Lebanon
Latest stories
Hariri Visits Bekaa: Keeping Country without President Not a Constitutional Right

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri reiterated Friday that the boycott of presidential electoral sessions is not a "constitutional right" for the blocs that are not showing up at parliament.

W140 Full Story
Decentralization Plan to Resolve Waste Crisis on Right Track

A ministerial committee tasked with resolving the country's seven-month-long waste crisis has agreed on the establishment of several landfills, ministerial sources have said.

Discussions are now focusing to secure consensus on the Kojok landfill in Iqlim al-Kharroub, the sources told several local dailies published on Friday.

W140 Full Story
U.S. after GCC Decision on Hizbullah: Nobody Wants New Conflict

The U.S. State Department has downplayed a possible conflict in Lebanon over a decision taken by Gulf states earlier this week to designate Hizbullah a terrorist organization.

“Nobody wants new conflict, obviously. But I would let these states speak for themselves and to their decision to so designate,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said Thursday in his press briefing.

W140 Full Story
Major Busts in Syria, Lebanon Shed Light on Captagon Trade

A string of major drug busts in Syria and Lebanon has drawn new attention to the trade in captagon, an illegal substance that has flourished in the chaos of Syria's war.

Security forces in both countries have clamped down in recent months on exports of the psychostimulant, produced in swathes of Syrian and Lebanese territory where government oversight is lax or non-existent.

W140 Full Story
Hariri: Iran Had Elections a Few Days ago, so Why Can’t we?

Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri condemned on Thursday the ongoing vacuum in the presidency, indirectly accusing Iran of using Hizbullah to prevent the polls.

He said in an interview with CNN television: “Iran had elections a few days ago, so why can’t we have elections, like normal people?”

W140 Full Story
U.S. Ambassador Tours Blue Line with UNIFIL Commander

U.S. Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Ambassador Richard Jones toured on Thursday the Blue Line area that marks the border between Lebanon and Israel, announced the U.S. embassy in a statement.

He met with United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Commander Major General Luciano Portolano for a briefing at the U.N. Headquarters in Naqoura in the South.

W140 Full Story
Tunisia Nobel Winners Condemn Blacklisting of Hizbullah

Two members of Tunisia's Nobel Peace Prize winning quartet on Thursday condemned the decision of Arab states in the Gulf to blacklist of Hizbullah as a "terrorist" organization.

The Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), in a statement, said the Iranian-backed group Hizbullah was a "symbol of the (Lebanese) national struggle" against Israel.

W140 Full Story
Loyalty to Resistance Slams GCC's 'Reckless Aggression' against Hizbullah

Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc condemned on Thursday the Gulf Cooperation Council's labeling of the party as “terrorist,” holding Saudi Arabia accountable for the decision.

The bloc said after its weekly meeting: “The GCC's decision is reckless aggression and we hold the Saudi regime responsible for it and its consequences.”

W140 Full Story
Salam Issues Stiff Warning on Waste Crisis

Prime Minister Tammam Salam warned cabinet ministers on Thursday that he would not call for a cabinet session next week if the country’s seven-month-long waste problem is not resolved soon.

Salam denied that he would suspend cabinet sessions, telling ministers the situation is “much worse than that,” Information Minister Ramzi Jreij said in his press briefing.

W140 Full Story
Franjieh: Hizbullah is a Resistance that Makes Lebanon, Arabs Proud

Head of the Marada Movement MP Suleiman Franjieh lamented on Thursday the labeling of Hizbullah as a terrorist organization by Arab countries.

He said via Twitter: “Hizbullah as a resistance movement makes Lebanon and the Arabs proud.”

W140 Full Story