by AFP — BEIRUT: Lebanon has deported dozens of Syrians back to the war-torn country they fled from as anti-Syrian sentiment grows amid a dire economic crisis, security officials and a humanitarian source said Friday. One of the Syrians deported was an army defector, a relative said, warning that “his life is in danger.” “The army has deported more than 50 Syrians from Lebanon in the past two weeks,” an army official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the press. Another security official said dozens of Syrians had been expelled. They said Lebanon’s army intelligence unit had been cracking down on undocumented Syrians, arresting them and handing them to border guards, who then expelled them from Lebanon.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled to neighboring Lebanon after the country’s civil war began in 2011 with the brutal suppression of anti-regime protests. Authorities say Lebanon hosts around two million Syrian refugees, while nearly 830,000 are registered with the United Nations. Lebanese authorities have long pushed for Syrian refugees to return, and have made several repatriation efforts they describe as voluntary, but which rights groups say are forced.

 Fouad Chehab was commander of the Lebanese army after the country gained independence from France. When Lebanon stood on the brink of civil war in 1958, a group of politicians asked him to take over the presidency. He accepted but never intended to see out his term in office. In the end, he stayed on […]

by Najia Houssari (modified slightly article) – arabnews.com — BEIRUT: Suleiman Franjieh, the candidate for the Lebanese presidency backed by Hezbollah and Amal, said on Tuesday that the “game has changed in the region, and this will be reflected in one way or another in Lebanon.” He added that his goal “is not power, but to be a president who leaves his mark.” Lebanon has had no head of state since former President Michel Aoun’s term ended at the end of October. Franjieh made a surprise visit to Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi at his headquarters in Bkerke, and made a statement for the first time following Hezbollah’s pledged support for his candidacy.

Franjieh — a friend of President Bashar Assad — described the meeting with Al-Rahi as “extremely frank and clear.” He said that it was necessary to “join the settlement train in the region and not [be] outside it, unlike what happened in 1989-1990 when some [politicians] remained outside the settlement and the Christians paid the price.” Franjieh said that he had visited France and met officials there who had played a mediating role in the Lebanese crisis. He said his visit to France raised a number of questions and gave rise to discussions on several topics. He added: “I was asked about supporting reforms and the relationship with the International Monetary Fund — and they are in contact with Saudi Arabia — and I confirmed that it is obvious that we proceed with reforms, support the agreement with the IMF and any government that has a reform program.” Franjieh went on to say: “I heard the veto on my name from the Lebanese media, but I never heard it from Saudi Arabia or its friends and allies.

“I am ready for dialogue with everyone, and we must join the settlement train in the region. “I call on all politicians to understand how things are moving. We only want the best for the Arabs and Saudi Arabia. “I was born in a pan-Arab home, and I did not have any hostile view of any country that is friendly with Lebanon, especially Saudi Arabia. “We want the best for the Arabs and we do not accept that anyone attacks the Arab countries.” Franjieh said that his relationship with Assad and Hezbollah had been for the benefit of the country.

by Alexis Hachem·the961.com –– In a recent case of espionage involving Hezbollah members, the Lebanese Information Branch has documented the confession of Amir Zaghieb, who served as an official in the Nabatieh area and was part of the electronic surveillance unit, according to Hezbollah-affiliated Al Akhbar newspaper. Janoubia noted that Zaghieb had close ties with Jawad Hassan Nasrallah, the son of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah. In 2016, Zaghieb (born 1997) received a nursing degree from the Rasul Al-Akram Institute and worked at Al-Zahraa University Hospital until 2021. Later, he joined a company selling cosmetic products and barber supplies in the southern suburbs of Beirut as a sales representative. However, Zaghieb admitted to working for Israel since 2017 when he applied for a job advertised on Facebook for a money transfer company. Shortly after applying, he received an email explaining the job’s nature, which involved transferring money to other individuals for a commission.

