Lebanon’s currency plunges, and protesters surge into streets

Demonstrations broke out across the country after the pound sank to a new low against the U.S. dollar, obliterating the purchasing power of many Lebanese.A new wave of anti-government protests erupted across Lebanon on Thursday with people blocking roads, burning tires and chanting against the political elite amid a deepening economic crisis.

The protests, in a number of cities and in multiple parts of the capital, Beirut, did not appear to be coordinated, but broke out after the Lebanese pound sank to a new low against the U.S. dollar, obliterating the purchasing power of many Lebanese.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab called for an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday to address the crisis.
Lebanon, a sectarian democracy with 5.5 million people, has been mired in intertwined political and economic crises since protesters took to the streets last fall to denounce the country’s leaders for decades of mismanagement and corruption.
Those protests forced the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri in October, but petered out in March amid a government-imposed lockdown aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.