Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has taken a swipe at Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, accusing him of not being consistent in his stances regarding the issue of appointments.
“I’ve heard three sermons for Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and I totally respect him, but honestly let someone explain to me what he meant and what he wants. He said that there shouldn’t be appointments under a caretaker cabinet and then he stressed the need to name a chief of staff for the Lebanese Army. Let’s agree on a certain standard that should be practiced,” Mikati said, in an interview with Nidaa al-Watan newspaper published Tuesday.
Full StoryTeams from the Ministry of Health raided nurseries across the country on Tuesday, after a shocking video of abused children in a nursery in Jdeideh sparked public outrage.
The video that went viral showed staff of the Garderêve nursery force-feeding and beating young children and infants.
Full StoryParliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Tuesday that despite the political disagreements, all Lebanese should be aware of Israel's hostile intentions.
Berri's statement came as tensions continued to flare in the border area between Lebanon and Israel over two tents erected by Hezbollah and Israel’s building of a wall around the Lebanese part of al-Ghajar, a village that Israeli troops captured during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
Full StoryThe commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force deployed on the tense Lebanon-Israel border has relayed an Israeli request to remove a tent set up by Hezbollah in a disputed area.
The commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, met Monday in Beirut with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Full StoryParliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Monday that a caretaker government can convene to find a solution for the leadership crisis at the central bank after the term of its governor Riad Salameh ends.
"There is a constitutional text that describes what caretaking is, and it does not mean descending into vacuum," Berri said.
Full StoryParliament Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated Monday his call for dialogue, as he stressed that "internationalizing" it needs first a domestic agreement.
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi had called last week for an international conference on Lebanon after Lebanese officials failed to hold a dialogue.
Full StoryThe United States has proposed a solution for the latest border dispute between Israel and Hezbollah, media reports said.
According to Israel’s Channel 12, the proposal is based on Hezbollah’s dismantling of two tents that Israel alleges are in Israeli territory in return for Israel’s halt of the construction of a security fence in the Ghajar village.
Full StoryQatar has invited the countries of the five-nation group on Lebanon -- the U.S., France, KSA, and Egypt -- to meet in Doha on Thursday, Nidaa-al Watan newspaper reported Monday.
The daily claimed that France preferred to postpone the meeting until September, so that its presidential envoy, Jean Yves Le Drian, could complete his mission in Lebanon, while another country of the group suggested to postpone it until next week.
Full StoryCaretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has stressed that he “will not request the extension of the term of Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh nor the appointment of a successor,” because he does not want to “deepen the rift between the Lebanese.”
“The solution for filling the vacuum in the Central Bank governorship upon the expiry of Salameh’s term is the implementation of the law that allows his deputy (Wassim) Mansouri to carry out his missions,” Mikati said in an interview with Asharq al-Awsat newspaper published Monday.
Full StoryCaretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Monday met in Beirut with UNIFIL chief Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz amid tensions with Israel on the southern border.
“We discussed the security situations in the South and they relayed to us the Israeli side’s demand that the tent (that Israel says Hezbollah erected in Israeli territory) be removed. Our response was that we want them to retreat from northern Ghajar, which is considered Lebanese territory,” Bou Habib said after the talks.
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