by middle-east-online.com -- BEIRUT - On the edges of a protest in Lebanon's capital, 24-year-old cartoonist Mohamad Nohad Alameddine bites through sticky tape and plasters one of his political sketches to a side wall. "I haven't been able to work with newspapers, so instead I come down and stick them up in the street," says the unemployed artist, who graduated this year with a master's degree in press cartoons. Until this autumn, Alameddine had been poking fun at his country's political and economic ills in sketches he posted online.

But from October 17, anti-government protests swept across the country, giving him a broader audience as protesters denounced the very same issues he had been drawing all along. In public spaces, he and friends stuck up gags about failing electricity and trash management plans, as well as sketches mocking a political class perceived as corrupt. In one cartoon, a skinny man stripped down to his underpants stands in front of a leader carried in on a gilded throne. "We want your underwear to pay back the debt," says the moustachioed politician, clutching a lit cigar.

Now in the grips of a dollar liquidity crunch, Lebanon is staggering under a public debt of $86 billion. Wherever there was a protest, "I'd go down and stick up a related cartoon," says Alameddine, who signs his drawings as Nougature. "A lot of people encouraged me." In late October, the government stepped down, but a deeply divided political class has yet to form a new one. Inspiration everywhere Last month, Alameddine drew his same long-nosed politician clutching the leg of his throne. "Don't worry my love, I'd never leave you," says the character he has called President Nazeeh, dressed in a rabbit-themed pyjama onesie. Alameddine says the fictional leader is his way of criticising the traditional ruling class without naming names. "President Nazeeh headed a militia in the civil war and then became a political figure" after the 1975-1990 conflict, he says. "We see how he deals with people, what he does under the table, what he says in public, how he manages corruption rings - but in a funny way," he says. "In the end you want to laugh at what's hurting you."

By Paulina Dedaj | Fox News — The Saudi national who killed three people Friday morning after opening fire in a classroom at a naval air …

by bbc.com -- The US and Iran have conducted a prisoner swap in a rare sign of co-operation between the two countries. The exchange involved a Chinese-American researcher convicted of spying in Iran and an Iranian scientist held by the US. Both deny wrongdoing. Iran's foreign minister said he was glad as he announced the exchange. Hours later, US President Donald Trump tweeted: "Thank you to Iran on a very fair negotiation. See, we can make a deal together!"

Who were the prisoners?

Xiyue Wang was arrested in Iran in 2016 for "collaborating with foreign governments". Massoud Soleimani, a stem cell expert, was arrested at a Chicago airport last year. He was accused violating trade sanctions by trying to export biological material to Iran. Iran and the US have had an increasingly strained relationship in recent years and share no diplomatic links. Both have thanked the Swiss government for its assistance as an intermediary facilitator.

What happened?

Mr Wang was flown in a Swiss government plane from Tehran to Zurich, and then to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he will undergo medical check-ups before heading home. Mr Soleimani was also flown to Zurich and then on to Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted photos of himself with Mr Soleimani after his release. He was the first to announce the news, via a tweet. "Glad that Professor Massoud Soleimani and Mr Xiyue Wang will be joining their families shortly," he wrote. In a formal statement, US President Donald Trump said Mr Wang had been "held under the pretence of espionage". "Freeing Americans held captive is of vital importance to my Administration, and we will continue to work hard to bring home all our citizens wrongfully held captive overseas," the statement said. Hua Qu, Mr Wang's wife, wrote in statement: "Our family is complete once again. Our son Shaofan and I have waited three long years for this day and it's hard to express in words how excited we are to be reunited with Xiyue. "We are thankful to everyone who helped make this happen." Princeton University, where Mr Wang was studying as a postgraduate, said in a statement it was "overjoyed" with the news of his release and was looking forward to "welcoming him back to campus".

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s outgoing prime minister called on several Arab and world leaders Friday to help his country secure credit lines …