Lebanon: Extensive Efforts to Solve Electricity Crisis

Lebanon’s Water and Energy Minister, Dr. Walid Fayyad, meets on Thursday Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Dr. Yasser Alawi (NNA)
Lebanon’s Water and Energy Minister, Dr. Walid Fayyad, meets on Thursday Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Dr. Yasser Alawi (NNA)
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Lebanon: Extensive Efforts to Solve Electricity Crisis

Lebanon’s Water and Energy Minister, Dr. Walid Fayyad, meets on Thursday Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Dr. Yasser Alawi (NNA)
Lebanon’s Water and Energy Minister, Dr. Walid Fayyad, meets on Thursday Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Dr. Yasser Alawi (NNA)

Lebanese authorities on Thursday intensified efforts to solve the acute shortage of fuel, which is essential for providing electricity in the country.

Lebanese Water and Energy Minister Walid Fayyad met Thursday with Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Dr. Yasser Alawi.

They discussed the mechanism of importing Egyptian gas to Lebanon via Jordan and Syria, following a meeting that was held last week in Amman among the concerned ministers of the four countries.

The meeting came as reports said that the first shipment of Iraqi fuel (31,000 tons of gas oil) arrived in Lebanon on Thursday.

MTV website said that a test was conducted to see whether the fuel matched specifications.

“The shipment will be unloaded today (Thursday) and the second shipment of grade B fuel will arrive next week, as previously scheduled,” it wrote.

According to the agreement and contract signed by former minister Raymond Ghajar with the Iraqi Minister of Finance, in the presence of Major General Abbas Ibrahim, a tender will be held every month to replace Iraqi fuel with fuel needed by Lebanon’s power plants, provided that the second tender will be held in the first week of October.



UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)

UN officials on Monday asked for $6 billion for Sudan this year from donors to help ease what they called the world's worst ever hunger catastrophe and the mass displacement of people brought on by civil war.

The UN appeal represents a rise of more than 40% from last year's for Sudan at a time when aid budgets around the world are under strain, partly due to a pause in funding announced by US President Donald Trump last month that has affected life-saving programs across the globe.

The UN says the funds are necessary because the impact of the 22-month war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - that has already displaced a fifth of its population and stoked severe hunger among around half its population - looks set to worsen.

World Food Program chief Cindy McCain, speaking via video to a room full of diplomats in Geneva, said: "Sudan is now the epicenter of the world's largest and most severe hunger crisis ever."

She did not provide figures, but Sudan's total population currently stands at about 48 million people. Among previous world famines, the Bengal Famine of 1943 claimed between 2 million and 3 million lives, according to several estimates, while millions are believed to have died in the Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61.

Famine conditions have been reported in at least five locations in Sudan, including displacement camps in Darfur, a UN statement said, and this was set to worsen with continued fighting and the collapse of basic services.

"This is a humanitarian crisis that is truly unprecedented in its scale and its gravity and it demands a response unprecedented in scale and intent," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said.

One of the famine-stricken camps was attacked by the RSF last week as the group tries to tighten its grip on its Darfur stronghold.

While some aid agencies say they have received waivers from Washington to provide aid in Sudan, uncertainty remains on the extent of coverage for providing famine relief.

The UN plan aims to reach nearly 21 million people within the country, making it the most ambitious humanitarian response so far for 2025, and requires $4.2 billion - the rest being for those displaced by the conflict.