Lebanon: The summer when everything went wrong - Jean Aziz
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/07/lebanon-political-social-economic-crises-summer.html
As the suicide bombings inflame Lebanon, the warm Lebanese summer is gradually progressing, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas of the country. In those circumstances, the chairman of the public works parliamentary committee, MP Mohammad Qabbani, warned of a catastrophic Lebanese summer, with a growing deficit in electricity generation, and a government demand to raise electricity prices to reduce the electricity fiscal deficit. There’s also a water shortage, a first for Lebanon in decades. The amount of rain accumulated throughout the winter season was less than one-third the average, which is between 750 mm and 800 mm (29.5 inches and 31.5 inches) per year.
The electricity and water shortages are compounded by more than 1 million displaced Syrians in Lebanon, putting pressure on the Lebanese economy, which was already weak, and on the public debt, which stands at more $64 billion. All those factors are posing an existential crisis, according to what Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said at a news conference on July 4.
Lebanon is mired in crises of the presidency, parliament, government, security and the economy, as well as the issues of employee demands, student exams, electricity, water and hot weather. The only thing missing to complete the apocalyptic scene was a literal earthquake … which just happened. On July 6, shortly after midnight, a magnitude-4.1 earthquake shook southern Lebanon, followed by a few aftershocks. They caused no damage or injuries. But the picture is now complete in the Lebanese satirical impressions: It’s the end of the world. It will be a long and final apocalyptic summer … before either a complete solution or the end.