A Rhode Island businessman who runs an auto sales company illegally exported 19 vehicles to Lebanon, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Carlo Fakhri, 50, who operates D'Agostino's Auto Sales and Salvage, Inc., in North Providence, is charged with violating a law that requires him to provide the correct name, address, identification number, and contact information for the purchaser and receiver of each vehicle to the U.S. Commerce Department, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Rhode Island.

Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan broke his silence Wednesday evening over the controversy sparked by the vaccination of around two dozen MPs and parliament employees in apparent disregard for the national queue and the country’s electronic registration platform.

Speaking in an interview with state-run Tele Liban, Hassan said he took a “sovereign decision” by asking medical teams to head to parliament to vaccinate the lawmakers “in appreciation of their efforts, after parliament convened for seven consecutive days to approve the vaccine’s emergency use law.”

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Wednesday that it has authorized 20 private companies to import Covid-19 vaccines into the country.

In a phone call with LBCI TV, a Ministry official said the local companies “have so far faced rejection from the companies that manufacture the vaccines.”

President Michel Aoun has been following up on the reports about the oil spill that has affected Israel’s entire coastline before reaching Lebanon’s shores, the National News Agency said.

Lebanon's economic meltdown is not just leaving gaping holes in state coffers, with thieves now plucking Beirut's manhole covers for scrap.

Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli stressed Wednesday that the controversial vaccination on Tuesday of a number of MPs and parliament officials was “not a crime,” as he launched a vehement attack on World Bank regional director Saroj Kumar Jha.

An Istanbul court on Wednesday sentenced three Turks to four years and two months in prison for helping smuggle former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn in a musical instrument case to Lebanon from Japan.

The court convicted two pilots and an employee of a small private airline, who moved the tycoon while he was out on bail facing financial misconduct charges in December 2019.

A delegation of the Lebanese Forces, Strong Republic parliamentary bloc met with Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi in Bkirki on Wednesday in a stand of solidarity with his calls to “internationalize” the problematic Lebanese file.

Adviser to the President for Health Affairs Walid Khoury stated on Wednesday that due to the President’s “exposure to a large number of people,” that makes it necessary for him to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

Israeli troops opened gunfire in the outskirts of the southern town of Blida in Marjayoun, firing close above the head of a farmer who happened to be in the area, the National News Agency said on Wednesday.