Army Says Israeli Warplanes Breach Lebanese Airspace

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Damascus, Syria's Air Defense reportedly shot down 5 of 8 missiles Israel launched against an airfield in Homs province, bordering Lebanon, known as T-4 airbase; however, the attack caused several dead and wounded. Two Israeli F-15 fighters targeted Syria's T-4 airbase in Homs, the Russian field command in Syria confirmed, adding the jets fired eight guided missiles, but five of them were shot down before they hit the airfield. Syrian media reported the attack saying several people on the ground were either killed or injured. The Russian military added 'two Israeli Air Force F-15 jets fired eight guided missiles at the T-4 airfield.' The Israeli aircraft did not enter Syrian airspace and launched the strikes while flying over Lebanon. Lebanese Armed Forces have also confirmed that Israeli fighter jets and a reconnaissance plane violated the country's borders and remained in Lebanon's airspace for about ten minutes. Israel's aircraft were flying over Lebanon's northern areas as well as over the sea, it said.

by Naharnet -- Israel has resumed the construction of a controversial cement separation wall between Lebanon's southern border and occupied Palestine amid tight Lebanese and Israeli security measures, the National News Agency reported Monday. The construction was taking place on “non-conflict” border zones near Kfarkila-Oudaish highway in Marjayoun. On Sunday, Israel had placed 24 cement blocks, each 6m long and 1.2m wide. It stopped building works in the afternoon before resuming it Monday. New threats emerged between Lebanon and Israel over several issues, including the wall the Jewish state is building along the border that Beirut says may jut into Lebanese territories, as well as plans for oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean.

Diplomat vows to take Saudi-Lebanese ties to further heights

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by Abdulaziz Hammad -saudigazette.com - JEDDAH — Newly appointed Consul General of Lebanon Ali Karanouh and his wife Marwa Soubra held a reception and acquaintance meeting at the celebration hall of the consulate in Jeddah on Tuesday. The reception was attended by Sami Jamil Abdullah, director of the department of ceremonies at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Makkah province branch, and Director of the Royal Protocol in Makkah region Ahmad Ben Zafer, along with several government officials, dignitaries, diplomats, members of the Lebanese community and Saudi friends of Lebanon. Traditional Lebanese melodies were played and authentic Lebanese cuisines served to the guests. In a speech on the occasion, Karanouh said, “We have several priorities, first of which is to take the Saudi-Lebanese relations to further heights in economic, cultural and scientific fields. We also want to encourage our Saudi brothers and sisters to visit Lebanon for tourism. Saudis are always welcome in Lebanon, which is their second home.” The diplomat said their priorities also include organizing cultural activities to highlight the Lebanese creativity. “Lebanon has so many things to showcase; we will work to display this modern Lebanon, the Lebanon of diversity.”

Born in Beirut in 1981, Karanouh is a career diplomat with many years of experience. He completed postgraduate studies in public law and international public law. He was appointed first secretary at the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the United Nations in 2009. Then he became consul in the Lebanese Embassy in Cairo and the country’s representative to the Arab League. In 2013, he was assigned to the Lebanse Embassy in Washington DC and stayed in the post until he took over as the Consul General of Lebanon in Jeddah a few weeks ago.

Lebanese Diaspora Energy conference opens in Paris

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The Daily Star BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri opened the Lebanese Diaspora Energy Conference in Paris Saturday in a televised speech. "Lebanon can continue as before, with outdated laws and no reforms," Hariri said, "we need to improve the labor market, implement real reforms to fight corruption and create jobs." He said that Lebanese should threaten the candidates for the parliamentary elections with reforms. "If I don't deliver [reforms] then don't vote for me." He expressed his thanks to the French government and the outcome of the CEDRE conference. "But the most important thing for me is reform, reform, and reform." He said that while the Syrian crisis did affect the Lebanese government, the impact would have been less burdensome if there were reforms. "We must not wait every time to reach a problem or an economic collapse and then ask for funds from countries. We have to reform and then if there is an economic crisis beyond our control, then we ask for conferences,"he said. "It is your right to vote, and your duty to vote, so don't lose it by not participating [in the elections]," Foreign Ministry Gebran Bassil was quoted saying by the state-run National News Agency. He told expatriates that he doesn't accept their being called expatriates anymore, saying "you are Lebanese."

