BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on developments surrounding Lebanon’s crisis with Saudi Arabia in the wake of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation (all times local): 10:30 p.m. President Emmanuel Macron says that France doesn’t want to choose one camp against another in the Middle East or become involved in “national or regional divisions.” Macron spoke … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Lebanon
Lebanese PM’s fate in doubt amid Saudi-Lebanon escalation
BEIRUT (AP) — Saudi Arabia on Thursday ordered its citizens out of Lebanon in its first concrete action against the Mediterranean country, while officials in Beirut demanded the immediate return of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who abruptly announced his resignation last week in a television appearance from the kingdom, where he has been holed up … Continue reading
Lebanon bans the new “Wonder Woman” movie
BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese security official says authorities have banned the new “Wonder Woman” movie following a campaign against its lead actress, who served in the Israeli army. Lebanon is officially at war with Israel. The ban is in accordance with a decades-old law that boycotts Israeli products and bars Lebanese citizens from traveling … Continue reading
Hezbollah leader says ‘idiot’ Trump makes him optimistic
BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group says the world will benefit from having an “idiot” in the White House. Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech Sunday that his group is much stronger than when it was created in the early 1980s and should not be concerned about threats from the West. … Continue reading
Lebanese parliament elects new president, ending vacuum
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s parliament on Monday elected Michel Aoun, an 81-year-old former army commander and strong ally of the militant group Hezbollah, as the country’s president, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the top post and a political crisis that brought state institutions perilously close to collapse. Aoun secured a simple majority of … Continue reading
The Latest: Turkey briefs Russia on anti-IS operation
BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local): 6:15 p.m. Turkey’s foreign minister has spoken with his Russian counterpart about Ankara’s ongoing operations against the Islamic State group in Syria. Turkey’s Mevlut Cavusoglu called Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday to update him on the progress of ‘Euphrates Shield,’ Turkey’s incursion into … Continue reading
Bomb in eastern Lebanon inflicts casualties
BEIRUT (AP) — A small bomb exploded Wednesday on a main road near the eastern Lebanese city of Zahleh, killing at least one person and wounding 11 others, security officials and state media said. It was not immediately clear what the bomb targeted. Lebanon has been hit by a wave of explosions over the past … Continue reading
Hezbollah chief warns Israel there will be ‘no red lines’
BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah has warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, saying it will fight any new war with the Jewish state without any red lines. In an interview with the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen station Monday, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says the group has a comprehensive list of targets in Israel that includes nuclear … Continue reading
Young Lebanese activists challenge old political class
BEIRUT (AP) — First they egged the prime minister’s building. Then they dumped some of the garbage piling up on Beirut’s streets outside the home of the environment minister, furious the government couldn’t get its act together to find a solution when Lebanon’s main landfill shut down. But perhaps the most electrifying move by the … Continue reading
Russell County official charged with Social Security fraud
LEBANON, Va. (AP) — A Russell County official and his company face federal charges of conspiring to defraud the Social Security Administration. A federal grand jury indicted Russell County Board of Supervisors chairman Jonathan Bowerbank and EMATS Inc. this week. They are accused of conspiring with two former employees to falsify time sheets. The indictment … Continue reading
Mother of US reporter missing in Syria pleads for answers
BEIRUT (AP) — The mother of an American journalist missing in Syria for nearly three years pleaded on Tuesday for information about him, saying she believes that he is still alive. Austin Tice, of Houston, Texas, disappeared in August 2012 while covering Syria’s civil war. A video released a month later showed the journalist blindfolded … Continue reading