Banks and schools close in Lebanon after country's biggest protest in years

Record ID: 1437288

  • Title: Banks and schools close in Lebanon after country's biggest protest in years
  • Date: 18th October 2019
  • Summary: SIN EL FIL, LEBANON (OCTOBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SMOKE RISING FROM CITY BEIRUT, LEBANON (OCTOBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CLOSED SHOPS AND BANKS IN HAMRA STREET WOMAN TAKING NEWSPAPER FROM KIOSK IN HAMRA VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINES READING (Arabic): 'THE TAXES REVOLUTION... ACROSS LEBANON' AND 'PEOPLE CAN' AND 'IT IS ENOUGH' (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BEIRUT RESIDENT, RABAB ITANI, SAYING: "The wealth of this country is gone, I don't know how it will be solved, it is very hard. It is not about changing ministries because the same members of parliament will elect the same government and we will be back to the same thing. (REPORTER ASKING: what do you think about the scene we saw across Lebanon yesterday?) This is it, this is the first time, and it seems like its spontaneous because it happened suddenly, and this is what's good about it. But burning the tires, we just got out of the wildfires (referring to the forests fires that happened in the last few days)." PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET VARIOUS OF SHUTTERED SHOPS AND BANKS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) NEWSPAPER SELLER, NAIM SALEH, SAYING: "It is a normal reaction that totally reflects the situation we are in. Those responsible are somewhere and the people are somewhere else." VARIOUS OF CLOSED SCHOOLS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) TAXI DRIVER, WALID AL-BADAWI, 43, SAYING: "I am with them regarding the high cost of living. I have three children, I am a taxi driver, I work all day to get food for my kids and I can't get it. I am with them on this, in the high cost of living, but I am against the vandalism that is happening in the streets." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS GATHERING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET, BLOCKING ROAD IN CENTRAL BEIRUT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE TAXI DRIVER, WALID AL-BADAWI, 43, SAYING: "Let the government fall. Get them away from us. We want to live, we the Lebanese people want to live." SIDON, LEBANON (OCTOBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS GATHERING NEAR TENT IN WHICH SOME PROTESTERS STAYED OVERNIGHT VARIOUS OF LEBANESE ARMY SOLDIERS SURROUNDING PROTESTERS VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS SITTING IN THE STREET SOLDIERS HOLDING ANTI-RIOT SHIELDS VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS AND SOLDIERS SOLDIERS TRAVELLING IN ARMY VEHICLES PROTESTERS GIVING WHITE ROSES TO SOLDIERS
  • Embargoed: 1st November 2019 08:26
  • Keywords: Lebanon protest economy government
  • Location: SIN EL FIL, BEIRUT AND SIDON, LEBANON
  • City: SIN EL FIL, BEIRUT AND SIDON, LEBANON
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B1MJT53
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Protesters across Lebanon blocked roads with burning tyres on Friday (October 18) and marched in Beirut for a second day of demonstrations against the government over an economic crisis.
    In Lebanon's biggest protest in years, thousands of people gathered outside the government headquarters in central Beirut on Thursday evening, forcing the cabinet to backtrack on plans to raise a new tax on WhatsApp voice calls. Tear gas was fired as some demonstrators and police clashed in the early hours during the second wave of nationwide protests this month.
    Fires lit in the street in central Beirut were smouldering on Friday morning. Pavements were scattered with the glass of several smashed store fronts and billboards had been torn down.
    Protesters blocked roads in the north, the south and the Bekaa Valley, among other areas, on Friday, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. Schools were closed on the instructions of the government.
    The government, which includes nearly all of Lebanon's main parties, is struggling to implement long-delayed reforms that are seen as more vital than ever to begin resolving the crisis.
    (Production: Imad Creidi, Hassan Hankir, Cynthia Karam, Imad Creidi, Alaa Kanaan, Yara Abi Nader, Imad Creidi, Sarah Duffy)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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