Beirut
Rafka Nassim, 71, left, meets with her daughter Claudette Rizk through a plastic barrier to avoid contracting the coronavirus, at the Social Services Medical Association, a rehabilitation hospital and nursing home in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Thursday, June 10, 2021. With virtually no national welfare system, Lebanon’s elderly are left to fend for themselves amid their country’s economic turmoil. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In times of crises, Lebanon's old must fend for themselves

By Sarah El Deeb Jun. 22, 2021 02:11 AM EDT

Cemetery and funeral workers place the coffin of a man who died of COVID-19 into a niche at the Nuestra Señora de Belen cemetery in Fusagasuga, Colombia, Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
The Latest: Pot-for-shots plan stumbles in Washington state

By The Associated Press Jun. 09, 2021 01:58 AM EDT

FILE— In this Dec. 11, 2006, file photo, top cleric Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, center, speaks during a conference on the Holocaust with Rabbi Moishe Arye Friedman, left, from Austria, and Rabbi Ahron Cohen, right, from England, in Tehran, Iran. Mohtashamipour, a Shiite cleric who as Iran's ambassador to Syria helped found the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and lost his right hand to a book bombing reportedly carried out by Israel, died Monday, June 7, 2021, of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
Iran cleric who founded Hezbollah, survived book bomb, dies

By Jon Gambrell Jun. 07, 2021 05:21 AM EDT

FILE - In this Friday Dec. 11, 2020, file photo, exterior view of the United Nations-backed Lebanon Tribunal where the court handed down it's sentencing on Salim Jamil Ayyash, a member of the Hezbollah militant group who was convicted of involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others 16 years ago, in Leidschendam, Netherlands. Ayyash is not in custody and is unlikely to serve any sentence. A U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said Wednesday, June 2, 2021 it is facing a severe funding crisis and will not be able to operate beyond July without immediate assistance. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
UN tribunal for Lebanon may fold due to funding crisis

By Bassem Mroue Jun. 02, 2021 07:51 AM EDT

FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2020 file photo, anti-government protesters smash a bank widow during protests against the Lebanese central bank's governor and against the deepening financial crisis, at Hamra trade street, in Beirut, Lebanon. The World Bank said in a report released on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, that Lebanon's severe economic and financial crisis is likely to rank as one of the worst the world has seen in more than 150 years. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
World Bank: Lebanon's crisis among world's worst since 1850s

By Bassem Mroue Jun. 01, 2021 05:46 AM EDT

A nun takes pictures as Pope Francis recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, May 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope invites Lebanese Christians to Vatican for peace prayer

By Nicole Winfield May. 30, 2021 07:45 AM EDT

Residents wait in line for the coronavirus test in a district in Guangzhou in southern China's Guangdong province on Sunday, May 30, 2021. The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou shut down a neighborhood and ordered residents to stay home Saturday to be tested for the coronavirus following an upsurge in infections that has rattled authorities. (AP Photo)
The Latest: Germany hunts down possible fraud in virus tests

By The Associated Press May. 30, 2021 07:12 AM EDT

Lebanon ramps up COVID-19 fight with vaccination marathon

May. 29, 2021 08:25 AM EDT
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s health authorities Saturday launched a COVID-19 vaccination “marathon" to speed up inoculations around the country, including areas...

People with COVID-19 symptoms wait to be assisted outside a hospital that is at full capacity in Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, May 28, 2021. The city imposed strict shutdown measures this week to stop the spread of the virus, halting public transportation for the first time and closing supermarkets. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
The Latest: Two-thirds of NY adults have at least one shot

By The Associated Press May. 29, 2021 01:03 AM EDT

Bangladeshi Muslims protesting against Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, gather after Eid al-Fitr prayers in front of Baitul Mukarram Mosque and wave Palestinian and Bangladeshi flags in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
The Latest: Israeli airstrike on Gaza house kills at least 7

The Associated Press May. 14, 2021 07:55 AM EDT

FILE - In this Thursday, April 8, 2021, file photo, a man tries on a traditional cap in preparation for the upcoming Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in Peshawar, Pakistan. Muslims are facing their second Ramadan in the shadow of the pandemic. Many Muslim majority countries have been hit by an intense new coronavirus wave. While some countries imposed new Ramadan restrictions, concern is high that the month’s rituals could stoke a further surge. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad, File)
Muslims navigate restrictions in the second pandemic Ramadan

