Lebanon

BEIRUT, Jan 5 (NNN-NNA) – The Lebanese government received its first shipment of gasoline on Saturday, as the government hopes to become a key player in oil supply in Lebanon.

Lebanese Water and Energy Minister, Nada Boustani said, the government received 24,000 tonnes of fuel, with other vessels expected to arrive soon.

Stocks of fuel have started to be distributed to the local market to be sold in Lebanese pounds.

03 Jan 2019; MEMO: Dozens of Lebanese protesters yesterday took to streets in the country’s capital city of Beirut port and the northern city of Tripoli, resuming their protests following the conclusion of the New Year holidays.

In a demonstration at the Beirut port that had lasted for an hour, protesters told Anadolu Agency that they were considering the port as a “symbol of corruption.”

03 Jan 2019; MEMO: Two Lebanese lawyers yesterday submitted a report to the country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office against Nissan’s former chairman Carlos Ghosn who they say has violated the law by visiting Israel.

BEIRUT, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday condemned the U.S. bombing in Iraq and the attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, the National News Agency reported.

The ministry hoped for calm and security to be restored as soon as possible in Iraq by respecting the country's sovereignty and adhering to the principles of diplomatic relations between countries.

On Sunday, the U.S. military launched deadly airstrikes on five locations in Iraq and Syria controlled by Kata'ib Hezbollah paramilitary group in Iraq.

31 Dec 2019; MEMO: Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem yesterday warned of what he said were “attempts to besiege” the Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab in an effort to force Lebanon into a political vacuum, the Anadolu Agency reported.

28 Dec 2019; MEMO: Lebanese president, Michel Aoun, stressed that his country is facing “very severe circumstances and an unprecedented crisis in its history.”

BEIRUT, Dec 28 (NNN-SANA) – Heavy rain, floods and fire, on Friday, destroyed Syrian tents in several areas in Lebanon, the National News Agency reported.

Floods destroyed tents of Syrian refugees in Akkar, north of Lebanon, prompting the Lebanese Red Cross (LRC), to move the refugees to other tents, temporarily, while providing them with blankets.

The LRC also asked for help of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to save refugees from three other tents affected by heavy rainfall in the north of Lebanon.

BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian opposition leader called Friday on the international community to help millions of civilians in the country’s last rebel-held stronghold amid a crushing government offensive, calling it a “disaster area.”

After weeks of intense bombardment, Syrian government forces launched a ground offensive on the southern and eastern parts of Idlib province in the northwest last week. It has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

BEIRUT (AP) — More than 200,000 men, women and children fled their homes in northwest Syria in buses, trucks and cars in recent weeks, amid intense air and ground bombardment by government forces, a Syrian relief group said Wednesday.

Government forces have been bombarding southern and eastern Idlib province, the last rebel stronghold in the war-torn country, since late November. A ground offensive that began last week has displaced more people and government forces have captured more than 40 villages and hamlets, according to the Syrian army and opposition activists.

BEIRUT (AP) — Panic set in on a WhatsApp group used to organize Lebanese protests when one member said he intended to kill himself because he can’t provide for his kids.

The desperate call came on the heels of the suicide of a father of two that had stunned the public and raised alarm over how dire Lebanon’s economic conditions have become.