The Cabinet is set to meet this week to discuss some 92 items and follow up on the government’s controversial electricity reform plan, ministerial sources said yesterday. Set to be chaired by President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace at 11 a.m. Wednesday, the meeting will be the first since the ... Read More »
Half of Mosul’s Old City liberated from Daesh: officer
Iraq’s military pushed deeper into Mosul’s Old City Wednesday, taking two more districts from Daesh (ISIS) and bringing it closer to total control of the city. The army’s 16th infantry division captured Hadarat al-Saada and Al-Ahmadiyah, the military said in a statement. The areas are northwest of the historic Grand ... Read More »
Health care lands $150M support
The World Bank announced $150 million in grants and soft loans to support the country’s health care system Monday. “The World Bank is injecting $120 million into Lebanon’s health care system as part of a larger package to provide thousands of poor families with a critical service that has been ... Read More »
Venezuela vows to fend off ‘coup’ after grenade attack
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro vowed Wednesday to fend off what he called a coup attempt after a rogue cop allegedly dropped grenades from a helicopter in an attack the opposition and analysts said could be a hoax. The socialist president put the military on alert after the attack, a potentially ... Read More »
Trump sends eid message to Lebanese senior officials
United States President Donald Trump sent a message to President Michel Aoun Wednesday to commemorate Eid al-Fitr. “On behalf of the American people, Melania and I send our warm greetings to you and the people of Lebanon as you celebrate Eid al-Fitr,” Trump was quoted as saying in the message ... Read More »
Aoun to meet with Machnouk Thursday
President Michel Aoun plans to meet with Thursday with Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, a source at the Baabda Palace told The Daily Star. “There is an appointment for Machnouk to meet with Aoun at noon,” the source said. Nevertheless, the source said it wasn’t clear what the two officials will ... Read More »
Berri: U.N. willing to help plot maritime border
Speaker Nabih Berri Wednesday announced that the United Nations had expressed its willingness to help Lebanon demarcate its southern maritime border, which would open the door to oil and gas exploration in disputed zones off Lebanon’s coast. During his weekly meeting with lawmakers, Berri said that the U.N. had informed ... Read More »
Public offices to close Monday, Tuesday for Eid
Prime Minister Saad Hariri declared all public administration offices will be closed Monday and Tuesday for Eid al-Fitr, the state-run National News Agency reported Wednesday. The office of the late senior Shiite scholar Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah announced that Sunday would be the celebration to mark the end of Ramadan. ... Read More »
Absi elected patriarch of Melkite Church
Syrian Bishop Joseph Absi Wednesday was elected the new patriarch of the Melkite-Greek Catholic Church. “It’s great, he’s an educated man, an administrative man, a man of reconciliation and an open man,” President of the Melkite-Greek Catholic League Maroun Bou Rjeily told The Daily Star. The election of Absi comes ... Read More »
Party chiefs head to Baabda to lay plans for coming months
Top political party leaders represented in the Cabinet will meet Thursday at the invitation of President Michel Aoun with talks expected to center around means to streamline the work of both the executive and legislative bodies over the coming months. Thursday’s meeting comes after Wednesday’s Cabinet session decided to refer ... Read More »