Spotlight
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Lebanon Wave of Israeli airstrikes targets Iqlim al-Tuffah heights, area between Ansar and al-Zrariyeh A wave of Israeli airstrikes targeted the Iqlim al-Tuffah heights and the area between Ansar and al-Zrariyeh in south Lebanon on Thursday evening, ...
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Lebanon Barrack says Israel decides deadline given to Lebanon, not US U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has warned that Lebanon’s failure to take tangible steps toward disarming Hezbollah would lead to perpetuating the current... 3
A ministerial committee tasked with devising a new waste management plan on Wednesday held its first meeting at the Grand Serail under Prime Minister Saad Hariri, as a panel member said the incineration waste treatment approach has surfaced as a “serious” alternative to landfills.

President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri told ministers during Wednesday's Cabinet session that “the new electoral law will be finalized before the end of February,” Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said.

The Ambassadors of the European Union and EU Member States held talks Wednesday with Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq to discuss “the advancement of preparations for the forthcoming elections,” an EU Delegation statement said.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) on Wednesday carried out a joint exercise combining armored assets, machine gun and small arms live fire in an area one kilometer south of the UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, UNIFIL said.

A security meeting was held Wednesday at the al-Qaa border post between Lebanese General Security officers and others from the Lebanese and Syrian customs authorities in the presence of a representative of the Higher Syrian-Lebanese Council, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel held talks Wednesday with visiting Saudi State Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan, who has met with several senior leaders in recent days.

The Cabinet held an ordinary session Wednesday at the Baabda Palace during which it decided to dedicate next week's session to studying the draft state budget.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq will raise a contentious issue during the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, related to appointing a committee to supervise the parliamentary polls, which was strongly rejected earlier by President Michel Aoun for linkage to the controversial 1960 electoral law, al-Joumhouria daily reported.
Ministerial sources told the daily that Mashnouq might raise the issue today because the parliamentary electoral legal framework compel him to do so. Adding to that are the looming electoral deadlines, they said.

Saudi Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan stressed that Saudi Arabia is keen on Lebanon's unity and seeks “distinctive” political relations between the two countries, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.
“Lebanon is one of the important countries for the kingdom which is keen on having distinctive political ties, similar to relations between the Saudi and Lebanese people,” al-Sabhan told the daily in an interview.

In light of a cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the state's fiscal budget, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said there are genuine intentions to approve the budget this year after Lebanon failed to approve one since 2005.
“As the result of a joint will between political parties, for the first time in years the budget will be discussed with the intention of approving it,” Khalil told al-Joumhouria daily in an interview.