Lebanon

A general strike by public transportation and labor unions paralyzed Lebanon Thursday as the country in engulfed in one of the world’s worst economic crises.

A Lebanese judge has issued a travel ban against Central Bank Governor over a lawsuit accusing him of financial misconduct.

Electricity was cut off throughout Lebanon on Saturday. Lebanon’s state electricity company has announced its power plants had stopped working after protesters stormed a key substation and tampered with the electrical equipment.

Parliamentary elections in Lebanon will be held on 15 May, while nationals living abroad will be able to cast their votes on 6 or 8 May, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said on Monday.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun has cautioned that the Middle Eastern country needs "six to seven years" to emerge from the current economic crisis.

Former Lebanese information minister George Kordahi, who resigned under pressure from Saudi Arabia, stresses that he will not retract his statement denouncing the years-long Saudi-led aggression against impoverished Yemen.

A large explosion rocked a Palestinian camp in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre on Friday night, injuring about a dozen people, according to rescue workers on scene and a Palestinian source inside the camp.

Lebanon's information minister resigned on Friday saying he was putting the nation before his personal interest as he sought to end a diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia sparked by his comments.

Following months of delays, and with only some of the funding secured, Lebanon on Wednesday opened registration for two cash assistance programmes to help 700,000 vulnerable families cope with the withdrawal of crucial subsidies.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun says Beirut wants the “best relations” with Saudi Arabia and other regional countries amid an ongoing diplomatic rift with the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC).

Roadblocks were set up by demonstrators across much of cash-strapped Lebanon after the currency plummeted to a historic low.

Lebanon's Hezbollah movement has blasted Australia's decision to classify it as a terrorist organization, describing the move as "a blind bias" in the service of Israel’s interests.

70 percent of the Lebanese cannot afford buying medicine following the lifting of subsidies and the sharp increase in prices, head of Lebanon’s parliamentary health committee Asem Araji has confirmed.

Secretary General of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement warns Saudi Arabia is seeking to stage a civil war in Lebanon. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah also rejected as baseless Saudi claims that Iran has occupied Lebanon.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati says he is after resolving the ongoing tensions with Saudi Arabia and a few other Arab countries. He urged Information Minister George Kordahi, who has recently criticized Saudi-led war on Yemen, to make national interests a “priority”.

Saudi Arabia is dictating impossible terms by asking Beirut to reduce the role of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

The Saudis know what they don’t want — growing Iranian influence in Lebanon — but they don’t know what to do about it, Joseph Bahout, research director at the American University of Beirut, believes. He stated Riyadh doesn’t want a government with Hezbollah as strong.

The recent diplomatic crisis between Beirut and Riyadh cannot be resolved through negotiations, Lebanon's top diplomat says. The row began after a Lebanese minister stated Saudi Arabia-led war on Yemen was an act of aggression.

Iran’s former chargé d'affaires to Riyadh says Saudi Arabia and a few like-minded Arab countries pushed to expel Lebanon’s ambassador to Riyadh, seeking chaos in the country.

Beirut is hoping to soon calm tensions with the Persian Gulf countries, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Saturday. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait, have given Lebanon's envoys 48 hours to leave their countries over comments by a Lebanese minister, slamming Saudi-led war on Yemen.

Kuwait has given Lebanon's ambassador 48 hours to leave the country. It has also recalled its ambassador from Beirut for consultations. The move comes after Saudi Arabia and Bahrain ordered the expulsion of the Lebanese envoys following comments by Lebanon’s information minister criticizing Saudi-led war on Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain ordered the expulsion of the Lebanese ambassadors on Friday. The move comes following comments by Lebanon's information minister criticizing Saudi-led war on Yemen.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait have summoned Beirut’s ambassadors after Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi called for an end to the Riyadh-led aggression on Yemen. The Saudi-led brutal war has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, displaced millions more and thrown the country into the ‘worst humanitarian catastrophe.”

A Lebanese judge has charged 68 people for the recent fatal unrest in Beirut. Seven people were killed and dozens more wounded in clashes, said to be the worst street violence in years in Lebanon.

The Lebanese security service arrested several more people for their involvement in the recent bloody events in Beirut. On Thursday, armed confrontations took place in the streets of the capital which left seven people dead and dozens injured.