Lebanon

04 May 2021; MEMO: An anti-corruption group has submitted a legal complaint in France against Lebanon's central bank governor over foreign investments including property he owns worth millions of euros, Reuters reported two people involved in the filing saying yesterday.

Sherpa, a non-governmental organisation that defends victims of economic crimes, said in a statement that it and a group of lawyers had filed the complaint on Friday over "suspicious" real estate purchases in France.

30 Apr 2021; MEMO: Tonnes of dead fish have washed up on the banks of a lake on Lebanon's Litani river, engulfing a nearby village in a pungent smell, in a disaster blamed on polluted waters, Reuters reported.

Volunteers collected rotting fish carcasses near the Qaraoun lake on Lebanon's longest river, the Litani, where activists have warned for years of water pollution caused by sewage and waste.

28 Apr 2021; MEMO: The Israeli authorities have drawn a new map for its maritime border with Lebanon based on the latter's expansion of the area disputed between the two countries, RT reported on Tuesday.

BEIRUT, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Russia supports Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri in forming cabinet, a statement released by Hariri's office reported.

"Russia supports PM Hariri's efforts to form a cabinet capable of dealing with the current crisis and receiving support from Arab and foreign countries," Lavrov was quoted as saying during his meeting with Hariri.

BEIRUT (AP) — A 10-day curfew in areas controlled by U.S.-backed fighters in northeast Syria went into effect Tuesday in an attempt to try limit the spread of coronavirus in the region that borders Turkey and Iraq.

Northeast Syria witnessed a sharp increase of coronavirus cases in recent weeks overwhelming hospitals and clinics leading to the lockdown.

Residents in northeast Syria contacted by telephone said most people were abiding by the lockdown with few people on the streets amid patrols and checkpoints enforcing the curfew.

BEIRUT (Reuters) -A senior cabinet minister said on Monday he had signed a document expanding Lebanon’s claims in a row with Israel over their maritime border that has held up hydrocarbon exploration in the potentially gas-rich area.

The amendment would add around 1,400 square kilometres (540.54 square miles) to the exclusive economic zone claimed by Lebanon in its original submission to the United Nations.

BEIRUT, April 9 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Arab League (AL) Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki said that the AL will help with negotiations among Lebanese political parties to end the governmental deadlock, a statement by Lebanon’s Presidency reported.

“I have expressed the readiness of the Arab League to assist in negotiations among the main political parties to facilitate cabinet formation in Lebanon,” Zaki said following his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace.

BEIRUT, Apr 8 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese President, Michel Aoun, received a message of support from his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, conveyed to him by Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, in which he affirmed Egypt’s “solidarity with Lebanon and its support for efforts to form a new government.”

This came in a statement, issued by Lebanon’s Presidency, following Shoukry’s meeting with Aoun at the Baabda Palace.

08 Apr 2021; MEMO: Lebanese President Michel Aoun held a phone conversation with Syria's Bashar Al-Assad to discuss the demarcation of the Lebanon-Syria maritime borders, Anadolu reported yesterday.

According to Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe, Aoun confirmed that "Lebanon will not accept to diminish from its sovereignty over its waters."

07 Apr 2021; MEMO: Palestinian factions yesterday warned of plans being drawn up behind closed doors aimed at pushing Palestine refugees out of Lebanon, Arabi21 reported.

According to the news site, many lawyers have started carrying out candid and systematic work aimed at encouraging desperate refugees to accept compensation and agree to move abroad in search of a better life.