STORY: Lebanon looks to 2025 for peace, recovery after a year of turmoil
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage
DATELINE: Dec. 22, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:16
LOCATION: Beirut
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. STANDUP (English): DANA HALAWI, Xinhua reporter 
2. various of Lebanon

STORYLINE:

STANDUP (English): DANA HALAWI, Xinhua reporter 
"As the year 2024 is coming to an end, the Lebanese are facing the challenge of containing the effects of the longest and deadliest war between Hezbollah and Israel while Lebanon already suffers from the worst economic and financial crisis in its history, added to a political deadlock as political parties failed to elect a new Lebanese president.
The year 2024 was marked in Lebanon by an unprecedented war between Hezbollah and Israel, leading to the assassination of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the killing of (over) 4,000 people, and the injury of (around) 16,000 others.
According to the World Bank, the physical damages and economic losses of this conflict in Lebanon cost around 8.5 billion U.S. dollars, added to this financial crisis that has started in 2019, leading to the devaluation of the currency by over 90 percent while plunging (around) 44 percent of the population into poverty.
On a positive note, the ceasefire agreement was perceived positively by the Lebanese, who are eager to live peacefully after a long period of security instability.
Peace, financial prosperity, and political stability are all common wishes among the Lebanese in the year 2025."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beirut.
(XHTV)