Lebanon

08 June 2023; MEMO: A Lebanese farmer from the town of Kafr Shuba defied an armoured Israeli bulldozer yesterday in an effort to stop it in its tracks, Anadolu has reported. The driver pushed soil on top of Ismail Nasser, covering his legs, before he stopped at the behest of UNIFIL forces.

09 June 2023; MEMO: Lebanon has recalled its ambassador to France, Rami Adwan, after an investigation into rape and intentional violence allegations was opened by French authorities, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry announced yesterday.

"Following the circumstances surrounding the case of the Lebanese ambassador to France… it has been decided to recall ambassador Rami Adwan," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

BEIRUT, Jun 8 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese Agriculture Minister, Abbas Hajj Hassan, yesterday called for a unified Arab strategy, to ensure regional food security.

“We are looking for the future of our generations, and sustainable stability of our countries socially, economically, and politically, by exerting all efforts to complete the foundations previously laid for a unified Arab strategy on food security,” Hassan said, at the 43rd session of the Executive Board of the Arab Centre for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), held in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.

BEIRUT, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon will partner in the Green Middle East project launched by Saudi Arabia, said Lebanese Agriculture Minister Abbas Hajj Hassan on Wednesday, calling on more Arab countries to participate in the initiative.

"From now on, Lebanon will be part of this project... and we will work to play a positive role in dealing with the climate change and global warming issues," Hassan was quoted as saying by the National News Agency.

BEIRUT, May 30 (NNN-NNA) – A Saudi Arabian citizen was kidnapped in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut on Sunday, Lebanese caretaker Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, said yesterday.

Mawlawi said in a tweet that, Lebanon will work “on liberating any citizens who are exposed to any harm on Lebanese soil.”

“What happened affects Lebanon’s relationship with its brothers, and the perpetrators will be punished harshly,” he noted.

The Saudi man was kidnapped from a neighbourhood, close to the airport road in Beirut, the al-Jadeed TV reported.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese troops rescued a Saudi citizen kidnapped over the weekend in Beirut, the army said Tuesday. The man reportedly had been held for ransom.

A statement by the Lebanese military said Mushari al-Mutairi was released in a “special operation” along the Lebanon-Syria border, where the kidnappers held him hostage. It gave no further details.

Al-Mutairi was kidnapped after midnight Saturday in Beirut.

30 May 2023; MEMO: The US is working on building a new regional hub for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Lebanon, within a huge embassy complex with an area of 93,000 square meters on a 27-hectares (about 64 acres) site in the capital, Beirut, intelligence sources reported yesterday.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s Sursock Museum has reopened to the public, three years after a deadly explosion in Beirut’s port — set off by tons of improperly stored chemicals — reduced many of its treasured paintings and collections to ashes.

The reopening Friday night offered Beirut residents a rare bright spot in a country reeling from a crippling economic crisis that has left around three-quarters of Lebanon’s population of 6 million in poverty.

BEIRUT, May 26 (NNN-NNA) – The Lebanese army, along with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, are investigating an Israeli claim of shooting down a drone that crossed over from Lebanon earlier yesterday, a Lebanese security source, said.

An Israeli infantry force was found to be combing with armoured vehicles the borderline where the drone fell, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli military announced in the day, the downing of a drone near its border with Lebanon, without revealing who operated the drone or whether it was armed.

BEIRUT, May 25 (Xinhua) -- An "all-out war" will include all the fronts of the axis of resistance, said Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday in response to the Israeli military's warning.

"Never miscalculate; any folly may lead you to the abyss," Nasrallah said in a televised speech on the Resistance and Liberation Day.

"It is not you who are threatening a great war, but we are the ones who are threatening you with it," he said.