September 16th, 20220Savers held up two banks in Lebanon on Wednesday to demand access to their own deposits frozen in the country's paralyzed financial system, underlining desperation among citizens unable to access savings since an economic crisis began in 2019.
There were similar incidents in Beirut in August and in eastern Lebanon in January.
The...
September 15th, 20220ANAHEIM, CA — After years of lobbying by advocates, Anaheim finally designated its Arab American enclave as "Little Arabia" on Tuesday.
In a statement, Anaheim's spokeswoman told CNN the city plans to follow up the designation with in-depth research.
"The Little Arabia designation recognizes an area of our city we've always...
September 14th, 20220September 16 marks the 40th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, the killing of around 3,000 Palestinians at the hands of Lebanon’s Phalangist militias operating under the command of the Israeli army.
Four decades have passed, yet no measure of justice has been received by the survivors of the massacre. Many of them have...
September 14th, 20220Two seemingly armed and desperate Lebanese depositors held up banks on Wednesday to force access to their own money, which has been blocked during a national financial meltdown.
One woman with a gun, that she later said was a toy, and some associates briefly held hostages at a branch of BLOM Bank in the capital Beirut, before leaving...
September 13th, 20220Maritime border talks between Lebanon and Israel that could help allocate oil and gas resources are close to concluding after around two years of negotiations, a top Lebanese security official told Reuters on Tuesday.
"We're talking about weeks — actually, days — to finish the delineation issue," the head of Lebanon's General...
August 23rd, 20220LEBANON — Nadia Fawaz, a Lebanese chess champion, was matched with an Israeli player, Elia Grozman, in the fourth round of the 28th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival. Lebanese outlet The961 has reported that Fawaz, however, decided she did not want to play with an Israeli and has withdrawn from the international chess...
August 13th, 20220NEW YORK — The man accused in the stabbing attack on Salman Rushdie pleaded not guilty Saturday to attempted murder and assault charges in what a prosecutor called a "preplanned" crime, as the renowned author of The Satanic Verses remained hospitalized with serious injuries.
A judge refused to grant bail Thursday to Hadi Matar, 24...
August 4th, 20220Lebanese mother Liliane Cheaito, stuck in the hospital since the Beirut blast two years ago, saw her son for the first time on Thursday following a court ruling in a protracted family dispute with her husband.
Cheaito has not left the American University of Beirut's Medical Center since August 4, 2020, when she was brought in bruised...
July 15th, 20220Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had strong words on Wednesday about a maritime oil dispute between Lebanon and Israel.
Nasrallah warned that "no one" would be allowed to operate in maritime oil and gas fields if Lebanon was barred from its "rights" in extracting from areas off of its own coast.
"If Lebanon is prevented...
July 2nd, 20220BEIRUT – Lebanon’s untamed financial crisis is gathering new menace as it heads into a fourth year, with political paralysis dampening hope of reforms that could unlock foreign support and stave off social turmoil, according to analysts, lawmakers and former officials.
The emergency gripping the small country squeezed between Syria...
June 24th, 20220BEIRUT — Lebanon's Najib Mikati was named prime minister on Thursday, urging fractious politicians to set aside differences to secure an IMF deal which he said was the only chance to save the country from financial collapse.
Facing a politically difficult path to agreeing on a new cabinet, the billionaire tycoon who led three...
June 22nd, 20220BEIRUT — Lebanon's caretaker premier Najib Mikati will likely be nominated for a new term on Thursday, political sources said, keeping him at the helm as the country prepares for steep financial and political challenges in the months ahead.
If re-installed, Mikati will have to steer Lebanon through an economic recovery plan that...
May 28th, 20221BEIRUT — Lebanon’s intelligence chief said Thursday that he met with Biden administration officials this week to discuss ways he could help secure the release of six Americans who are being held prisoner or are missing in Syria, including Austin Tice, a freelance journalist who contributed to The Washington Post.
Maj. Gen. Abbas...
May 20th, 20220Lebanon's emboldened opposition goes from protest to parliament
BEIRUT – When Halime El Kaakour enters Lebanon's parliament as a newly elected lawmaker next week, she will step past the same concrete barriers that security forces erected to keep her and other protesters out during massive anti-government rallies in 2019.
