Spotlight
Australia on Wednesday listed all of Hizbullah as a "terrorist organization," extending a ban on the armed wing to the entire movement, which wields considerable power in Lebanon.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said that the Tehran-backed group "continues to threaten terrorist attacks and provide support to terrorist organizations" and poses a "real" and "credible" threat to Australia.
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Interior minister Bassam Mawlawi has said that every delay in resolving the diplomatic crisis with Gulf nations threatens to affect the lives of more Lebanese already reeling from a massive economic crisis.
Mawlawi said resolving the crisis begins with the resignation of the Cabinet minister whose comments sparked the ire of Saudi Arabia, calling it long overdue.
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Beirut Court of Appeals first chief Judge Habib Rizkallah on Tuesday issued a ruling reversing a decision by Court of Appeals judge Habib Mezher to adjoin the recusal lawsuits against the judges Tarek Bitar and Nassib Elia.
Rizkallah’s ruling separates the two files and returns Bitar’s file to the original committee of Chamber 12 headed by Elia.
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U.S. envoy to the Lebanon-Israel sea border demarcation talks Amos Hochstein will return soon to Lebanon to convey an Israeli stance, LBCI TV reported.
“It is believed that the envoy has managed to make a certain breakthrough in the Israeli stance,” the TV network quoted sources as saying.
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The Baabda meeting between President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati was obviously a positive milestone, but many points remained unresolved, al-Liwaa newspaper said.
An understanding needs to be reached with Hizbullah, the newspaper said, adding that Berri "has showed flexibility" and has promised "to solve Hizbullah’s objections and to work on finding a practical formula."
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The U.N. children's agency Tuesday called on Lebanon to take urgent action to protect children after it documented a spike in child labor rates and food insecurity since April.
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President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and PM Najib Miqati agreed in their meeting on Monday on “finding a solution through the judiciary for the issue of Beirut port blast investigative judge Tarek Bitar,” LBCI TV said.
They also agreed that “should the judiciary fail to resolve it, a solution can be found through parliament,” the TV network added.
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Prime Minister Najib Miqati will make a serious attempt to resume Cabinet sessions, as soon as he returns from Rome, MP Ali Darwish said.
Darwish told Voice of Lebanon, in a radio interview that “Miqati has given all parties some time to see for themselves “the urgent need” for resuming Cabinet sessions.
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Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Monday Lebanon has received from Russia satellite pictures of the Port of Beirut on the day of last year's devastating blast. The imagery would be the first made available by a foreign government to the Lebanese probe marred by legal challenges and political disputes.
Bou Habib said he hoped the images would help figure out what happened that tragic day. He is visiting Moscow and was speaking after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
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On behalf of the United States, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday extended his “heartfelt best wishes to the people of Lebanon on their Independence Day.”
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