MPs In Lebanon Approve $120m Loan From World Bank To Fight Covid-19

Lebanon has approved a $120 million loan from the World Bank to help fight Covid-19, which has officially infected 677 people and killed 21 nationwide.

MPs gave their approval during a parliament sitting on Tuesday, which was held in a conference hall to allow for social distancing between lawmakers amid the coronavirus pandemic, while outside anti-government protesters demonstrated in a car convoy.

Also on the agenda of the three-day session were proposals for a divisive general amnesty, to legalise cannabis for medical use, and to lift immunity for ministers and lawmakers to allow prosecutions over alleged corruption.

Outside the venue, dozens of protesters drove a noisy convoy of cars covered in slogans, drivers honking their horns and passengers brandishing the national flag and leaning out of the windows in face masks.

They defied a stay-at-home order to protest deteriorating living conditions and maintain pressure on a political elite under fire since mass protests erupted last October.

Lebanon is grappling with its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, compounded by the lockdown, and poverty has risen to 45 percent of the population according to official estimates.

The rallies had petered out after a new government took office in January, and demonstrators have mostly remained at home since the coronavirus lockdown started mid-March.

But on Friday, hundreds again protested in the city of Tripoli to mark six months since the street movement started to demand an overhaul of a ruling class widely deemed inept and corrupt.