Hezbollah allies gain seats in Lebanon parliamentary elections
May 7th, 20180 BEIRUT - Hezbollah and its political allies won just over half the seats in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, unofficial results showed, boosting an Iranian-backed movement fiercely opposed to Israel and underlining Tehran’s growing regional clout. Hezbollah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, called it a “political and moral...
Protests erupt in response to Bassil’s slur of Berri, Aoun urges forgiveness and stability
January 30th, 20180 BEIRUT - President Michel Aoun on Tuesday called for forgiveness and stability in Lebanon after a political row involving his son-in-law triggered street protests and deepened a rift with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Gebran Bassil called Nabih Berri “a thug” in a video that went viral on social media in Lebanon. Berri...
Lebanese foreign minister Gebran Bassil criticized over Israel comments, claims TV distorted his interview
December 28th, 20170 BEIRUT - Lebanese politicians on Thursday criticized Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil over a television interview in which he was shown saying that Lebanon did not have an ideological problem with Israel and was not against it having security. The comments, made to al-Mayadin satellite channel during a long interview on Tuesday, had...
Hariri back in Lebanon on the eve of Independence Day
November 21st, 20170 BEIRUT - Saad al-Hariri returned to Beirut on Tuesday for the first time since he resigned as Lebanon’s prime minister in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia and plunged his country into political crisis. Hariri’s sudden resignation on Nov. 4 thrust Lebanon to the forefront of regional tussle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose...
Lebanese president accuses Saudi Arabia of holding Hariri hostage
November 15th, 20170 BEIRUT - France said on Wednesday that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who Lebanon’s president says is being held hostage by Saudi Arabia, will visit France with his family in coming days. Hariri travelled to Riyadh on Nov. 3 before abruptly resigning in a televised statement a day later. He has stayed in Riyadh and top...
Lebanese president won’t accept or reject Hariri’s resignation until he returns home
November 6th, 20170 BEIRUT - Lebanon’s president appealed for national unity on Monday after Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri quit in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia, plunging the coalition government and country into political crisis. After Hariri’s shock announcement, political uncertainty deepened further when Lebanon’s parliamentary speaker said it...
Lebanese PM resigns, saying his life in danger
November 4th, 20170 RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Lebanon's prime minister Saad al-Hariri resigned on Saturday, citing an assassination plot against him and accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world. His resignation thrusts Lebanon back into the frontline of Saudi-Iranian regional rivalry and seems likely to exacerbate...
Lebanese army gets two light-attack aircraft from U.S.
November 3rd, 20170 HAMAT, Lebanon ― The United States delivered two A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to Lebanon’s army on Tuesday, a sign of continued U.S. support despite Israeli accusations that the Lebanese military is controlled by Hezbollah. The planes will be used as armed observation aircraft, a security source in Lebanon said, and...
Lebanese court issues death sentence over 1982 Gemayel assassination
October 22nd, 20170 BEIRUT ― Lebanon’s top court on Friday sentenced Habib Shartouni to death for the 1982 assassination of president-elect Bashir Gemayel, an event that was a turning point in Lebanon’s 15-year civil war. Shartouni, a member of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party (SSNP), admitted his part in the bombing in the 1980s and was tried...
Lebanon president: Syrian refugees should return to homeland’s calmer areas
October 16th, 20170 BEIRUT ― Lebanon can no longer handle vast numbers of Syrian refugees, its president said on Monday, urging world powers to help them return to the calmer parts of their war-torn homeland. More than six years into the Syrian war, 1.5 million refugees who fled the violence now account for a quarter of Lebanon’s population. Lebanese...
Woman’s murder prompts mass eviction of Syrians from Lebanese town
October 5th, 20170 MIZIARA, Lebanon ― Abu Khaled had lived in the Lebanese town of Miziara for almost 20 years until a woman’s suspected murder by a Syrian refugee led to his expulsion alongside several hundred other Syrians. “They gave us notice to evict at 2 a.m.,” said Abu Khaled, standing outside a bare building in a nearby village with some...
Lebanon to complain to U.N. over Israel violating airspace
September 14th, 20170 BEIRUT ― Lebanon will file a complaint to the United Nations against Israel for violating the country’s airspace and causing damage by breaking the sound barrier in the south of the country, its foreign minister said on Monday. Israeli jets flew low over the southern city of Saida on Sunday, causing sonic booms that broke windows...
Hezbollah declares Syria victory, Russia says much of country won back
September 13th, 20170 BEIRUT/MOSCOW — The Lebanese group Hezbollah has declared victory in the Syrian war while Russia said government forces had driven militants from much of the country where President Bashar al-Assad’s rule seemed in danger two years ago. The comments from two Syrian government allies mark the most confident assessments yet of...
