Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — After weeks of deadly Turkish airstrikes in northern Syria, Kurdish forces and international players are trying to gauge whether Ankara’s threats of a ground invasion are serious.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly warned of a new land incursion to drive Kurdish groups away from the Turkish-Syrian border, following a deadly Nov. 13 bombing in Istanbul. Turkish authorities blamed the attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and on the Syria-based People’s Protection Units, or YPG. Both have denied involvement.

10 Dec 2022; MEMO: The Lebanese army announced on Friday that three Israeli gunboats violated Lebanese regional waters, while jets and a drone violated Lebanese skies, a statement revealed.

According to the statement, the Lebanese army confirmed that three Israeli occupation army gunboats violated regional waters opposite Ras Al-Naqoura.

Meanwhile, the statement added that an Israeli drone carried out a reconnaissance mission over Shabaa Farms, the Hasabya area, Mount Barghuz and the Litani River in Western Bekaa.

BEIRUT, Dec 4 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, inaugurated the 64th edition of the Beirut International and Arab Book Fair, yesterday.

The book fair, which will last until Dec 11, attracted around 133 publishing houses, and will include 24 symposiums for people to interact and discuss various topics.

In a statement released by the Council of Ministers, Mikati highlighted the broad participation of Arab publishers in the fair, describing it as a cultural landmark, where writers can interact with readers.

24 Nov 2022; MEMO: Lebanese lawmakers, on Thursday, failed for a seventh time to elect a new president as the country grapples with a deepening political and economic crisis, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The voting session was attended by 110 lawmakers of the 128-member Parliament.

Michel Moawad, a candidate backed by the Lebanese Forces party, got 42 votes, well short of the figure needed to win the first round, while 50 lawmakers cast blank ballots.

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s largest Palestinian camp was once bustling with activity: It was crowded with mini-buses and packed with shops hawking falafel, shawarma and knafeh nabulsieh — a sweet concoction of cheese and phyllo dough.

Kids played soccer and brandished plastic guns until men with real guns came in when Syria descended into civil war. Over the past decade, fighting devastated communities across the country, including the Yarmouk camp, on the outskirts of the capital of Damascus.

16 Nov 2022; MEMO: The Israeli government has signed a deal with France's TotalEnergies and Italy's Eni to search for natural gas in the formerly disputed Lebanese territorial waters in the Mediterranean, the French company announced on Tuesday.

The dispute over maritime demarcation in the gas-rich waters was ended on 27 October, when Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a deal brokered by the US.

14 Nov 2022; MEMO: Lebanon has condemned an Israeli air strike on Syria, emphasising that it violated Lebanese airspace by doing so.

According to Syria's military, the Israeli strike on the Shayrat Airbase in Homs province yesterday killed two soldiers and injured three. A warehouse for Iranian militias and Hezbollah were also destroyed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

12 Nov 2022; MEMO: Secretary-general of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah announced on Friday that the next Lebanese president should not be "submissive" to the US nor "betray" the resistance, Arab48.com reported.

"We want a president who is not submissive to the US and does not betray the resistance, but protects it. Protecting the resistance is not stabbing it in the back or selling it," Nasrallah stated.

10 Nov 2022; MEMO: A Middle East Airlines (MEA) passenger plane bound from Jordan to Beirut was hit by a stray bullet while landing in Beirut on Thursday, with no injuries reported, MEA Chairman Mohamad El-Hout said, Reuters reports.

Hout told Reuters that seven to eight stationary planes are hit by stray bullets shot from areas neighbouring Beirut Airport each year, but Wednesday's incident was the first time this had occurred while a plane was moving.

BEIRUT, Nov 9 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese Health Minister, Firas Abiad, said yesterday that, his country will launch the first-phase vaccination campaign against cholera on Saturday, as the outbreak is now under control.

“There was a rapid alert to the epidemic, whether by equipping hospital centres, boosting prevention, or securing vaccines,” Abiad said, during a press conference held at the Health Ministry, on launching the vaccination campaign against cholera.