Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — Russian fighter jets have “harassed” American drones over Syria for the third day in a row this week, the U.S. military said.

Tension between Russian and U.S. troops is not uncommon in Syria as both countries conduct patrols on the ground as well as overflights. Syria’s 12-year conflict has left half a million people dead and over 1 million wounded.

The U.S. military said in a statement that Friday’s encounter lasted for about two hours during which three MQ-9 drones were “once again harassed” by Russian fighter aircraft while flying over Syria.

BEIRUT, Jul 8 (NNN-NNA) – The UN-Habitat and the Lebanese environment ministry, yesterday, launched a project aimed to reduce marine litter in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Funded by Germany’s Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, at a budget of 4.57 million euros (5.2 million U.S. dollars), the project will “engage municipal authorities and local communities, to devise local plans to reduce marine litter and manage their waste in an integrated manner,” according to a statement from the UN-Habitat.

BEIRUT, July 7 (Reuters) - As Wagner mercenaries advanced on Moscow in an attempted mutiny in late June, authorities in Syria and Russian military commanders there took a series of swift measures against local Wagner operatives to prevent the uprising spreading, according to six sources familiar with the matter.

BEIRUT, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A Lebanese citizen on Friday opened fire at worshipers as they were leaving a mosque in the town of Bar Elias in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, killing one and injuring several others, local media reported.

The Lebanese army rushed to the area and exchanged fire with the gunman, which led to his injury, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The shooter, reportedly in critical condition, was transported to hospital.

The cause of the incident was still unknown, the report added.

04 July 2023; MEMO: The French judiciary has transferred the seized assets of Lebanon's Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, and his associates, to the Lebanese state, the media office of Lebanon's caretaker Justice Minister, Henry Khoury, said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

BEIRUT, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Two men were shot dead in a disputed area in northern Lebanon, the Lebanese Army announced in a statement on Sunday, confirming earlier media reports.

The two young men, Haitham Tawk and Malek Tok, were found shot dead in Qornet al-Sawda, a disputed area between Bcharre and Bkaasafrine in northern Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday evening.

Seven other civilians were also wounded in the conflict, the L'Orient Today news website quoted locals in Bcharre as saying.

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel carried out airstrikes on areas near the central Syrian city of Homs early Sunday causing material damage but no casualties, the Syrian military said in a statement.

A Syrian anti-aircraft missile exploded over Israeli territory, the Israeli military said, prompting another round of strikes.

Syrian state media quoted an unnamed military official as saying the air defenses shot down some of the missiles fired by Israeli warplanes flying over neighboring Lebanon.

01 July 2023; MEMO: Israeli media reported that the Israeli army is concerned about what it describes as "a significant change in the concept of air defence by Hezbollah in Lebanon, following the party's doubling of the number of air defence systems in its possession, in an attempt to restrict the freedom of action of the Israeli Air Force in Lebanon."

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group said its fighters shot down an Israeli drone Monday that was flying near the border and over southern Lebanon.

The group gave no further details about the type of drone that it claimed was downed near the village of Zibqine just north of the border with Israel.

An Israeli military spokesman said in a tweet that a drone crashed in Lebanon as an Israeli force was performing routine activities. The spokesman, Avichay Adraee, added in Arabic that there were no concerns of information being leaked.

BEIRUT, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Hassan Salloum, a Lebanese citizen, spends hours walking among the herds of livestock in the al-Marj market in eastern Lebanon, looking for an affordable sheep to sacrifice, as the Eid al-Adha is only a few days away.

However, he balked at the "shocking and insane prices" of a sheep, knowing it was nearly impossible for an average household to buy one to perform the yearly ritual of slaughtering livestock for the Eid festival, the man told Xinhua.