Lebanon

BEIRUT, Mar 23 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanon joined yesterday, the iHeritage project, dedicated to safeguarding and enhancing access to UNESCO heritage sites in the Mediterranean.

BEIRUT (AP) — Airstrikes on several locations in northwest Syria near the border with Turkey have killed at least one person and set afire several trucks used to distribute aid, opposition activists and a paramedic group said Monday.

The late Sunday attacks angered Turkey, which had asked Russia to secure an immediate end to the strikes, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said, adding that Turkish troops had been placed on alert.

20 Mar 2021; MEMO: Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday he would support a new Lebanese cabinet if one is announced on Monday, but said that a government formed solely of specialists would not last, reported Reuters.

President Michel Aoun is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri next week.

The two politicians have been wrangling for months as the country sinks deeper into financial crisis.

BEIRUT, Mar 19 (NNN-NNA) – Hezbollah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, warned yesterday, against the danger of a civil war in Lebanon, the al-Manar TV reported.

“There is information that some external and internal parties are pushing for a civil war in Lebanon. The awareness of the Lebanese people has prevented this so far, but the danger is still there,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

Nasrallah noted that his party will never opt to using weapons to force change in the country.

BEIRUT (AP) — Shops closing, companies going bankrupt and pharmacies with shelves emptying — in Lebanon these days, fistfights erupt in supermarkets as shoppers scramble to get to subsidized powdered milk, rice and cooking oil.

Like almost every other Lebanese, Nisrine Taha’s life has been turned upside down in the past year under the weight of the country’s crushing economic crisis. Anxiety for the future is eating at her.

18 Mar 2021; MEMO: Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad Al-Hariri said today after meeting with President Michel Aoun that the priority was to form a government to halt the country's financial collapse and re-start talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"The main priority of any government is to prevent the collapse that we are facing today … that we proceed to start halting the collapse with the IMF and regain the trust of the international community," he said at a news conference.

16 Mar 2021; MEMO: Head of Hezbollah's Parliamentary Bloc, Mohammad Raad, headed to Russia and met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov yesterday, Anadolu reported.

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that both the Lebanese and Russian officials discussed the situation in Lebanon and the Middle East in general.

"Sergey Lavrov confirmed Russia's consistent line in support of the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Lebanon," the statement said.

13 Mar 2021; MEMO: Popular protests have renewed in several Lebanese cities complaining of the aggravated economic crisis amid the worst wave of price hikes to have ever hit the country, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

09 Mar 2021; MEMO: Lebanon's caretaker Minister of Defence, Zeina Aker, issued a directive on Sunday to freeze firearms licences amid fears that escalating popular protests could descend into armed conflict. The directive will be effective from Monday for an indefinite period. Diplomatic missions, politicians and heads of religious groups, and their personal staff are exempt from the new rules.

BEIRUT, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Tuesday that Lebanon adheres to its rights for compensation over environmental and economic damage caused by a recent oil spill that reached Lebanon's shores.

Aoun's remarks came during his meeting at Baabda Palace with Najat Rochdi, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon.

Aoun handed Rochdi a copy of the initial report prepared by Lebanon on the damage caused by the spill, after a field and aerial survey that was conducted for Lebanese waters.