Spotlight
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea told al-Markaziya news portal that those related to Israel's roadside bombing should be very careful, "because the situation in Lebanon cannot tolerate any mistakes."
The Israeli army had said Wednesday that soldiers have killed an armed man suspected of entering the country from Lebanon and blowing up a car, raising the risk of renewed tensions with Hezbollah.
Full StoryU.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea announced Friday the launch of a $20 million Solar & Renewable Energy Fund at an event in the presence of Minister of Industry George Bouchikian, Minister of Energy and Water Dr Walid Fayad, Minister of Environment Dr Nasser Yassin, USAID Lebanon Acting Mission Director Nicholas Vivio, investors, and local enterprises.
The fund, created by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Trade and Investment Facilitation (TIF) Activity and Lebanon Investment Initiative (LII), will unlock private sector investments to finance the cost of solar panel installations for Lebanese entities, the U.S. embassy in Lebanon said.
Full StorySaudi Ambassador to Lebanon walid Bukhari has informed a number of MPs he met that Saudi Arabia is not against the election of Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh as president, al-Liwaa newspaper said.
Sources told the daily, in remarks published Friday that Saudi Arabia has no objection on Franjieh or any other candidate, but rather cares about the president's program and how he will address the political and economic challenges.
Full StoryCentral bank governor Riad Salameh said Friday that he has appeared "as a witness" before the European legal team and not as a suspect or an accused.
Salameh was questioned for two hours Friday and six hours the day before about his properties abroad and his wealth.
Full StoryFrench and Saudi officials will meet in Paris in the coming hours to discuss the Lebanese crises, including the presidential file and the economic crisis.
Saudi royal envoy Nizar Al-Aloula and Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari will meet with French President Advisor Patrick Durrell and French presidential envoy Pierre Duquesne.
Full StoryCentral bank chief Riad Salameh, once lauded for reviving the economy, faces investigations into his personal wealth and is widely viewed as a key culprit in the country's dramatic economic crash.
Salameh, 72, one of the world's longest-serving central bank governors having held the post for three decades, was a previously untouchable figure in Lebanon.
Full StoryA European legal team on Friday ended two days of questioning of central bank chief Riad Salameh in Beirut in a money-laundering probe linked to the governor.
Salameh was questioned for two hours Friday and six hours the day before, Lebanese judicial officials said. The European delegation — with representatives from France, Germany, and Luxembourg — questioned Salameh through a Lebanese judge, acting as a go-between. Under Lebanese laws, the representatives cannot directly question Salameh.
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Saudi Arabia has not reached “detailed understandings” with Iran over “the crises in Iraq and Lebanon,” the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV quoted a Saudi source as saying on Thursday.
Full StoryProgressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has said "it is time to get out of the shell of traditional names" and to elect a consensual and not a confrontational president.
In an interview published in Kuwait's al-Qabas newspaper on Thursday, Jumblat suggested the name of Lebanese international lawyer Chibli Mallat, and re-mentioned International Monetary Fund official and ex-minister Jihad Azour.
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Pope Francis on Thursday reiterated his “firm faith in the message that Lebanon performs through the cultural and religious pluralism that characterizes it and makes it unique in the region,” during talks with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in the Vatican.
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