Lebanon

10 Aug 2019; MEMO: Canadian Kristian Lee Baxter, detained while travelling in Syria last year, was freed on Friday, the second Westerner released by the Syrian government in two weeks with help from neighbouring Lebanon, reports Reuters.

Baxter broke down in tears at a news conference in Beirut after arriving in the Lebanese capital from Syria, saying he thought he would be held forever.

BEIRUT, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Bilal al-Arqoub, a wanted Islamist militant, was killed on Sunday during a gunfight with a Sunni militant group in a Palestinian refugee camp in the southern Lebanese district of Sidon, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Two of Arqoub's sons were arrested and handed over to the Army Intelligence while the third one escaped, NNA said.

Arqoub was accused of being responsible for the death of the brother of a member of the Sunni militant group Osbat al-Ansar.

BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian government airstrike hit a busy open-air market in the country’s northwest on Saturday, killing at least 11 people, most of them children, according to activists. The town of Ariha has been particularly targeted over the last week as the government escalates its offensive against the country’s last rebel stronghold.

BEIRUT, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian refugees demonstrated for the seventh consecutive day in south Lebanon's Sidon to protest against measures adopted by the Labor Ministry, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

Palestinians also shut down all entrances leading to Ain El Helwe camp while burning tires and vowing to take escalatory measures if the Labor Minister does not exempt Palestinians from work permits.

BEIRUT (AP) — Multiple Airstrikes hit a busy market in a rebel-controlled town in northwestern Syria on Monday, killing at least 27 people and turning several buildings into piles of rubble, according to opposition activists and a war monitor. Shortly afterward, state media said rebels shelled a government-held village, killing seven.

BEIRUT (AP) — Two months of intensive airstrikes by Syrian government forces and their Russian allies, coupled with a fierce ground assault on rebel-controlled Idlib province, have killed hundreds of people and caused massive displacement while achieving little to no gain for President Bashar Assad.

BEIRUT, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on Sunday for all Lebanese parties and their supporters to remain calm amid tensions that erupted in Mount Lebanon's Aley district earlier in the day, the Presidency's website reported.

Aoun also called for an emergency meeting on Monday for the Higher Defense Council to discuss the latest security developments in Mount Lebanon.

BEIRUT, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali called on Saturday for a better cooperation between the two countries to secure a safe return for Syrian refugees to their homeland, local media reported.

"Lebanon and Syria have diplomatic ties and it is in the interest of both countries to increase their cooperation," the ambassador was quoted as saying by Elnashra, an online independent newspaper.

Ali noted that most Syrians wish to return from Lebanon to their homeland where they can live with dignity.

ARSAL, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanese authorities are making their most aggressive campaign yet for Syrian refugees to return home and are taking action to ensure they can’t put down roots.

Mirroring the rise of anti-migrant sentiment in Europe and around the world, some in Lebanon say that after eight years of war in neighboring Syria they have had enough of the burden of the highest concentration of refugees per capital in the world — 1 million amid a Lebanese population of nearly 5 million — especially at a time when they are facing austerity measures and a weakened economy.

BEIRUT, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Lebanese citizens on Sunday took part in the biggest national beach clean-up campaign, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The campaign "Save Our Face," launched by Lebanese Environment Minister Fadi Jreissati in several locations including Beirut, Akkar, Zahrani, Batroun and Tripoli, aims at conveying a cleaner picture of Lebanon.