- Title: Lebanon protests spread across country
- Date: 17th October 2019
- Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (OCTOBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS SETTING FIRES TO BLOCK MAIN ROAD IN CENTRAL BEIRUT MORE OF PROTESTERS AROUND FIRES BLOCKING ROADS IN CENTRAL BEIRUT VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS SETTING FIRES MORE OF PROTESTERS GATHERING AROUND FIRES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE PROTESTER, FAYROUZ, SAYING: "Let them all leave. One of my son's tears is worth all of them, they are worth a shoe, all of them from the biggest to the smallest. They stole from us." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING IN FRONT OF THE GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS BUILDING IN CENTRAL BEIRUT PROTESTERS CHANTING (Arabic): "The people want to topple the regime." MORE OF PROTESTERS GATHERING PROTESTER HOLDING LEBANESE FLAG MORE OF THE PROTEST ON-GOING IN CENTRAL BEIRUT MORE OF PROTESTERS SETTING FIRES IN CENTRAL BEIRUT MORE OF FIRES BURNING / PROTESTERS CHANTING PROTESTERS TRYING TO BREAK WOODEN BARRIER FIRES BLOCKING ROAD TEL NHAS, SOUTH LEBANON (OCTOBER 17, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING / GATHERING NEAR BURNING TYRE IN SOUTHERN BORDER VILLAGE OF TEL NHAS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER SAYING: "We are all poor and we are asking for jobs, for our rights, electricity, water, we are demanding education, one is begging to teach his son... We want to live in dignity." PROTESTER SETTING TYRES ON FIRE LEBANESE POLICE MEMBERS STANDING NEARBY PROTEST AND BURNING TYRES TYRES BURNING TRIPOLI, LEBANON (OCTOBER 17, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS GATHERING IN TRIPOLI (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER SAYING: "This government is a failure, they struck at the phone in our hands, they put a tax on Whatsapp, taxes on fuel, TVA taxes. Enough injustice." VARIOUS OF BURNING TYRES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER SAYING: "We don't have enough to eat anymore. Why are you making us pay more while you sit in your positions, not caring? The people are dying, we want our rights. We won't leave the streets before we take our rights. That's it." MORE OF PROTESTERS GATHERING IN TRIPOLI SIDON, LEBANON (OCTOBER 17, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING (Arabic): 'Revolution' PROTESTERS CHANTING (Arabic): "The people want to topple the regime." MORE OF PROTESTERS GATHERING AND CHANTING TRASH CONTAINER ON FIRE PROTESTERS GATHERING NEAR BURNING TYRES BLOCKING ROADS VARIOUS OF BURNING TYRES
- Embargoed: 31st October 2019 23:45
- Keywords: Lebanon protests Whatsapp tax
- Location: BEIRUT, TEL NHAS, TRIPOLI AND SIDON, LEBANON
- City: BEIRUT, TEL NHAS, TRIPOLI AND SIDON, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA001B1HN1HJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Thousands of people demonstrated across Lebanon on Thursday (October 17) against the government's management of an economic crisis in one of the biggest protests in years, leading the Cabinet to pull a proposed new levy on WhatsApp calls.
Protesters blocked roads across the country with burning tyres, the second time in less than a month that countrywide demonstrations have broken out in anger at the political elite.
"The people want to topple the regime," some chanted.
The protests have been fueled by stagnant economic conditions exacerbated by a financial crisis in one of the world's most heavily indebted states.
The government, which has declared a state of "economic emergency," is seeking ways to narrow its gaping deficit.
Lebanon faces debt burdens, stagnant growth, crumbling infrastructure and strains in its financial system linked to reduced capital inflows. The Lebanese pound, pegged against the dollar for two decades, has been under pressure.
Hundreds of people were still gathered in central Beirut's Riad al-Solh square into the early hours of Friday, some of them waving Lebanese flags.
(Production: Alaa Kanaan, Ahmad El Kerdi, Karamallah Daher, Walid Saleh, Hassan Hankir, Yara Abi Nader) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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