Aoun: Lebanon Is not on the Path of Bankruptcy

President Michel Aoun meets with a delegation of the Lions clubs at the Baabda Palace (NNA)
President Michel Aoun meets with a delegation of the Lions clubs at the Baabda Palace (NNA)
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Aoun: Lebanon Is not on the Path of Bankruptcy

President Michel Aoun meets with a delegation of the Lions clubs at the Baabda Palace (NNA)
President Michel Aoun meets with a delegation of the Lions clubs at the Baabda Palace (NNA)

President Michel Aoun warned against spreading negativity over the country’s economic situation and disseminating harmful rumors.

“The Lebanese pound is not in danger and Lebanon is not on the road to bankruptcy,” he said on Wednesday during a meeting at the Baabda Palace with a delegation of the Lions clubs, headed by Governor of the Region 351, which includes Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Iraq.

The delegation visited the Baabda Palace to thank Aoun for patronizing the hand-over ceremony held recently, and to brief him on the Lions humanitarian activities and programs scheduled for 2018.

Addressing the delegation, the president said he hoped that the overall situation in Lebanon and the Arab countries would improve significantly, and peace would prevail.

“We in the Arab world are all living martyrs. Shrapnel of wars in the region has spread across Lebanon through terrorism and sleeping cells. We thank God that we have been able to establish internal security and fortify our borders. We are now at the point of addressing economic security after we were afflicted with many economic burdens. Rumors that the economic situation is on the brink of the abyss are not only false but also abhorrent,” Aoun stressed.

He noted that some political parties were working on spreading rumors “to derail the reform process that we have initiated.”

“We do not deny that there is a crisis, but we are dealing with it through the adoption of the state budget, which has not happened for nearly 11 years, as well as through the economic plan that we have set and through the CEDRE Conference,” the president said.



US Airstrikes Killed 12 People in Yemen’s Capital

Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
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US Airstrikes Killed 12 People in Yemen’s Capital

Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)

US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s capital killed 12 people and wounded 30 others, the Houthi group said early Monday.
The deaths mark the latest in America’s intensified campaign of strikes targeting the Houthis. The US military’s Central Command declined to answer questions about the strike or discuss civilian casualties from its campaign.
The Houthis described the strike as hitting the Farwa neighborhood market in Sanaa’s Shuub district. That area has been targeted before by the Americans.
Footage aired by the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel showed damage to vehicles and buildings in the area, with screaming onlookers holding what appeared to be a dead child. Others wailed on stretchers heading into a hospital
Strikes overnight into Monday also hit other areas of the country, including Yemen's Amran, Hodeida, Marib and Saada governorates.
The strikes come after US airstrikes hit the Ras Isa fuel port in Yemen last week, killing at least 74 people and wounding 171 others.
The strikes follow the resumption of negotiations in Rome between the US and Iran over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, which Washington has linked to its attacks in Yemen.
The US is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The Houthis are the last militant group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel.
The new US operation against the Houthis under Trump appears more extensive than attacks on the group were under President Joe Biden, an AP review found. The new campaign started after the group threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip.
From November 2023 until this January, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it. The Houthis also launched attacks targeting American warships without success.
Assessing the toll of the month-old US airstrike campaign has been difficult because the military hasn’t released information about the attacks, including what was targeted and how many people were killed. The Houthis, meanwhile, strictly control access to attacked areas and don’t publish complete information on the strikes, many of which likely have targeted military and security sites.