Shopie Georgiou

  Sali Hafez was  lauded as a hero   by many in Lebanon after she broke into a BLOM Bank branch in Beirut and pressured bank employees to hand over $12,000 and the equivalent of about $1,000 in Lebanese pounds from her account. She then went into hiding in the Bekka Valley, but handed herself into authorities on Wednesday night . Lebanon has been engulfed by an economic crisis since 2019, which has been described by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern history. Much of the country has been plunged into poverty and the local currency has plummeted in value by more than 95 per cent. There are severe shortages of basic essentials including bread, electricity, medicine and water.

    Rainfall in Lebanon decreased in recent years, straining even the most water-rich country in the Middle East as it deals with an unprecedented economic crisis The combination of climate change and economic freefall now threatens to. As rain declines and temperatures warm, farmers adapt, growing less water-demanding produce like tomatoes, cucumber, and drought-resistant tobacco.  f there isn’t rain, you use whatever you have left stored and work with a deficit,” Sabra explained. “You can’t even afford to farm anymore.”