Lebanon
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Aoun, Miqati hold 'technical' talks, discuss sea border 'maps'

President Michel Aoun and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Saturday met in Baabda and discussed “the Lebanese stance over the issue of the demarcation of the southern border,” state-run National News Agency said.

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Oueidat requests charges against Riad Salameh

State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat has requested that charges be issued against Central Bank chief Riad Salameh on suspicion of financial misconduct based on preliminary investigation findings, a court official said.

Lebanon opened a probe into Salameh's wealth last year, after the office of Switzerland's top prosecutor requested assistance in an investigation into more than $300 million which he allegedly embezzled out of the central bank with the help of his brother.

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Miqati says no one should impose 'conditions' on PM-designate

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Friday stressed that no one should try to impose “conditions” on the country’s upcoming PM-designate.

“In principle, anyone informed on the Lebanese situation, including me, would dread this period’s difficulty and complications, that’s why I say that I’m not seeking (to be re-designated as PM),” Miqati said in response to a question, during his participation at a dialogue seminar organized by the Politics & Society Institute in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

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Grillo urges Lebanon to resume border talks 'in effective, serious way'

French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo has urged Lebanon to resume the indirect border negotiations with Israel, ahead of an expected visit to Beirut by the U.S. mediator in the contentious talks.

In an interview with Ici Beyrouth, Grillo said that the negotiations must resume in "a serious and constructive manner."

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Report: Lebanon insisting on Line 23 and entire Qana field

No written response has been prepared for U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein’s proposal and Lebanon will voice its remarks orally, Presidency sources said.

“We’re the ones who decide whether we will later submit a written response or not, seeing as this is a Lebanese decision and it is not for him to dictate on us what to do,” the sources added, in remarks to LBCI television.

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Report says rape used ‘systematically’ during Lebanon’s civil war

The level of torture and sexual violence used by combatants against women and girls during the 15-year civil war in Lebanon shocked investigators, British newspaper The Guardian said.

A report by the human rights organization Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) gathered testimonies that detailed horrific experiences of violence, including gang-rape, electrocution and forced nudity used to persecute women and girls – some as young as nine – from opposing communities.

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Jumblat urges negotiations based on Line 23, warns against 'sea Shebaa'

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has urged an end to “overbidding and bickering in the sea border and oil rights file,” stressing that “the framework agreement that was launched by Speaker Nabih Berri is the only appropriate reference to approach our rights, based on the requirements of Lebanese national interest and according to Line 23.”

“Abiding by this agreement spares us from all the unnecessary explanation efforts,” Jumblat said in an interview with al-Joumhouria newspaper published Friday.

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Search in Italy for missing helicopter carrying four Lebanese

The search for a helicopter which disappeared in Italy with seven people on board, including four Lebanese, intensified Friday after the weather improved, a spokesman for the Alpine rescue service told AFP.

The helicopter was carrying a pilot and six passengers -- four Lebanese nationals and two Turks, according to Italian media reports.

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Passport appointment platform to be re-activated on Monday

General Security said Friday that the passport appointment platform will be re-activated as of Monday, June 13.

The platform had stopped working in April because of a shortage of travel documents, in part due to the government failing to pay a company tasked with printing new ones. Requests for passport renewals, ten times higher than in previous years, had piled pressure on passport centers and "affected available passport stocks."

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Nasrallah warns Israel and Greek firm, urges 'unified' Lebanese stance

Lebanon should block Israel from extracting gas from the disputed offshore field, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Thursday, warning a hydrocarbon exploration company hired by Israel against proceeding with its activities.

"The immediate objective should be to prevent the enemy from extracting oil and gas from the Karish gas field," part of which is claimed by Lebanon, Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

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