A few days later, Zaghieb was contacted by a person through Facebook Messenger, who informed him that he would be the liaison with the company. This individual transferred $750 to Zaghieb, instructing him to keep $100 as commission and send the remaining amount to specific recipients. After completing the task, the same person requested more personal information from Zaghieb, particularly verifying whether he lived in the southern suburbs of Beirut. When Zaghieb confirmed his residence in Hay al-Salim, the contact inquired if he would provide information about Hezbollah locations in exchange for payment. Zaghieb agreed.

By Kaniya Rogers, Editor at LinkedIn News — Gen Z has been described as an age group that rejects “hustle” culture and sets rigid boundaries between work and life, but younger workers are actually powered by a strong sense of ambition, reports The Wall Street Journal. They’re staying late, gunning for promotions, and chasing side […]

By AFP – Agence France Presse — UN peacekeepers in Lebanon appealed for calm late Friday after supporters of the Hezbollah movement clashed with Israeli border guards as Iran and Arab countries marked Jerusalem Day. The annual commemoration is staged in support of the Palestinian cause, and earlier in the day Palestinian factions paraded in the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp in Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold. Later, Hezbollah supporters approached the border fence with Israel in south Lebanon and placed one of the Shiite group’s flags there. “UNIFIL peacekeepers observed a crowd of 50 or 60 individuals throwing stones and placing a Hezbollah flag in the technical fence,” deputy UN Interim Force in Lebanon spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said.

Israeli forces “responded with stun and smoke grenades”, she said, adding that Lebanese troops soon arrived and worked with UNIFIL to calm the situation. “Especially at this sensitive time, we strongly urge everyone to refrain from any acts that could be perceived as provocative and could cause the situation to escalate,” Ardiel said. Recent weeks have seen deadly attacks and clashes in Israel, annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, as well as cross-border fire between Israeli forces and militants in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria. Lebanon’s official ANI news agency said one person was injured when hit in the head by a smoke grenade during a demonstration at the border. Hours earlier, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a televised statement said his party would respond to “any action targeting anyone in Lebanon, in an appropriate scale and manner”.

BEIRUT, (Reuters) – Lebanon’s security forces have seized an estimated 10 million captagon pills that were to be smuggled to Senegal and then on to Saudi Arabia, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said in a tweet on Friday. The drugs were found in a shipment of rubber carbon during an operation in which four people were […]

(Reuters) Reporting by Alaa Swilam, Editing by William Maclean – A travel ban on Lebanon’s central bank governor Riad Salameh was lifted on Thursday, public prosecutor Ghada Aoun told Reuters, in a move aimed at paving the way for him to attend a hearing in Paris related to a cross-border graft probe. Salameh and his French lawyer Pierre-Olivier Sur did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether the governor would attend a hearing in Paris set by French prosecutors on May 16.

Salameh, who has been at the helm of the central bank for three decades, is being investigated in Lebanon, in France and in at least four other European countries over accusations of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars and laundering some of the proceeds abroad. Salameh denies the accusations, saying he is being made a scapegoat for Lebanon’s financial crisis that erupted in 2019. French prosecutors, who have not formally named Salameh as a suspect, have summoned him for a hearing in Paris on May 16, Sur told Reuters last week. The lawyer said it was not clear whether his client would be able to come to the hearing because his travels were restricted as part of Lebanese investigations.

khazen.org supports his Eminence our Patriarch and demand also deportation of all refugees from Lebanon – Lebanon needs first the ability to support Lebanese, then we can help others  by middleeastmonitor.com — The Head of Lebanon’s Maronite Church has called for the deportation of Syrian refugees, urging the international community’s help in carrying it out. […]

By Jessy Bains, Editor at LinkedIn News –– Bitcoin continues to show remarkable resiliency in spite of numerous flops and failures in the wider crypto industry. The price of a single Bitcoin this week surged past $30,000 for the first time since June, marking a 10-month high for the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Turmoil in the […]