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Lebanon: 785 Restaurants, Cafes Closed, 25,000 Employees Laid Off

An empty restaurant at lunchtime, on Dec. 18, 2019, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
An empty restaurant at lunchtime, on Dec. 18, 2019, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Lebanon: 785 Restaurants, Cafes Closed, 25,000 Employees Laid Off

An empty restaurant at lunchtime, on Dec. 18, 2019, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
An empty restaurant at lunchtime, on Dec. 18, 2019, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

The number of restaurants and cafes that closed during the last five months in Lebanon reached 785, the highest percentage of which was recorded in the Mount Lebanon region. Meanwhile more than 25,000 employees were laid off.

The head of Lebanon’s syndicate of restaurants owners, Tony Ramy, said in a statement that 785 restaurants and cafes have been closed in the country since last September.

He noted that the month of January alone witnessed the closing of 240 institutions. He explained that the Mount Lebanon governorate witnessed a closing rate of 54.6%, which is the highest for the year 2019, followed by Beirut, where the percentage of closings reached 29.4%, then come the North Governorate at 6.7%.

The number of employees dismissed from their work exceeded 25,000, while another large portion of employees were working part-time and receiving half-pay, due to the 75 percent sales drop.

“The purchase of raw materials from suppliers is based on the exchange rate of the dollar in the parallel market, at a price of LBP 2500, while the owners of institutions still adopt the official dollar exchange rate of LBP 1515 in their dealings with their customers, without an increase in prices,” Ramy noted.

“This makes investors hardly able to meet the minimum obligations of their employees, on one hand, and suppliers on the other,” he added.

He stressed that the syndicate was awaiting a government action plan that would be commensurate with the current situation.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.