Lebanon president tells U.N. big challenges await government, help needed

FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's President Michel Aoun sits inside the presidential palace on the eve of the first anniversary of Beirut port explosion, in Baabda, Lebanon August 3, 2021. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's President Michel Aoun told the United Nations General Assembly on Friday big challenges awaited his country's new government and asked the international community for funding to revive its crisis-stricken economy.

"We are relying on the international community to fund vital projects, whether in the public or private sector, in order to revive the economic cycle and create new job opportunities," Aoun told the gathering via a recorded video message.