By Mariam Fam, Kathy Gannon And Bassem Mroue Apr. 12, 2021 01:42 AM EDT

Catholic faithful reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in a Passion Play on the plaza of the Our Lady of Candelaria church that remained closed to the public due to coronavirus restrictions, in Capiata, Paraguay, Friday, April 2, 2021. As deaths related to COVID-19 increase daily the government decreed a preventive lockdown during Holy Week. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Christians mark Good Friday, Holy Week under virus woes

By Joseph Krauss And Frances D'emilio Apr. 02, 2021 01:37 AM EDT

A woman flashes a victory sign as she receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine during a nationwide vaccination campaign, at the Saint George Hospital, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. Lebanon launched its inoculation campaign after receiving the first batch of the vaccine — 28,500 doses from Brussels with more expected to arrive in the coming weeks. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syria to send Lebanon emergency oxygen supply for hospitals

Mar. 24, 2021 01:35 PM EDT

People pass next of an exchange shop which seen close amid a crackdown on some exchange shops by authorities around the country that the blame for inciting the crisis, at Beirut's commercial Hamra Street, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. More than half the population now lives in poverty, while an intractable political crisis heralds further collapse and Lebanese are gripped by fear for the future. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese are gripped by worry as economic meltdown speeds up

By Bassem Mroue Mar. 19, 2021 02:07 AM EDT

FILE - In this April 16, 2018 file photo, Syrian authorities distribute bread, vegetables and pasta to residents in the town of Douma, near Damascus, Syria. As Syria marks the 10th anniversary Monday, March 15, 2021, of the start of its uprising-turned-civil war, President Bashar Assad may still be in power, propped up by Russia and Iran. But millions of people are being pushed deeper into poverty, and a majority of households can hardly scrape together enough to secure their next meal. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
'Republic of Queues': 10 years on, Syria is a hungry nation

By Zeina Karam Mar. 15, 2021 06:55 AM EDT

A protester throws stones towards the central bank building in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March. 13, 2021. Riot police fired tear gas to disperse scores of people who protested near parliament building in central Beirut Saturday amid deteriorating economic and financial conditions and as the local currency hit new low levels (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Protests around Lebanon as local currency continues to slide

Mar. 13, 2021 06:13 PM EST

An anti-government protester holds lit flares while shouting slogans during a protest against the rising prices and worsening economic and financial conditions, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 12, 2021. Lebanon’s parliament on Friday approved a $246 million loan from the World Bank that would provide cash assistance for more than 160,000 families in the small country hit by an unprecedented economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. The Arabic on the wall reads "All means all." (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanese parliament approves World Bank loan to help poor

By Bassem Mroue Mar. 12, 2021 11:56 AM EST

From left to right, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi speak to the media during a press conference in Paris, Thursday, March 11, 2021. The new U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process Tor Wennesland will meet Thursday in Paris with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Germany and France to discuss possibilities for building confidence between Israel and the Palestinians. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP)
France: Lebanon is running out of time before total collapse

Mar. 11, 2021 12:39 PM EST

FILE - In this March 8, 2021 file photo, a protester flashes a victory sign as he aims to block a road during a protest, in Beirut, Lebanon. It's an expression of anger but also of helplessness: Dense palls of smoke rising around Beirut and other parts of Lebanon from burning tires that anti-government protesters are using to block roads. The tactic has become the hallmark of a new flare-up of demonstrations against an intransigent political class that does nothing as its country slides toward the political and economic abyss. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
Burning tires: Lebanon's protesters send dark, angry message

By Sarah El Deeb Mar. 10, 2021 01:07 AM EST

A protester waves a Lebanese flag near burning tires set to block a main highway, during a protest in the town of Jal el-Dib, north of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 8, 2021. The dayslong protests intensified Monday amid a crash in the local currency, increase of consumer goods prices and political bickering between rival groups that has delayed the formation of a new government. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanon's army chief warns economic crisis is hurting troops

By Bassem Mroue Mar. 08, 2021 09:00 AM EST