ISIS forced out form Lebanon-Syria border, Nasrallah declares victory
August 29th, 20170 BEIRUT - A convoy of ISIS fighters and their families left the Lebanon-Syria border region on Monday under Syrian military escort, surrendering their enclave and traveling to eastern Syria after a week-long battle. A line of ambulances and buses were shown on Syrian state television driving slowly through the arid countryside, the...
Six dead in clashes in Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon
August 24th, 20170 SIDON, Lebanon ― Two members of the Palestinian group Fatah were killed in clashes with Islamist groups in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon on Wednesday, medical sources said, bringing the number of dead to six in nearly a week of fighting. The two sides later agreed a ceasefire deal, Palestinian officials said, as a security......
Nasrallah says U.S. can’t hurt Hezbollah, dismisses sanctions
August 16th, 20170 BEIRUT — On Sunday, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah dismissed the prospect of tougher U.S. sanctions against his group, which is backed by Iran, and said the U.S. administration had no way to harm it. "The American administration, with all available and possible means, will not be able to damage the strength of the resistance,"...
Old cinemas find new life in Lebanon as cultural hubs
August 4th, 20170 TRIPOLI, Lebanon — With paint peeling from the ceiling and crumbling plasterwork, renovating an abandoned picture house in the northern Lebanese town of Tripoli is more than a dream for Qassem Istanbouli. The 31-year-old has reopened three such cinemas— two in his home city of Tyre in southern Lebanon and another in Nabatiyeh—......
Lebanon-Syria refugee transfer delayed
August 1st, 20170 BEIRUT ― The transfer of thousands of Syrian militants and refugees from a Lebanese border region into rebel territory in Syria stalled for a second day on Tuesday. Lebanese television station al-Mayadeen said Nusra Front militants were demanding the release of a fifth prisoner being held by Beirut and accused of killing Lebanese...
Hezbollah: Nearing victory in battle at Lebanon-Syria border
July 28th, 20170 BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Wednesday that the group was close to defeating Nusra Front militants in the battle along the Syrian-Lebanese border. "We are in the face of a very big military victory," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech. The militants have "effectively lost" most of the land they...
Hariri stays silent as Trump mistakenly says he is fighting Hezbollah
July 27th, 20170 WASHINGTON - Questions have once again been raised over President Donald Trump’s grasp on foreign policy after he appeared to misunderstand the political and militery role played by the pwerful Lebanese party of Hezbollah in the Middle East’s complex geopolitics. During a news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad...
U.S. pledges extra $140 million to Lebanon for Syrian refugees, fighting ISIS
July 27th, 20170 BEIRUT ― The United States will give Lebanon an extra $140 million to help Syrian refugees and the communities hosting them, the State Department said during a U.S. visit by Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Lebanon is hosting at least 1.5 million Syrian refugees who have fled the more than six-year conflict there and who now make......
Hezbollah says battle with Nusra Front almost won at Syria-Lebanon border
July 24th, 20170 BEIRUT – Hezbollah said on Monday its battle with Nusra Front jihadists at the Syria-Lebanon border was almost over and urged remaining insurgents in the area to give up, pressing its campaign to take their last foothold at the frontier. With the Nusra Front almost beaten in the mountainous area on the outskirts of the Lebanese town...
Hezbollah, Syrian army launch offensive at Syrian-Lebanese border
July 21st, 20170 BEIRUT — The Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Syrian army launched an offensive on Friday to clear militants from an area of the Syrian-Lebanese frontier, a commander in the military alliance fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad said. The operation is targeting insurgents from the Nusra Front group in the Juroud Arsal......
Lebanon names former Bloomfield Hills resident Gabriel Issa as its ambassador to Washington
July 20th, 20170 BEIRUT — On Thursday, the Lebanese Cabinet passed long-awaited diplomatic appointments as President Michel Aoun called for “improving the state's revenues” in the wake of parliament's approval of a new wage scale for civil servants and the armed forces. As per protocol, the names of the appointed ambassadors will be announced...
Rights group urges Lebanon to probe deaths of Syrians in custody
July 5th, 20170 BEIRUT ― Human Rights Watch on Wednesday demanded an independent inquiry into the deaths of four Syrians who died while in Lebanese army custody and said anyone responsible for wrongdoing should be held to account. The Lebanese army said on Tuesday that the four Syrian men arrested during a raid on a refugee camp on Friday had died......
