Latest Lebanon News

In this photo provided by the Albanian Prime Minister's office, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama sits at a hotel in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, 26, 2020, with Albanian children as part of an operation to take them back home to Albania from Al Hawl, northern Syria. A few hundred Albanian men are known to have joined terror groups in Syria and Iraq in the early 2010s, and now many of them are dead and their family members are stuck in Syria camps, but will be repatriated via Beirut to Albania. (Albanian Prime Minister's office via AP)

Albania repatriating 5 family members of fighters in Syria

Oct. 26, 2020 4:30 PM EDT

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania's prime minister said Monday that four children and a woman, all related to Albanian nationals who joined Islamist extremist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq, are being repatriated from a Syrian camp. Edi Rama told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Beirut,...

In this January 26, 2010, Sheik Nabil Qaouk a member of Hezbollah's Central Council, attends the funeral of prominent businessman Hassan Tajeddine, in the southern village of Hanaway, Lebanon. On Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, the U.S. Treasury has sanctioned two high-ranking Hezbollah officials, Nabil Qaouk and Hassan al-Baghdadi, both members of Hezbollah's Central Council. The Council is responsible for electing members of the group's top decision-making body, the Shura Council. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

US sanctions 2 senior members of Lebanon's Hezbollah

Oct. 23, 2020 8:45 AM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned two high-ranking Hezbollah officials, including a former military commander in the country's south. The sanctioned officials are Nabil Qaouk and Hassan al-Baghdadi, both members of Hezbollah's Central Council. The Council is responsible for electing members...

Lebanese Prime Minister-Designate Saad Hariri speaks to journalists at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct, 22, 2020. Lebanon's president Michel Aoun asked former premier Saad Hariri to form the country's next government Thursday after he secured enough votes from lawmakers - bringing back an old name to lead the country out of its dire political and economic crises. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

For 4th time, Hariri is back as PM in crisis-hit Lebanon

Oct. 22, 2020 12:08 PM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s president tasked former Prime Minister Saad Hariri with forming a new government Thursday, bringing back the veteran politician a year after he was toppled amid nationwide protests against widespread corruption and a flunking economy. President Michel Aoun designated Hariri...

FILE - In this Aug. 9, 2020 file photo, political graffiti is visible in front of the scene of the Aug. 4 explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon. On Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, Human Rights Watch said a Lebanon-led probe into the devastating explosion has been marred by political meddling and lack of judicial independence, resulting in the failure to yield credible results two months later. HRW called for a United Nations-led inquiry into the blast. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

Watchdog says Lebanon probe into port blast flawed

Oct. 22, 2020 9:26 AM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — A leading international human rights group on Thursday said a Lebanon-led probe into the devastating port explosion in Beirut this summer has been marred by political meddling and lack of judicial independence, resulting in failure to yield credible results two months later. Human Rights...

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2020 file photo, Syrian President Bashar Assad listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Damascus, Syria. The Trump Administration imposed sanctions Wednesday, Sept. 30, on entities and individuals in Syria as part of Washington’s pressure campaign against Assad and his inner circle. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

Trump envoy traveled to Syria for talks on missing Americans

Oct. 19, 2020 5:23 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior White House official made an unusual, secret visit to Syria for high-level talks aimed at securing the release of two Americans who have been missing for years amid the country's long civil war, Trump administration officials said Monday. Kash Patel, a deputy assistant to...

FILE - In this Nov.13, 2018 file photo, Jihad Azour, the IMF's director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department reacts during his press conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The coronavirus pandemic is hitting countries in the Middle East in wildly different ways, but nearly all are in the throes of an economic recession this year and all but two, Lebanon and Oman are expected to see some level of economic growth next year, according to the latest report published by the International Monetary Fund on Monday, Oct. 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)

IMF: Nearly all Mideast economies hit by pandemic recession

Oct. 19, 2020 8:04 AM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has pushed nearly all Mideast nations into the throes of an economic recession this year, yet some rebound is expected as all but two — Lebanon and Oman — are anticipated to see some level of economic growth next year, according to a...

People wearing face masks to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus pass by a statue with a face mask at a park in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 16, 2020. South Korea's daily coronavirus tally has dropped below 50 for the first time in more than two weeks despite reports of small-scale local infections. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The Latest: S. Korea increases hospital, nursing home tests

Oct. 18, 2020 10:16 PM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has reported 76 new cases of the coronavirus as officials begin testing tens of thousands of employees at hospitals and nursing homes to prevent transmissions at live-in facilities. The figures released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Monday brought...

Women walk past a graffiti

After Lebanese revolt's fury, waning protests face long road

Oct. 17, 2020 1:31 PM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — A year ago, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese took to the streets protesting taxes and a rapidly deteriorating economic crisis. A spontaneous and hopeful nationwide movement was born, denouncing an entire political establishment that had for decades pushed Lebanon toward collapse. Today, as...

In this photo released by Lebanon's official government photographer Dalati Nohra, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, right, meets with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 16, 2020. (Dalati Nohra/Lebanese Government via AP)

Lebanon praises US mediation in maritime border talks Israel

Oct. 16, 2020 7:18 AM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's President Michel Aoun told a visiting U.S. official Friday that his country “heavily relies” on Washington’s mediation regarding a disputed maritime border with Israel, and hopes the United States can help the sides overcome difficulties they may face....

A UNIFIL Navy ship patrols in the Mediterranean Sea next to a base of the U.N. peacekeeping force, off the southern town of Naqoura, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. Lebanon and Israel are to begin indirect talks Wednesday over their disputed maritime border, with American officials mediating the talks that both sides insist are purely technical and not a sign of any normalization of ties. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

US official holds Beirut meetings after Israel-Lebanon talks

Oct. 15, 2020 8:01 AM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s parliament speaker met Thursday with a visiting U.S. official, a day after Beirut began indirect negotiations with Israel over their disputed maritime border. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker, the top American diplomat for the Middle...

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