Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — The United Nations agency responsible for overseeing humanitarian aid has described conditions placed by the Syrian government on aid deliveries from Turkey to northwest Syria as “unacceptable.”

The future delivery of aid across Syria’s northern border was thrown into question Tuesday after the U.N. Security Council was unable to agree on either of two competing proposals to extend the mandate for bringing aid from Turkey by way of the Bab al Hawa border crossing.

14 July 2023; MEMO: Tensions have escalated, in recent months, between Israel and the Hezbollah movement on Lebanon's southern border over Tel Aviv's full occupation and annexation of the northern part of the village of Ghajar in the Golan Heights, Anadolu Agency reports.

Hezbollah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, spoke Wednesday, saying that Lebanon would not give up the village to Israel.

BEIRUT, Jul 14 (NNN-NNA) – The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), yesterday warned of a rapid escalation of the tensions on the Lebanon-Israel border.

“The tensions that took place on the border over the past days indicate that, events could develop quickly,” Candice Ardell, deputy director of the UNIFIL Media Office, was quoted as saying.

The UN official urged Israel and Lebanon to avoid activities that may increase tensions, said the report.

10 July 2023; MEMO: Lebanon's caretaker Premier, Najib Mikati, will not extend the term of sitting Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, when it ends later this month, the Prime Minister's office said on Monday, Reuters reports.

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.