally related to wars.

The foreign money has misplaced greater than 90 % of its buying energy and nearly all of the inhabitants lives beneath the poverty line. 

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Tens of hundreds of employees depart Kuwait 

Round 75,000 overseas employees left Kuwait in 2021, new official knowledge revealed, based on the New Khaleej information web site. 

Figures issued by the nation’s Central Statistical Bureau confirmed that the variety of home employees had declined final yr, from 668,000 employees to 593,000.

Greater than half of the departing employees, about 53 %, had been Indian nationals, bringing the Indian workforce in Kuwait all the way down to 279,000 in contrast with 319,000 in 2020. 

Likewise, the Filipino workforce has decreased by 7,000 employees, and the Bangladeshi workforce by 4,000.

The brand new knowledge comes two years after the federal government started efforts to scale back the variety of overseas employees within the nation.
 
Parliamentary and in style stress was placed on the federal government on the time after widespread discussions on the perceived adverse influence of expatriates on the demographic construction of Kuwait.

MENA to face ‘catastrophic’ penalties the longer Ukraine warfare lasts 

The longer the Russian warfare in Ukraine lasts, the extra seemingly the Center East and North Africa will face “catastrophic” penalties on meals costs, a consultant of the World Meals Programme (WFP) stated in an interview with London-based information outlet Arabi21. 

Reem Nada, the MENA communications officer of WFP, stated the influence shall be significantly harsher in nations witnessing army conflicts or affected by extreme financial issues and crises. 

‘In case the warfare lasts longer, there shall be a extreme world disaster in meals manufacturing, and the repercussions shall be extra extreme and extra severe for everybody’

– Reem Nada, WFP consultant

“The Center East is taken into account one of many areas most affected by the warfare, as a result of it depends upon imports from the fighters (Russia and Ukraine), because of the close to distance to the Black Sea area,” Nada stated within the Arabi21 interview, declaring that Arab nations import about
60 % of their wants of wheat and vegetable oils from Moscow and Kyiv.

She continued: “In case the warfare lasts longer, there shall be a extreme world disaster in meals manufacturing, and the repercussions shall be extra extreme and extra severe for everybody.

“Originally of this yr, the WFP was pressured to scale back the meals ration in Yemen to 
8 million individuals, which suggests depriving one other 5 million individuals. Sadly, we did that so we are able to handle to feed those that are ravenous… As if we’re taking the share of the hungry to save lots of others from hunger because of the lack of assets.”

On Sunday, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its third month, with combating persevering with to rage on a number of fronts and no finish in sight.