Lebanon

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A senior Kurdish official warned on Thursday that Islamic State militants could break out of prisons in northeast Syria as fighting intensifies between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkey.

Badran Jia Kurd told Reuters the number of security forces guarding the IS detainees would have to be reduced as the Turkish forces step up an offensive that got underway on Wednesday.

“This attack will definitely reduce and weaken the guarding system for those Daesh militants in the prisons,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

BEIRUT (AP) — The latest developments on Turkish offensive in Syria (all times local):

6 a.m.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he’s worried Turkey’s campaign in Syria will lead to the resurgence of the Islamic State group.

He told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday that he was “deeply concerned” about Turkey’s actions and has expressed to the Turkish and U.S. governments his concerns about the safety of civilians and the Kurdish people.

BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces said American troops began pulling back Monday from positions along the border in northeast Syria ahead of an expected Turkish invasion that the Syrian Kurds say will overturn five years of achievements in the battle against the Islamic State group.

The Syrian Kurdish fighters also accused Washington of failing to abide by its commitments to its key allies in the fight against IS. It’s a major shift in U.S. policy.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said on Saturday it would “not hesitate to turn any unprovoked (Turkish) attack into an all-out war” to defend its region in northeast Syria.

President Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will carry out an air and ground military operation, as soon as Saturday or Sunday, targeting the SDF-controlled area east of the Euphrates river in Syria.

BEIRUT, Oct 5 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese Health Minister, Jamil Jabak, said, the number of cancer patients in Lebanon has increased by threefold in the past 15 years due to pollution, local media reported.

“We hope that officials work hard on reducing the risks of getting exposed to cancer, by dealing properly with pollution,” Jabak was quoted as saying.

Jabak said that, his ministry decided to support the Children’s Cancer Centre directly, by allocating more money for this purpose in the 2019 state budget.

BEIRUT (AP) — The conflict between Iran and the U.S. that has created tensions throughout much of the Middle East is now also being felt in Lebanon, where Washington has slapped sanctions on the Iran-backed Hezbollah and warned they could soon expand to its allies, further deepening the tiny Arab country’s economic crisis.

The Trump administration has intensified sanctions on the Lebanese militant group and institutions linked to it to unprecedented levels, targeting lawmakers for the first time as well as a local bank that Washington claims has ties to the group.

BEIRUT, Oct 2 (NNN-NNA) – The European Investment Bank, announced that, it will fund the public transport project, for Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli.

“The bank is ready to finance the project, as a basic need to solve the traffic crisis in Tripoli, in addition to finalising the railway studies, for building a railway from Beirut to Tripoli,” the bank’s delegation said, during its meeting with Lebanese Public Works and Transport Minister, Youssef Fenianos.

BEIRUT, Oct 2 (NNN-XINHUA) – Britain’s Trade Envoy to Lebanon, Lord Richard Risby, assured that, his country will facilitate the entry of Lebanese products to the UK.

“We will work on importing Lebanese products even after our country’s exit from the European Union,” Risby was quoted as saying, during his meeting with Lebanese private sector representatives, at Beirut’s Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture.

Risby emphasised the need to increase cooperation between the two countries, in technology and knowledge economy.

BEIRUT, Oct 1 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese President, Michel Aoun, said that, Syrian refugees pose a burden of three billion U.S. dollars yearly, on the Lebanese economy, a statement by Lebanon’s presidency reported.

“This figure has a very negative impact on our small country, whereby Lebanon’s debt increased by 27 billion dollars, following the Syrian crisis,” Aoun said, during his meeting at Baabda Palace, with a delegation from the American Task Force for Lebanon.

30 Sep 2019; MEMO: Leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said that forces aligned to the party would enter Israel.

“The enemy is on the defensive, we have always been on the defensive, now we are in attack mode,” he said.

Leader of the movement, which is part of Lebanon’s coalition government, added: “We are threatening the enemy, not the other way around.”