Tag Archives: Lebanon

Emirates Airlines Bans Pagers And Walkie-Talkies

The Times of Israel reports: Dubai’s Emirates Airlines has banned passengers from carrying pagers and walkie-talkies on its flights, following last month’s attacks on Lebanese group Hezbollah involving communication devices that exploded. “All passengers traveling to, from, or via Dubai are prohibited from transporting pagers and walkie-talkies in checked or cabin baggage,” the airline says in a statement on its …

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Israel Bans UN Secretary General From Country

The Jerusalem Post reports: Israel’s foreign minister declared UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres ‘persona non grata’ and was henceforth banning him from entering Israel, according to a post on X/Twitter on Wednesday. The ban on entry, said FM Israel Katz, was due to Guterres’s failure to “unequivocally condemn” Iran’s massive missile attack on Israel. “Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s …

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WH Warns Of Imminent Missile Strike On Israel By Iran

The Washington Post reports: Iran is preparing an imminent ballistic missile attack against Israel, a White House official said Tuesday. The United States is “actively supporting” Israel’s “defensive preparations,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. “A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran.” The warning of …

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Israel Kills Hezbollah Leader With Airstrike On Beirut

The Washington Post reports: Hasan Nasrallah, a Shiite cleric who oversaw the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah for decades and became one of the most powerful and divisive leaders in the Middle East, revered by his followers as a savior and condemned by his foes as a terrorist, died Sept. 27 in Beirut. He was 64. The Israel Defense Forces said …

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US And Allies Call For 21-Day Ceasefire In Lebanon

Axios reports: The U.S., France and key allies issued a joint statement on Wednesday calling on Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a 21-day ceasefire during which negotiations could take place on a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Israeli-Lebanese border. The statement — released after 10 days of intense fighting that has killed more than 700 people in …

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Israel Launches “Targeted Strike” On Beirut Suburb

The Washington Post reports: The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that it launched a strike on the Lebanese capital, although the target was unclear. Images from a southern Beirut suburb, where support for Hezbollah is strong, showed rubble in the streets and extensive damage to buildings and cars. Earlier, Israel’s military said it had launched airstrikes targeting what it described …

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Hezbollah’s Hand-Held Radios Explode Across Lebanon

Reuters reports: Hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated late on Wednesday afternoon across Lebanon’s south and in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a security source and a witness said, further hiking tensions with Israel a day after similar explosions launched via the group’s pagers. At least one of the blasts took place near a funeral organized by Iran-backed Hezbollah for those killed …

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Officials: Israel Planted Explosives In Hezbollah’s Pagers

The New York Times reports: Israel carried out its operation against Hezbollah on Tuesday by hiding explosive material within a new batch of Taiwanese-made pagers imported into Lebanon, according to American and other officials briefed on the operation. The pagers, which Hezbollah had ordered from Gold Apollo in Taiwan, had been tampered with before they reached Lebanon, according to some …

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Thousands Injured, At Least Nine Killed As Hezbollah Pagers Simultaneously Explode Across Lebanon [Video]

The Associated Press reports: Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded near simultaneously in parts of Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, killing at least nine people — including members of the militant group Hezbollah and a young girl — and wounding several thousand, officials said. They pointed the finger at Israel in what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack. Among those …

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US Preps Evacuation Of Citizens From Middle East

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration is preparing for the possibility that hundreds of thousands of American citizens will require evacuation from the Middle East if the bloodshed in Gaza cannot be contained, according to four officials familiar with the U.S. government’s contingency planning. The specter of such an operation comes as Israeli forces, aided by U.S. weapons and …

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Israeli Shell Kills One Journalist, Wounds Six Others

The Associated Press reports: An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon, killing one and leaving six others injured. An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of the dead journalist and the six who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from …

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Lebanon May Ban Barbie: It “Promotes Homosexuality”

Reuters reports: Lebanon’s culture minister moved to ban the film “Barbie” from cinemas, saying it “promotes homosexuality” and contradicts religious values. Minister Mohammad Mortada is backed by powerful Shi’ite armed group Hezbollah, whose head Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has ramped up his rhetoric against the LGBT community, referring in a recent speech to Islamic texts that call for punishing offenders with …

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Lebanon Begins Lockdown After Cases Surge Post-Blast

The Washington Post reports: Lebanon started a two-week lockdown Friday as coronavirus cases continue to surge in the aftermath of the devastating Aug. 4 explosion in the capital of Beirut that killed more than 170 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of others. At least 11,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Lebanon this year, with around half confirmed since …

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Lebanese PM And Government Resign After Blast

Gulf News reports: Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab, submitted his resignation on Monday to Lebanese president Micheal Aoun since a deadly blast blamed on state negligence ripped through the capital. The explosion, along with a severe economic crisis, has been widely blamed on decades of corruption and misrule by Lebanon’s entrenched political class. Lebanon’s cabinet faced mounting pressure on Monday …

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World Leaders Pledge $300M To Aid Beirut [VIDEO]

Reuters reports: World leaders and international organizations pledged nearly $300 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Beirut in the wake of the devastating explosion, but they warned on Sunday that no money for rebuilding the Lebanese capital will be made available until the country’s authorities commit themselves to the political and economic reforms demanded by the people. Over 30 participants …

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Protesters Battle Beirut Police After Explosion [VIDEO]

The Washington Post reports: Security forces in Beirut fired tear gas at protest crowds as mourning turned to anger over the huge blast that leveled parts of Beirut earlier this week and left a shattered city casting blame on the country’s leaders. Activists have called for protests in the central Martyrs’ Square later Saturday in further evidence of the rage …

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Lebanon President Knew About Explosives Last Month

The Associated Press reports: Lebanese President Michel Aoun knew about the huge stockpile of explosive material stored at Beirut’s port nearly three weeks before it blew up, he said Friday, adding he had ordered action be taken about it at the time, although the top leader also said he had no authority over the facility. “Do you know how many …

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Beirut Crowds Mob French President As He Offers Help

CNN reports: Large crowds mobbed French President Emmanuel Macron in Beirut as he toured a neighborhood of the Lebanese capital devastated by Tuesday’s massive explosion. “Revolution, revolution!” people chanted, as shock at the devastation in the city gave way to anger on Thursday. New information reveals that Beirut officials had ignored repeated warnings about a stockpile of dangerous chemicals linked …

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Beirut Explosives Were Abandoned By Russian Owner

The Moscow Times reports: Nearly 3,000 tons of a highly explosive fertilizer that caused Tuesday’s devastating blast in Beirut came from a ship owned by a Russian businessman, the Mediazona news website reported Wednesday, citing Lebanese television and members of the ship’s crew. Lebanese authorities in 2014 confiscated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate from a Moldovan ship called the Rhosus, …

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Officials: Up To 300K Left Homeless In Beirut Explosion

Al Jazeera reports: Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday and said a two-week state of emergency should be declared following a massive explosion in Beirut that killed at least 100 people and injured 4,000 others. The explosion on Tuesday sent shockwaves across the city, causing widespread damage as far as the outskirts of the …

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