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May 14th, 20220DEARBORN — A 17-year-old Dearborn High School senior has launched a new business in her dad’s memory.
Fatimeh Homayed came up with the idea after her father, Mohamed, tragically passed away from cancer a few months ago and she decided to open up a business out of her home called Apple Dip.
“My dad always took us to these...
April 26th, 20220BEIRUT — Lebanon's cabinet ordered the military court on Tuesday to investigate the capsize of a migrant boat after colliding with a naval vessel giving chase, with at least six dead and dozens missing.
The boat carrying Lebanese and Syrian migrants sank off the coast near the impoverished northern city of Tripoli on Saturday...
April 12th, 20220At least one person was killed and seven were injured in an explosion at a scout center affiliated with the Shi'a Amal Movement near Sidon in southern Lebanon, officials told Reuters early on Tuesday.
The blast demolished the building and army personnel were searching through the rubble for any further casualties, sources added. The...
April 8th, 20220U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) is joining a group of two dozen U.S. House members to urge the Biden administration to work with Lebanese officials to ensure that the upcoming parliamentary elections on May 15 are carried out on time, transparently and free of corruption.
The group sent out a letter to Secretary of State Antony...
March 24th, 20220BEIRUT — A Lebanese military court has charged Christian politician Samir Geagea over deadly clashes in Beirut last October, a judicial source and broadcaster Al Jadeed said on Thursday, a move that could stoke political tension two months before an election.
An official in Geagea's Lebanese Forces (LF) party said the charge...
March 21st, 20220BEIRUT — A Lebanese judge charged central bank governor Riad Salameh with illicit enrichment on Monday, adding to the number of graft investigations he already faces.
Judge Ghada Aoun told Reuters the case related to the purchase and rental of Paris apartments, including some to the central bank.
Salameh denied the charge when...
March 18th, 20220DEARBORN - The Imam Sadr Foundation (ISF) USA held its 22nd annual event and fundraising gala at the Islamic Center of America on Saturday, March 12.
The gathering saw an immense show of support for the organization that has been doing critical social and humanitarian work for Lebanon’s most vulnerable populations for...
February 26th, 20220DEARBORN — The Lebanese artist of Armenian origin behind the painting of more than a dozen mosques and churches globally has returned to Dearborn to continue to share his work.
Born in 1973, Haroutioun “Harout” Isack Bastajian has always had a passion for art.
“I spent a lot of time in my childhood in the remote...
February 23rd, 20220BEIRUT — Lebanese security forces have foiled plans by militants linked to ISIS to carry out three suicide attacks in Beirut's southern suburbs, the interior minister said on Wednesday.
The plans for the attacks involved rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire as well as suicide vests rigged with explosives that would have killed...
February 3rd, 20220Lebanese authorities said on Monday that the country's intelligence and security agencies dismantled 17 Israeli spy rings and made numerous arrests in connection with the network.
The spy network was embedded in various aspects of Lebanese society and collected data on politicians and NGOS, specifically targeting Palestinian...
January 24th, 20220BEIRUT - In a bombshell announcement, Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri said on Monday he was suspending his role in political life and would not run in a forthcoming parliamentary election.
The news comes as the country is tackling a dire financial crisis that has seen the country depend into social and...
January 11th, 20220BEIRUT — A Lebanese judge said on Tuesday she had imposed a travel ban on central bank governor Riad Salameh, who is at the center of investigations into alleged fraud and other misconduct launched after Lebanon was plunged into a deep financial crisis.
Salameh, who said he had no knowledge of the ban and denied any wrongdoing, is...
December 7th, 20210BEIRUT — The probe into last year's deadly Beirut port blast has been cleared to resume after being suspended for more than a month on legal claims against its lead investigator, Judge Tarek Bitar, a judicial source said.
A Beirut court rejected the last of the suits preventing Bitar from questioning top officials on...
November 30th, 20210WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn), House Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) have introduced the Lebanon TPS Act of 2021.
The proposed legislation seeks to grant Lebanese nationals...
