Fuel price hike worsens Lebanon's tough living conditions

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s government raised the price of fuel Wednesday by about 25%, the National News Agency reported, effectively removing all subsidies on fuel products and pricing them at market rate amid a worsening economic crisis. The new increase brings the...

Beirut clash fires up sectarian anger in echo of civil war

BEIRUT (AP) — He was only a year old when his panicked father picked him up and they fled with his mother from the gunfire rattling their neighborhood. It was the day Lebanon’s civil war started 46 years ago. His family’s apartment building in Beirut was on the frontline. ...

Hezbollah brag of 100,000-strong force aimed at foes at home

BEIRUT (AP) — A boast by the leader of Hezbollah that he commands 100,000 fighters came as a surprise to many Lebanese, not least because it was addressed to a domestic audience rather than the militia's archenemy Israel. Experts say the figure, which exceeds the size...

Beirut port blast judge still wants to question ex-ministers

BEIRUT (AP) — The judge leading Lebanon’s probe into last year’s massive port explosion renewed on Tuesday his summonses of two former ministers for questioning, a judicial official said. The decision by Judge Tarek Bitar came despite intense criticism from the...

Hezbollah leader declares his group has 100,000 fighters

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader declared for the first time on Monday that his powerful militant group has 100,000 trained fighters. His speech appeared to be meant as a deterrent to domestic foes following the nation’s worst internal violence in years. ...

Families of Beirut blast victims back judge amid pressure

BEIRUT (AP) — The families of the victims of last year's massive Beirut port blast reaffirmed their support Saturday for the judge leading the investigation into the explosion, despite increasing calls for his ouster by the militant Hezbollah group and its allies. The...

Analysis: Beirut street battles may spell even darker times

BEIRUT (AP) — The most powerful men in Lebanese politics have been in charge for decades, some since the early 1970s. They’ve survived civil war, assassinations, uprisings and other turmoil, hanging on to power for decades in a turbulent, unforgiving region. Now,...

Lebanon buries 7 killed amid street battles over port probe

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon on Friday mourned seven people killed in gunbattles on the streets of Beirut the previous day, a confrontation that erupted over a long-running probe into last year’s massive port blast in the city and raised fears of the country being drawn into further violence. ...

Gunbattles erupt during protest of Beirut blast probe; 6 die

BEIRUT (AP) — Heavy gunfire broke out Thursday in Beirut during a protest organized by the Hezbollah group against the judge leading the probe into last year’s blast in the city's port. At least six people were killed and dozens wounded in the most violent street fighting in the Lebanese...

Lebanon's interior minister revises death toll to five killed in Beirut in protest against judge probing port blast