Spotlight
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Middle East
Trump postpones Iran power plant strikes, says talks going 'very well'
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he would not yet strike Iranian power plants as previously threatened after a request from ...
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Lebanon
Hezbollah boycotts cabinet session over Iran ambassador expulsion
Ministers from Hezbollah and its ally Amal boycotted a cabinet session on Thursday in protest over the government declaring the Iranian ambassador ...
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Explosions rocked several areas north of Beirut that have so far been spared in the ongoing Israeli war, according to residents and local media, with a military official saying the blasts likely came from an intercepted Iranian missile.
Footage broadcast by the local LBCI channel in the coastal town of Sahel Alma showed a building with shattered windows and shrapnel piercing one of its walls, and a crack in a small wall beside it.
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Lebanon's foreign ministry said on Tuesday it had withdrawn its approval of the Iranian ambassador's accreditation, giving him until Sunday to leave the country.
The ministry said in a statement that it had summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires in Lebanon and informed him of "the Lebanese state's decision to withdraw approval of the accreditation of the appointed Iranian ambassador, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, and declare him persona non grata, demanding that he leave Lebanese territory no later than next Sunday".
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At an archaeological site in southern Lebanon's Tyre, small signs bearing a blue and white emblem provide a symbolic shield, meant to protect the ancient ruins from bombardment.
One of the oldest cities on the Mediterranean coast, Tyre is located around 20 kilometers from the Israeli border, and has been the target of several strikes since Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war by Hezbollah's March 2 rocket attack on Israel.
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Israel said on Tuesday that its military would take control of south Lebanon up to the Litani River, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, as deadly strikes pounded the country.
In the latest unprecedented step by Lebanese authorities since a new war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's foreign ministry declared the Iranian ambassador persona non grata, giving him until Sunday to leave the country.
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Iran's Revolutionary Guards threatened on Tuesday to conduct "heavy" missile and drone attacks on Israel in what it described as support for Lebanese and Palestinian civilians.
"We warn the regime's criminal army that if its crimes against civilians in Lebanon and Palestine persist," Israeli forces "will be the target of heavy missile and drone strikes", the Guards said in a statement.
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French President Emmanuel Macron, hosting an event attended by a Lebanese minister, on Monday issued a warning that "occupation" does not bring security, in a message seen as directed at Israel.
"No occupation, no form of colonization -- not here, not in the West Bank, nor anywhere else -- is able to ensure the security of anybody," Macron said as he opened an exhibition at the state-funded Institute of the Arab World in Paris.
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Iran and Israel traded strikes on Tuesday, as the Middle East war showed no sign of de-escalation despite U.S. President Donald Trump signaling "very good talks" to end the three-week conflict.
The war, sparked by U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran that killed its supreme leader, has upended global energy markets, roiled the world economy, and spiraled throughout the region -- even dragging in safe-haven Gulf nations.
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An Israeli strike on Bshamoun, south of Beirut, killed three people including a three-year-old girl on Tuesday, Lebanon's health ministry said, while strikes on the capital's southern suburbs continued throughout the night.
"The Israeli enemy raid on the town of Bshamoun in the Aley district resulted, in a preliminary toll, in the martyrdom of two citizens and the injury of five others," the ministry had earlier said in a statement.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he spoke with Donald Trump, saying that the U.S. president believed U.S.-Israeli military gains in Iran could be converted into a negotiated agreement that protects Israel's interests.
"President Trump believes there is a chance to leverage the tremendous achievements of the IDF (Israeli army) and the U.S. military in order to realize the war's objectives in an agreement -- an agreement that will safeguard our vital interests," Netanyahu said in a video statement.
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At least three Israeli strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday, hours after the Israeli army issued a warning for residents of the area to evacuate.
Live broadcasts showed clouds of smoke over the southern suburbs, which are considered a Hezbollah stronghold and have not been hit since Friday night.
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