Hundreds of people and several lawmakers protested Saturday in southern Lebanon against Israel moving a gas production vessel into an offshore field partly claimed by Beirut. Lebanon's powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah group this week warned Energean against proceeding with its activities.

Lebanon should block Israel from extracting gas from a disputed offshore field, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Thursday, warning a hydrocarbon exploration company hired by Israel against proceeding with its activities. "The immediate objective should be to prevent the enemy from extracting oil and gas from the Karish gas field,"...

Lebanese officials said Sunday that any Israeli activity in disputed waters would constitute a "hostile act" and an "attack" on Lebanon's natural resources.

Berri's candidacy went largely unchallenged but the 84-year-old clinched only the bare minimum number of votes needed for a win -- one of his lowest counts since he first rose to the helm of parliament 30 years ago.

Lebanon has questioned ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn after receiving an Interpol red notice for his arrest but did not take new legal measures against him, a court official said Monday. "Judge Imad Qabalan interrogated Ghosn in the presence of his legal representative over the contents of the red notice," the...

Lebanese authorities on Sunday arrested a Saudi man at Beirut airport who attempted to smuggle 18.3 kilograms of the illegal stimulant Captagon out of the country, the interior ministry said. Lebanon's interior ministry said in a statement that the drugs were destined for Kuwait. The ministry added that the man...

Fearing visa hassles could cost him his job in Dubai while an economic collapse had dashed any homecoming options, Lebanese executive Jad splurged around $135,000 on a new citizenship for himself and his wife.

Lebanon's hijacked sovereignty must be restored after an election denied the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah a parliamentary majority, said Christian leader Samir Geagea. Geagea's campaign for the May 15 election centered mainly on disarming Hezbollah, cementing his role as the movement's staunchest domestic rival.

The cabinet of bankrupt Lebanon, at its final session on Friday, passed a financial recovery plan needed to secure international aid, but its implementation will depend on the fractious incoming parliament. The session came five days after Lebanon held its first election since an economic crisis, widely blamed on corruption...

State Department spokesman Ned Price said: "We urge those elected and the country's political leaders to heed the Lebanese people's call for change and to work seriously, and with urgency, to take the necessary actions to rescue the economy,"

When Firas Hamdan was injured at a protest near Lebanon's parliament two years ago, the then activist never imagined he would one day return as a lawmaker. Hamdan, one of 13 independent politicians who emerged from a mass anti-government protest movement in 2019, made it to parliament on a reformist...

Hezbollah and its allies fell just short of the 65 seats needed to control the 128-seat chamber.

The reformists, who campaigned on the legacy of a 2019 anti-establishment protest movement, could yet obtain the support of several other independent and non-aligned lawmakers in the 128-member assembly.

Official results later Monday will show whether Hezbollah, a political and military movement seen as a state within a state, and its allies can keep an actionable majority in Lebanon's 128-seat parliament. Election turnout was just 41 percent -- eight points lower than in 2018.

Lebanon headed to the polls today for its first election since multiple crises dragged it to the brink of failed statehood, with the ruling elite expected to comfortably weather public anger. The parliamentary election is the first test for opposition movements spawned by an unprecedented anti-establishment uprising in 2019 that...

Lebanese writer, journalist, and human rights activist Joumana Haddad tells TRENDS why she is unperturbed despite being one of the ‘most hated’ persons in her country.

Lebanese activists Friday rolled out mock banknotes featuring paintings of a gutted central bank or the Beirut port explosion to denounce high-level corruption that has helped to wreck the country.

The official unemployment rate in crisis-hit Lebanon jumped almost three-fold to reach 29.6 percent at the start of the year, a joint survey by the UN and the government said Thursday. "Lebanon's unemployment rate increased from 11.4 percent in 2018-2019 to 29.6 percent in January 2022, indicating that almost one...

Here’s a look at the challenges that await incoming lawmakers in a country where there is little consensus on a roadmap for financial recovery.

Lebanon is going through a severe economic crisis, described by the World Bank as one of the world's worst since the 1850s.

Lebanon's elections Sunday won't yield a seismic shift despite widespread discontent with a graft-tainted political class blamed for a painful economic crisis and a deadly disaster, experts say. Given Lebanon's sectarian-based politics, it will likely "reproduce the political class and give it internal and international legitimacy", said Rima Majed of...

Some 130,000 Lebanese expatriates out of 225,000 registered voters cast their ballots, foreign ministry official Hadi Hashem said, releasing preliminary figures. In 2018, roughly 50,000 people out of 90,000 registered voters abroad voted, a turnout of 56 percent.

Lebanese expatriates in 48 countries including France and the United Arab Emirates voted Sunday ahead of the May 15 parliamentary elections, state media reported.

