The Daily Star Lebanon Breaking News, Lebanon News, Middle East News & World News

In recent hours, Western and non-Arab countries have stepped up their diplomatic efforts with Lebanese authorities to help de-escalate the rising tensions along Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, aiming to prevent a larger clash, according to media outlets. These diplomatic exchanges have underscored a collective wish to maintain peace and stability in Lebanon, particularly along the southern border. Additionally, there’s …

On Wednesday, the G7 foreign ministers issued a collective appeal to Iran, urging the country to halt its backing of Hamas and Hezbollah. They called on Iran to leverage its influence to mitigate the ongoing tensions in the region. In their consensus statement following discussions in Japan, the ministers—including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts from Britain, …

During a productive discussion on Tuesday with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein received positive feedback, according to parliamentary insiders. These sources, speaking to Asharq al-Awsat and quoted on Wednesday, highlighted the active role the U.S. is playing to avert further escalation in the region. Lebanese authorities indicate that while the situation on their end is under …

LONDON: A Brazilian who won Olympic bronze in judo accidentally broke his medal when he took it to the shower with him. Now his fight is to have it replaced by the International Olympic Committee. Felipe Kitadai said he was carrying the medal everywhere he went and decided to take it to the shower as well as a joke, but …

BEIRUT: The Lebanese pound resumed its fall Wednesday after a brief respite, trading at LL17,750 to the dollar on the black market, exchange dealers said. They said they were buying the greenback for LL17,700 and selling it for LL17,800, compared to LL17,750 over the last two days. The pound has now shed over the past three weeks almost all its …

BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati has denied any wrongdoing after he was named in the Pandora Papers among political and financial officials with wealth hidden in offshore tax havens. The Pandora Papers, published on Sunday, are based on 11.9 million confidential files leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ), which found links to more than 330 politicians and …

BEIRUT: Judge Tarek Bitar summoned Tuesday a former prime minister and three ex-ministers for interrogation on suspicion of negligence and maladministration over last year’s catastrophic Beirut Port blast, judicial sources said. The sources said Bitar set Oct. 12 to interrogate former Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, Oct. 13 to question former Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk and former Public Works Minister …

BEIRUT: The European Union is ready to support the Lebanese government’s plan to rescue the debt-ridden country from its worst economic and financial crisis, the EU Ambassador to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf said Tuesday. Tarraf spoke to reporters after he and ambassadors of other EU countries in Lebanon met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who briefed them on the government’s financial …