Lebanon

17 August 2023; MEMO: Lebanon’s Minister of Works Ali Hamieh yesterday announced the arrival of an oil and gas exploration vessel in Block 9.

This came about ten months after Israel and Lebanon reached a US-brokered agreement to demarcate their maritime borders. The two sides discussed – through mediators – the issue of gas exploration in the Mediterranean.

17 August 2023; MEMO: The Electricity Corporation of Lebanon (EDL) announced yesterday that two power stations have stopped operating for financial reasons, resulting in power cuts throughout the country. The corporation said that the operator, Primesouth, had informed it of the suspension of operations at the Deir Aamar and Zahrani power stations due to the failure to pay the operating company in foreign currency. A sum of at least $10 million is required.

BEIRUT (AP) — Libya’s judicial authorities have formally asked Lebanon to release one of the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s sons, held without charges in Lebanon since 2015 because of his deteriorating health, officials said Monday.

The health of Hannibal Gadhafi has been deteriorating since he went on hunger strike on June 3, to protest his detention without trial. He was taken to hospital at least twice since then and has been only drinking small amounts of water.

BEIRUT, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The Jordanian military on Sunday downed a drone carrying crystal meth that was flying into Jordanian territory from neighbouring Syria, the state news agency Petra reported.

War-torn Syria has become a hub for a multi-billion-dollar drugs trade, with Jordan a main transit route to the oil-rich Gulf states for a Syrian-made amphetamine known as captagon, Western anti-narcotics officials and Washington say.

Citing a source within the Jordanian armed forces, the state agency said in a statement the drone was "taken control of and downed".

10 August 2023; MEMO: Lebanese Defence Minister, Maurice Selim, on Thursday survived an assassination attempt in the capital, Beirut, according to local media reports, Anadolu Agency reports.

The incident took place in the Jisr Al-Basha area, when unidentified gunmen opened fire on his car, hitting it several times.

Several media outlets reported that the Minister is "fine" and is in a safe place.

There is no official word from the government yet.

11 August 2023; MEMO: The United States, Britain and Canada, on Thursday, announced sanctions against the former Governor of Lebanon's Central Bank, Riad Salameh, accusing him of corrupt actions to enrich himself and his associates, Reuters reports.

11 August 2023; MEMO: The Lebanese army confiscated a load of ammunition that was in a Hezbollah truck that overturned on Wednesday on a public road in a town near Beirut after an armed clash resulted in the killing of a Hezbollah member and another armed resident of the town, the army said yesterday.

The army has opened an investigation into the incident that occurred in the town of Kahaleh, The ammunition was moved to a military centre.

BEIRUT, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Families of the victims who died in the 2020 Beirut port blasts commemorated the third anniversary of the catastrophic incident on Friday, urging authorities to accelerate investigations into the incident to bring justice to their loved ones.

Thousands of people, including civil society activists, political figures, and parliament members, participated in a commemoration march, which started from the Beirut Fire Brigade to run until the main road opposite the city port.

BEIRUT (AP) — Three years after Beirut’s massive port blast, attempts to prosecute those responsible are mired in political intrigue, the final death toll remains disputed and many Lebanese have less faith than ever in their disintegrating state institutions.

03 August 2023; MEMO: No one has been found guilty in connection with a port explosion in Lebanon in 2020, Amnesty International said Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports.

"The Lebanese authorities have had three years to investigate what caused the devastating explosion in Beirut's port and to hold those suspected of criminal responsibility to account," said Aya Majzoub, spokesperson for the Middle East and North Africa Director at the rights group.