by AFP --- Ibrahim al-Dika had raised his Belgian shepherd Lexi since she was a tiny pup, but then Lebanon's economic crisis made him jobless and he had to sell her to repay a bank loan. "It got to the point where I was no longer able to feed her, the bank was pressuring me, and I hit a wall," said the 26-year-old, devastated beside her empty kennel outside his Beirut home. "I didn't sell a car or a telephone. I sold a soul. I sold a part of me." Can you afford to keep your pet? Animal activists say this is a dilemma a growing number of Lebanese owners are facing as their purchasing power nosedives.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese have lost their jobs or seen their income reduced to a pittance due to Lebanon's worst economic crisis in decades. As many families struggle to stay afloat, activists say increasingly more pet owners are asking for help to feed or re-home their animals, selling them, or in the worst cases abandoning them. Dika, after losing his father to illness, was laid off last year when his employer, a fashion retailer, closed shop, affecting his ability to support his mother and brother. He had spent around a year caring for Lexi, and training her to sit, heel, give him the paw, and play dead. But when the bank started calling, he saw no option other than to sell her. He drove over a few days later to check in on her, and Lexi thought he had come to take her home. "She leapt straight into my car," he said. "She broke my heart the way she looked at me."

by aljazeera.com -- A Lebanese man was shot and killed by Israeli troops after he and others protesting in support of Palestinians tried to cross a security fence on the border with Israel, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported. NNA said another person was wounded on Friday after protesters gathered along the border in a show of solidarity with Palestinians as Israel continued a relentless bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip. Lebanon’s Marjayoun Governmental Hospital told Al Jazeera that 21-year-old Mohammad Tahhan had died of his wounds. The condition of the second protester was not immediately known. Earlier, the Israeli military said a number of people in Lebanon had damaged the border fence and set fire to a field. They retreated after Israeli tanks fired warning shots.

The Lebanese protesters had gathered close to the fence, waving flags, including the Palestinian national flag and the flag of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, a staunch opponent of Israel. Lebanese President Michel Aoun said in a statement he “strongly condemned the crime committed by Israeli forces”. The protesters were later dispersed by the Lebanese army in the presence of UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon that monitors the boundary with Israel, a witness said. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Teneti said in the statement they launched an investigation into the incident, and have increased their presence at the border alongside the Lebanese army.

By BY TAL AXELROD - Thehill.com -- Three rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel Thursday, raising fears that violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip could spill over into other parts of the region. The Israeli military announced that the rockets landed into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of northern Israel. No casualties were immediately reported from the strike. The attack raises the risks of the violence expanding to two fronts as violence between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip shows no signs of abating in the near future.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack, and Lebanese officials familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that it was unclear which group launched the rockets or precisely where they landed. South Lebanon is the power base of the Shiite organization Hezbollah and other armed groups that have clashed with the Israeli military in the past, including during a brutal war in 2006. The launches from Lebanon come as the Israeli military builds up its presence along the border with the Gaza Strip, with Israel not ruling out a ground offensive into the enclave to stop the rocket attacks.

by reuters -- The European Union is drawing up sanctions on politicians in Lebanon seen as blocking the formation of a government, readying the bloc's first penalties on its Middle Eastern ally in frustration at the ruling elite's mismanagement, diplomats said. Led by former colonial power France, the bloc is seeking to ramp up pressure on Lebanon's squabbling politicians, after 10 months of crisis that has left Lebanon facing financial collapse, hyperinflation, electricity blackouts, and fuel and food shortages. No names have been discussed and Hungary has publicly denounced EU efforts to pressure Lebanese politicians, but six diplomats and officials told Reuters that technical work has now begun on preparing sanctions – so-called designation criteria - after EU foreign ministers on Monday agreed to take action. As many senior Lebanese politicians have homes, bank accounts and investments in the EU, and send their children to universities there, a withdrawal of that access could be a lever to focus minds.

Paris says it has already taken measures to restrict entry for some Lebanese officials, for blocking efforts to tackle the unprecedented crisis, which is rooted in decades of state corruption and debt. "The level of impatience with the ruling class is growing. They don't seem to have their peoples' interest at heart. Expect to see a decision in the next three to four weeks," said a senior EU diplomat. The EU first needs to set up a sanctions regime that could then see individuals hit by travel bans and asset freezes. There are divisions among the 27 EU states over the wisdom of EU sanctions, but the bloc's two main powers, France and Germany are in favour, which is likely to prove pivotal. A larger group of nations has yet to specify their approach.