Lebanon

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.

04 August 2023; MEMO: Archbishop Atallah Hanna, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, has slammed events in the Ain Al-Hilweh camp in Lebanon as "shameful."

"The use of weapons in the camps between brothers is a very serious issue," he said in reference to fatal shootings that recently took place in the camp.

He expressed hope that steps being taken to end this "strife" and "thwart the satanic scheme that aims to harm our camp" and undermine the Palestinians' right of return are successful.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon handed over to Italy on Thursday morning a notorious Italian drug dealer arrested last month north of the capital of Beirut, judicial officials said.

Bartolo Bruzzaniti was flown to Italy on a private jet that took off from Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

BEIRUT, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Syria has expressed its willingness to receive 180,000 displaced refugees from Lebanon at the first stage, said Lebanese Minister of the Displaced Issam Charafeddine on Tuesday.

"We have reached an understanding with the Syrian government to resolve the crisis of the displaced safely," Charafeddine was quoted as saying by the Elnashra news website.

BEIRUT, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon announced on Monday to suspend cultural cooperation with Sweden and Denmark in protest against the desecration of the Quran in the two Nordic countries, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

"The Ministry of Culture suspends all cultural cooperation with Sweden and Denmark and their embassies in Beirut until the two countries' authorities take appropriate measures to correct the incident," the NNA quoted Culture Minister Mohammad Wissam Mortada as saying.