By  xinhuanet.com — Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Thursday that the massive fire that erupted at Beirut’s port earlier in the day …

by arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun has asked his interim foreign minister to contact the US embassy about the imposition of sanctions on two of the country’s former ministers, the presidency media office said on Wednesday. Aoun also requested contact be made with the Lebanese embassy in Washington “in order to understand the circumstances” behind the decision to place the politicians, allied with the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah, on its sanctions list. The US Treasury on Tuesday announced it was imposing sanctions on former finance minister and top Amal official Ali Hassan Khalil and former public works and transportation minister Youssef Fenianos, a senior member of the Christian Marada Movement. The treasury department said they “provided material support to Hezbollah and engaged in corruption.” The move was Washington strongest warning against Hezbollah’s allies. Khalil is currently a member of the Lebanese Parliament and Hezbollah and its allies control majority seats in parliament.

The Shiite Amal group is headed by Lebanon’s longtime Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and the Marada Movement is an organization allied with Hezbollah and Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government. The sanctions came as Lebanon grapples with an unprecedented economic and financial crisis and deals with the aftermath of a devastating explosion at Beirut’s port that killed more than 190, wounded 6,500 and caused damage worth billions of dollars. The sanctions also came as prime minister-designate Mustapha Adib works to form a new Cabinet to replace the one that resigned on Aug. 10, six days after nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate detonated in Beirut. The disaster fueled outrage against a ruling class that has run the country for decades amid widespread corruption and mismanagement. Some analysts in Lebanon saw the sanctions as a message to Hezbollah’s allies to review their links with the Iran-backed group, especially by targeting a Christian ally for the first time. “Fenianos and Ali Hassan Khalil are two central figures in the coalition that is led by Hezbollah,” said Ali Hamadeh, a political writer at An-Nahar newspaper who is often critical of the Iran-backed group.

by AFP — Lebanon launched a forensic audit of the central bank, in line with a long-standing request of donors, an outgoing …

by alkhaleejtoday.co -- Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - Lebanon's President Michel Aoun is in hot water after it emerged that tea donated by Sri Lanka for victims of the Beirut blast had been distributed to families of his presidential guards. Critics see it as yet another example of official corruption in a country reeling from the August 4 explosion that killed more than 190 people, wounded thousands and ravaged central Beirut. But the island nation’s ambassador has insisted the controversy is a storm in a teacup, saying that it was a gift for Mr Aoun who can do with it as he wishes. She also blasted the brewing criticism of Lebanese officials. Sri Lanka, many of whose expat community in Lebanon work as housemaids, was one of several nations that rushed to show support after Lebanon's worst peacetime disaster.

The president's office released a picture on August 24 showing Mr Aoun receiving Sri Lank’s ambassador Shani Calyaneratne Karunaratne and quoted her saying that Colombo had "donated 1,675 kilos of Ceylon tea to those affected by the Beirut blast". When asked by Lebanese media what happened to the tea, the president’s office said Mr Aoun had written to his Sri Lankan counterpart to thank him for "a gift of Ceylon tea that had been received by the army … and distributed to the families of soldiers in the presidential guard". On Wednesday morning, the president’s press office confirmed to The National that the tea was a "personal gift" to Mr Aoun and that he had distributed it to members of the presidential guard who were affected by the blast. Social media erupted in criticism, with the hashtags "tea thief" and "Ceylon tea" trending on Twitter. But Ms Karunaratne said such criticism of President Aoun "shameful." "We gave this tea to the president and he can do whatever he wants with it as long as the people who get it are Lebanese," Ms Karunaratne told The National by phone. "It's one of the best teas in the world and I'm happy that whoever he gave it to is drinking it," she said.