Lebanon’s Living Crises Worsen, Long Queues Return after Elections

Lebanese people wait in front of a bakery in Beirut, Lebanon (EPA)
Lebanese people wait in front of a bakery in Beirut, Lebanon (EPA)
TT

Lebanon’s Living Crises Worsen, Long Queues Return after Elections

Lebanese people wait in front of a bakery in Beirut, Lebanon (EPA)
Lebanese people wait in front of a bakery in Beirut, Lebanon (EPA)

Lebanon’s living crises resurfaced only two days after the parliamentary elections were held. Long queues of people waiting in front of bakeries and gas stations returned, electricity supply declined due to fuel shortages, and the exchange rate of the dollar against the local currency rose to record levels not seen in five months.

In hopes of curbing the spike in exchange rates, Lebanon’s central bank released a statement confirming it will continue to allow banks to purchase dollars with no ceiling via the bank's Sayrafa exchange platform until the end of July.
Moreover, authorities rushed to intervene in securing fuel for power production plants.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday received a phone call from the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who congratulated him on the holding of the parliamentary elections. He also notified him that Iraq will continue to supply Lebanon with the fuel needed to produce electricity.

Nevertheless, Lebanon’s national electricity company said that it will cut its output further in the coming days, after burning through most of its fuel supplies during Sunday’s election.

EDL wrote that it “consumed its fuel reserves at a faster pace” during “the period of the parliamentary election”.

Lebanon was witnessing a host of renewed crises on Wednesday against the backdrop of a continuous surge of the dollar exchange rate on the black market.

For the first time in five months, the exchange rate hit LBP 31,000 to the dollar.

The hike confused Lebanon’s markets and increased speculation with some shops closing their doors in the suburbs of Beirut to prevent additional losses.

“Gasoline is available in the depots of the companies and in ships present at sea. We are not in a fuel crisis in Lebanon, because the issue is related to some delay in the completion of bank transactions aimed at providing the importing companies with dollars through the Sayrafa platform,” said a top member of the fuel station owners syndicate of Lebanon, George Brax.

“The issue should be solved quickly… Companies are distributing gasoline in limited quantities and some stations ran out due to the delay in gasoline deliveries,” Brax added.



Sudan Army Says Khartoum State ‘Completely Free’ of RSF

Sudanese women sell vegetables at an open market in the East Nile district of Khartoum on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
Sudanese women sell vegetables at an open market in the East Nile district of Khartoum on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
TT

Sudan Army Says Khartoum State ‘Completely Free’ of RSF

Sudanese women sell vegetables at an open market in the East Nile district of Khartoum on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
Sudanese women sell vegetables at an open market in the East Nile district of Khartoum on May 19, 2025. (AFP)

Sudan’s military on Tuesday said it took full control of the Greater Khartoum region after a long-running battle against remnants of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the region’s west and south. 

The development was the latest victory for the military in its more than two years of fighting against the RSF, a civil war that has pushed parts of the country into famine. 

Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah, a spokesman for the Sudanese military, said forces retook the Greater Khartoum region, which include the capital city of Khartoum and its sister cities of Omdurman and Khartoum North, or Bahri. 

“Khartoum state is completely free of rebels,” he declared in a video statement, referring to the RSF. 

Earlier, Abdullah said troops battled RSF fighters in the western and southern areas of Omdurman as part of a large-scale operation to kick the paramilitaries out of their pockets there. 

There was no immediate comment from the RSF. 

Sudan plunged into civil war on April 15, 2023, when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open warfare in Khartoum and other parts of the country. The war has killed at least 24,000 people, though the number is likely far higher. 

The war has driven about 13 million people from their homes, including 4 million who crossed into neighboring countries. Parts of Sudan have been pushed into famine. 

The fighting has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in Darfur, according to the UN and international rights groups.