World

Lebanese army offers $150 helicopter trips amid economic crisis

Hit by a worsening economic crisis, the Lebanese army has started offering tourists helicopter joyrides in a bid to boost the coffers of one of the crisis-hit country's key institutions.

Published

2 months ago

Jul 13, 2021 02:45 AM

Fateh Farooq

Lebanese army offers $150 helicopter trips amid economic crisis

GNN Media: Representational Photo

"The war we are in is an economic one, and therefore requires unconventional means ... and the idea we had was to do helicopter tours," Colonel Hassan Barakat, an army spokesperson, said.

"The cost of these trips secures the essential maintenance of the planes."

The joyrides on board the army's Robinson R44 Raven helicopters offers passengers aged 3 and above.

Up to three people would be allowed aboard per flight, which costs about $150 and is to be paid in cash.

Lebanon is suffering from what the World Bank has described as one of the deepest depressions in modern history.

The currency has lost more than 90% of its value in less than two years, and more than half the population has sunk into poverty.

Army commander General Joseph Aoun warned last month that the crisis, caused by decades of corruption and waste in government, would lead to the collapse of all state institutions, including the army, noting that the value of a soldier's monthly salary was now $90.

A big recipient of U.S. military support, the army has underpinned Lebanon's stability since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Qatar announced it would provide the army with 70 tons of food per month.

Earlier in June, France hosted a donor conference at which 20 nations agreed to provide emergency aid to Lebanon's military.

Up Next

US dollar strengthens against Pakistani rupee

Don't Miss

Police arrest suspected mastermind in Haiti president murder

Fateh Farooq

Fateh Farooq is a senior editor at GNN, known for writing top quality content which garner very high readerships and has been covering every field of journalism, including politics, media, sports and scholarly articles. Fateh Farooq is nothing less than a Veteran Editor and has been writing for GNN for the past 7 months.

Pakistan

COVID-19 kills another 78 as Pakistan continues battle against fourth wave

Islamabad: Pakistan is witnessing daily surge in COVID-19 cases with authorities linking the upswing to the deadly fourth wave. Today country’s positivity rate is on 5.44%.

Published

1 week ago

Sep 14, 2021 08:36 AM

Mehak Javed

COVID-19 kills another 78 as Pakistan continues battle against fourth wave

As per National Command and Control Center (NCOC), around 2,580 cases of coronavirus were reported while 78 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 26,865.

Pakistan conducted a total of 47,419 tests in the last 24 hours.

As per the NCOC, total confirmed cases are 1,210,082 whereas 5,304 are under critical care.

Punjab

The number of patients swelled to 415,654 in the province with 12,259 causalities.

Sindh

The number of infections has surged to 446,045 in the province, while the death toll has reached 7,177.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The confirmed cases have surged to 169,040 in the province with 5,290 casualties.

Balochistan

There are 32,618 confirmed cases while 344 patients have died from the infection so far.

AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan

There are 33,432 coronavirus cases in the AJK while the death toll has reached 724. On the other hand, there are 10,168 cases in GB with 182 coronavirus deaths.

Islamabad

There are 103,125 cases in the capital city while 889 people have lost their lives.

Regional

New island emerges near Balochistan’s Kund Malir beach

A new island have popped up near Sonmiani beach of Balochistan— discovered by the fishermen sailing along the coast on Thursday.

Published

1 week ago

Sep 09, 2021 06:14 PM

Mehak Javed

New island emerges near Balochistan’s Kund Malir beach

The technical advisor on marine fisheries at World Wild Fund (WWF), Muhammad Moazzam Khan said that the new island appeared in west off the coast of Sonmiani near Kund Malir.

“Such phenomena occurs due to geographical changes within the ocean depths,” he said adding that these kind of small islands emerge, remain in place for a while and then diminish back into the waters.

It is pertinent mention here that such Islands had earlier emerged at the same location in 2000 and 2010.

The first known emergence, during November 1945, was concurrent with an earthquake of magnitude 8.0.

The 2nd and 3rd emergences were in March 1999 and November 2010 respectively.

In 2013, an island emerged off Gwadar coast after a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Pakistan. However, the island disappeared after some time.

Landsat images of March 1999 and November 2010 emergences indicate appearance of round-shaped island of 4.4 and 5.2 hectare area, followed by erosion and disappearance. The island was composed of mud breccias and circular vents spewing mud slurry and methane gas.

Pakistan

Pakistan's COVID-19 death toll crosses 27,000 mark

Islamabad: Pakistan is presently experiencing the fourth wave of coronavirus which is said to be deadlier and more contagious than previous three COVID waves.

Published

5 days ago

Sep 16, 2021 08:43 AM

Mehak Javed

Pakistan's COVID-19 death toll crosses 27,000 mark

According to National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), around 3,012 cases of coronavirus were reported while 66 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 27,004.

The total number of cases has reached 1,215,821.

As many as 1,112,236 patients have recovered from the disease with 5,039 critical cases.

Punjab

The number of patients swelled to 418,196 in the province with 12,319 causalities.

Sindh

The number of infections has surged to 447,678 in the province, while the death toll has reached 7,210.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The confirmed cases have surged to 169,972 in the province with 5,329 casualties.

Balochistan

There are 32,671 confirmed cases while 344 patients have died from the infection so far.

AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan

There are 33,551 coronavirus cases in the AJK while the death toll has reached 727. On the other hand, there are 10,204 cases in GB with 182 coronavirus deaths.

Islamabad

There are 103,549 cases in the capital city while 893 people have lost their lives.