Spotlight
A top Iranian security official called on regional countries Saturday to put their differences aside and cooperate closely as they face what he called "Israel's conspiracies."
Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, spoke in Beirut where he arrived earlier Saturday to attend the anniversary of Israel's assassination of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.

Thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered Saturday at the tomb of the group's former chief, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, to mark the first anniversary of Israel's assassination of their longtime leader.

Hezbollah suffered one blow after another during its most recent war with Israel, culminating in the killing of the group's longtime leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in massive Israeli airstrikes on a Beirut suburb.
The group was weakened militarily and politically. Many of its opponents declared that its days as a dominant regional and local player were over.

Lebanon's former central bank governor Riad Salameh walked free from a year in custody over embezzlement allegations Friday after posting more than $14 million in bail, a judicial official told AFP.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that “peace between Israel and Lebanon is possible,” calling on the Lebanese government to “begin direct negotiations with Israel.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday said that the Raouche Rock event proved that “Hezbollah has not learned anything from everything that has happened and has not drawn lessons from the tragedies it plunged Lebanon and the Lebanese into.”
“In whose face was the finger raised yesterday on the Raouche Rock? The Israeli attacks on Lebanon are countless, so was that finger raised to confront them? Or was it raised in the face of the majority of Beirut’s residents and the Lebanese in general?” Geagea wondered, referring to a laser illustration of Nasrallah’s famous finger gesture that was beamed onto the Raouche Rock during Thursday’s event.

Lebanon's former central bank governor Riad Salameh posted more than $14 million in bail Friday after a year in detention over embezzlement allegations, paving the way for his release, a judicial official told AFP.
Salameh, 75, who headed the central bank for three decades, has faced numerous accusations including embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion in separate probes in Lebanon and abroad.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam does not intend to resign or stop performing his duties and he is “reviewing the government’s work with the aim of rectifying and enhancing the performance,” Deputy PM Tarek Mitri said Friday after meeting with Salam.
This comes after Hezbollah defied Salam and Lebanese authorities by illuminating the iconic Raouche Rock with images of its slain chiefs Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine despite controversy and authorities’ refusal to grant permission for such a move.

A UK court on Friday threw out a terrorism charge against a Northern Irish singer from the punk rap group Kneecap which had provoked an outcry among their fans.

Israel's air force carried out airstrikes Friday on eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese state-run news agency reported without giving any word on casualties. The Israeli military said it struck a site used for manufacturing precision missiles.
The airstrikes took place near the Lebanese village of Saraain in the Bekaa Valley region, according to the National News Agency. They are the latest strikes since the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in November.
