Foreign Digest: Belarus and Lebanon

Belarus

            Presidential elections will be conducted Sunday in Belarus.  Despite the prohibition of several opposition candidates from standing for election and arrests of opposition figures, tomorrow’s election represents the most serious challenge to the rule of the “Last Dictator of Europe” who has ruled the former Soviet Republic since independence in 1991 with an iron hand.  There have been protests against the autocrat because of worsening economic conditions and the dictator’s failure to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Lebanon 

           There were protests yesterday in Lebanon against the government after a blast devastated the port of the capital, Beirut, and caused widespread damage and casualties in the city.  Hezbollah, the Shi’ite terrorist organization backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a partner in the coalition government and responsible for the careless storage of explosives at the port.  Lebanon was in economic and fiscal distress before the disaster.