He said these conferences and the diaspora are helping the government spread diplomacy. "I agree with [Bassil], you are the main force and our weapon. There might be political differences, but you need to stay united alongside Lebanon," Hariri added. "I have prepared a bill to amend the name of the Foreign Ministry to the Foreign Affairs, Diaspora and International Cooperation Ministry," he said, ostensibly as a way to affirm the Lebanese identity of expatriates instead of alienating it. The LDE conference is a regular convention that aims to bring Lebanese around the world together and one was already held in Ivory Coast earlier this year. The next conference will be held on May 10 to May 12 later this year. However, both Finance and Public Works and Transport ministers Ali Hasan Khalil and Youssef Fenianos respectively boycotted the conference. "We are against conferences that try to influence people or political parties in the [parliament] elections, and we are against exploiting expatriates in the election campaign," Fenianos was quoted saying by the NNA

China bans bible from online stores

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by catholicherald.co.uk -- The Chinese government has banned the sale of Bibles online, through distributors such as Amazon. This appears to be the latest development in China’s moves to restrict Christianity’s influence in the country. Bibles are only legally available at church bookstalls, not in bookshops, making Christianity the only major religion whose holy book is not freely available. Online retailers had effectively been a loophole making it easier for people to buy Bibles. Discussion of Christianity on social media is also being severely restricted. In contrast, traditional Chinese religions including Buddhism and Taoism are actively promoted. The ban comes as the Holy See and Beijing try to resolve a long conflict over the appointment of bishops. Catholics are currently split between bishops appointed by the state but excommunicated by the Vatican, and bishops appointed by the Vatican who have no legal status and have to operate effectively underground. Hopes of finding a solution acceptable to both sides seem to have been dashed this week, with a statement from a senior government official that China will not allow any foreign influence in religious affairs in the country. “I think there is no religion in human society that is above the state,” the official, Chen Zongrong, said on Tuesday.

Lebanon wins pledges exceeding $10 billion in Paris: finance minister

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PARIS - Fifty-one states and regional and international organizations were invited to CEDRE to express and offer support for Lebanon's economy and infrastructure. The title “CEDRE” itself – a French acronym translated as “Conference for Development and Reform with Businesses” – demonstrates the desire to differentiate this conference from its predecessors, as it breaks away from the “Paris I” nomenclature. The pledges included $4 billion in World Bank loans, 1.1 billion euros ($1.35 billion) in loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the renewal of a previously pledged $1 billion credit line from Saudi Arabia, Lebanese officials said.

France was the first country to make a bid with Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announcing that Europe's second largest economy would provide 400 million euros ($489.3 million) in loans below market rates and would donate another 150 million euros ($183.5 million). Saudi Arabia, will grant the country a $1-billion (800 million-euro) development loan, a Lebanese government official told a donor conference in Paris Friday. Donors in turn want to see Lebanon commit to long-stalled reforms. In a nod to those demands, Hariri pledged fiscal consolidation to reduce the budget deficit - more than 150 percent of gross domestic product at the end of 2017 - by 5 percent during the next five years. S

Lebanese Speaker Berri Says Electoral Cracks Will be Fixed by Next Parliament

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Al Sharq alAwsat - Speaker Nabih Berri has expressed resentment over various “violations” taking place, including the “disbursement of funds in many electoral districts and regions.” According to a statement from his office on Wednesday, the speaker called for a solution to these issues. During his weekly meeting with lawmakers, Berri said gaps in the electoral law would need to be fixed by the new parliament following the May elections. A “number of gaps have appeared so far in the electoral law and there is a need to develop the law, which will be [in the hands] of the next parliament,” Berri told the MPs. Separately, the speaker warned from repeated Israeli violation of Lebanese sovereignty, after the crash of an Israeli drone in southern Lebanon. According to the state-run National News Agency, Berri has held a series of telephone calls with President Michel Aoun and Western officials to confront the dangers of Israeli policy.