C1, geostrategy, Lebanon, gratitude, Qatar, support, the Lebanese Army, Minister of National Defense, Maurice Sleem, Qatari Ambassador to Lebanon, Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Sahlawi, diplomatic mission, Beirut

The election is expected to be a referendum on the country’s ruling class, which is widely blamed for the economic crisis that has moved more than four out of the country’s five families into poverty.

Expatriates began voting at 7 am (0500 GMT) Beirut time on Friday in nine Arab countries and in Iran, while the rest will vote in 48 other countries on Sunday.

Lebanese deputy prime minister Saadeh Al-Shami has said that during his meetings last week with World Bank and IMF officials, he gathered that any help to pull the country out of its difficult economic situation is conditional on implementing agreed upon reforms. A statement by his media office, local media...

Authorities concerned say that since 2020, requests for passport renewals have been ten times higher than in previous years.

At least six people died, including a little girl, and almost 50 others were rescued after a migrant boat capsized off Lebanon, state media said, in the latest tragedy at sea off the crisis-hit country. The boat capsized on Saturday night near the northern port city of Tripoli, the departure...

Annual Inflation in Lebanon has spiked to 208 percent in March despite the intervention of the country's Central Bank. According to the government data, transportation costs rose 489 percent compared to March 2021, with health expenses up 441 percent. Food and beverages climbed 390 percent, while restaurant and hotel costs...

Child vaccination rates in Lebanon have dropped by more than 30 percent, compounding a health crisis marked by drug shortages and an exodus of trained professionals, the United Nations said Wednesday.

NEPCO Director Amjad Rawashdeh has called the linkages a model for Arab countries.

There will be little to eat for many Lebanese when they break their fasts this Ramadan – but support from the World Food Programme is delivering hope in the face of crushing price rises.

Natural curls were once looked down upon in Egypt, where Western beauty standards favored sleek, straight locks. Now, things are changing.

Once boasting a capacity of more than 100,000 tons, the imposing 48-meter (157-foot) high structure has become emblematic of the catastrophic August 4 port blast.

The Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Waleed Al-Bukhari, has pledged the kingdom's support to Lebanon and its people during 'tough times.' The Lebanese presidency said in a statement that the Saudi diplomat's remarks came during his visit to the Lebanese President Michel Aoun in Baabda Palace earlier today. Al-Bukhari briefed President...

The Lebanese Minister of Information hailed the launch of the public media archives’ digitization project.

The IMF announced Thursday a conditional agreement to provide Lebanon with $3 billion in aid to help it emerge from a severe economic crisis, following months of negotiations. The deal is "a visa stamp for donor countries to begin co-operating with Lebanon and to put Lebanon back on the global...

A diplomatic crisis broke out last October after the then-information minister George Kordahi was quoted criticizing the Saudi role in Yemen, prompting the kingdom and other Gulf allies to expel Lebanese envoys.

The country has been battered by triple-digit inflation, soaring poverty rates, and the collapse of its currency since a 2020 debt default, and officials in Beirut applauded the announcement as it will open the door to additional financial support.

Lebanon, home to one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle East, has been gripped by an unprecedented economic downturn since 2019.

Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Saadeh al-Shami claimed on Monday that the country and its central bank had gone bankrupt. The claims seemed to be in line with exclusive reporting from TRENDS in December that said around $7 billion was missing from BDL’s books.

In the first official admission, Saadeh al-Shami said the losses have occurred and the government will try to reduce losses for the people. He said the losses will be distributed among the state, the Banque du Liban, banks and depositors.

Lebanon is grappling with an unprecedented financial crisis that the World Bank says is of a scale usually associated with war.

Traditionally, many Muslim-majority countries have followed dates set by Saudi religious authorities, but in recent years many have used their own astronomic calculations.

Lebanon's electricity company is charging $16 million to supply power on the day of the May 15 parliamentary polls, a sum that exceeds the overall election budget by nearly 30 percent, the interior minister said.

Succeeding for a female entrepreneur in an industry dominated by men is a tough task but can be achieved, says Lebanese businesswoman and NatUsual Founder Nathaly Daou

Russia's Ukraine invasion, which has already exacerbated food woes in parts of Africa and the Middle East, is marring preparations for the holy month of Ramadan and forcing a turn to frugal iftar sunset meals. From Lebanon to Tunisia and Somalia, Muslims who traditionally break a dawn-to-dusk fast with lavish...

Lebanon is grappling with an education "emergency," a United Nations official said, as years of economic collapse weigh heavily on students and teachers.

Prosecutors are probing links Lebanon's central bank chief's link to criminal associations and money laundering.