(2020-08-20). Hands off Lebanon: Macron's Self-serving 'New Pact' Must Be Shunned. counterpunch.org 
French President, Emmanuel Macron, is in no position to pontificate to Lebanon about the need for political and economic reforms. Just as thousands of Lebanese took to the streets of Beirut demanding "revenge" against the ruling classes, the French people have relentlessly been doing the same; both peoples have been met with police violence and arrests.
(2020-08-20). How the US Helped Push Lebanon to the Brink of Collapse, and Now Threatens More Sanctions. globalresearch.ca While the media blames the crisis in Lebanon solely on corruption, the US government unleashed a "maximum pressure" campaign to push regime change and crush Lebanese resistance with sanctions and aggressive hybrid warfare. | *** | As the people of Lebanon suffer …
(2020-08-20). The Assassination of Yasser Arafat was Ordered by The Israeli Cabinet: "We will Choose the Right Way and the Right Time to Kill Arafat." globalresearch.ca First published on November 19, 2013. | Author's Note | Who killed Hariri, Who killed Arafat? | According to the August 18, 2020 verdict by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in The Hague Salim Ayyash was found guilty of killing Prime Minister …
(2020-08-20). Battelships in Beirut —MES EP.68. thealtworld.com Several European navies have deployed vessels to Beirut port under the pretext of providing disaster relief and humanitarian assistance following the catastrophic explosion at the port of Beirut. The French Marine Nationale, British Royal Navy, German Deutsche Marine and Hellenic Navy have all dispatched vessels to Beirut as Lebanese people fear the return of 1982. To discuss this issue with us from Paris is Jean Pierre Duthion, political commentator. | Iraq cancelled a ministerial visit and summoned Turkey's ambassador last week as it blamed Ankara for a drone attack that killed two high-ranking Iraqi military o…
(2020-08-20). It's Not Happening: The Mainstream Media Is the Enabler of American Dysfunction. thealtworld.com If journalists were actually getting out on the streets, they would discover that people are really worried about the future of the country. | Has anyone seen anywhere in the mainstream media a serious discussion of Israel's possible role in the Beirut bombing? I am not suggested an evidence-free indictment of Israel but rather just a review of Israel's possible motive and a consideration of its capability to carry out such an attack without having to directly do it itself with one of its bombs or missiles. Given the Jewish state's unrelenting hostility towards Hezbollah and its repeated violations of Lebanese te…
(2020-08-20). Video: In Mysterious Incident US Military Lost Two MQ-9 Reapers over Idlib. globalresearch.ca The shaky stability established in Syria after the end of the Turkish attack on the Syrian Army in Idlib in February and March of 2020 has collapsed. | Just a day after the confrontation between the US military and the Syrian …
(2020-08-20). The Hariri Assassination: Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Verdict. Fake Justice on Behalf of Israel. globalresearch.ca In May 2007, Security Council Resolution 1757 established the STL "on the outskirts of the Hague." | Ten SC members voted "yes," none "no," Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia, and Qatar abstaining. | Five judges were involved in proceedings, Judge David Re…
(2020-08-20). The Hariri Assassination: Israel 's Fingerprints. globalresearch.ca This incisive article by Rannie Amiri focussing on Israel's spy ring in Lebanon was first published by Global Research on July 23, 2010. The article also addresses the role of the UN sponsored Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) | Is it …
(2020-08-20). Israeli regime biggest threat to region: Nasrallah. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (MNA) — Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah Resistance Movement Hassan Nasrallah said that the Israeli regime is the biggest threat to the West Asia (Middle East) region.
(2020-08-20). Turkey helps South Sudan produce face masks. yenisafak.com Turkey's state-run aid agency TIKA has provided South Sudan sewing machines and cloth rolls for making masks to help it respond better to the coronavirus pandemic.The 30 sewing machines, and 1,000-meter cloth roll will help in the production of about 15,000 face masks, the Turkish ambassador to South Sudan said while handing them over to the Ministry of Labor in the capital Juba on Thursday."We are ready to support South Sudan whenever needed," Tugrul Biltekin said."We are working closely with the South Sudanese government, and have divided our aid into five phases. This is the last phase, to provide masks," he s…
(2020-08-19). After explosion, imperialists pressure Lebanon; Iran, China send aid. workers.org 
From jungewelt.de, Aug. 18. The author has been covering Syrian, Lebanon and Palestine for progressive German-language publications for decades. Translation by John Catalinotto. It was only last January — in response to the street protests — that the technocratic government of the engineer and former university professor Hassan Diab was . . . |
(2020-08-19). Rania Khalek: 'Sadistic' U.S. Policy Sees Beirut Blast as Opportunity. thealtworld.com Rania Khalek explains that a corrupt neoliberal government is responsible for the catastrophe in Beirut and how Western powers are deepening the crisis with "monstrous" sanctions that block trade with neighboring Syria.
(2020-08-19). Video: US-led Coalition Struck Syrian Army Checkpoint after US Patrol Was Blocked in Northeastern Syria. globalresearch.ca For the first time in about a year, Syrian pro-government forces and the US-led coalition found itself engaged in what seems to be direct clashes near the village of Tal al-Dhahab in northeastern Syria. | Syrian sources said that on August …
(2020-08-19). The Hariri Assassination Verdict. The Geopolitical Implications. globalresearch.ca On February 14, 2005, an explosion rocked Beirut killing and injuring hundred of people chief among them the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Rafik al-Hariri. The West was quick to blame Hezbollah and Syria. In 2006, Israel and its …
(2020-08-19). UN Tribunal finds only one guilty of Hariri assassination and no evidence of Syrian or Hezbollah involvement. wsws.org The ruling is a setback for the US and its local stooges, who planned on using a damning verdict to further its bid to eliminate Hezbollah as a political force in Lebanon.
(2020-08-19). Lebanon: Poverty Increases at Alarming Rates-Report. telesurenglish.net The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) warned on Wednesday that the population living under poor conditions has doubled in 2020 compared to the same period last year. | RELATED: | ESCWA's latest report indicates that the poverty rate reached 55 percent in 2020, whereas in 2019, it stood at 28 percent. | The organization explains that "massive explosion and an accelerating increase i…
(2020-08-19). Chief Defendant in Rafik Hariri Killing Convicted on All Counts by UN-backed Tribunal. globalresearch.ca The UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on Tuesday found Salim Jamil Ayyash guilty of conspiracy to kill former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and 21 others in a 2005 bombing. | There was insufficient evidence against three other men charged …
(2020-08-19). VIDEO: 2 US drones crashed after midair collision in Syria. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 19 (MNA) — Two US drones collided and crashed over Idlib, Syria.
(2020-08-19). Iran remains main supporter of Resistance against Zionists. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 19 (MNA) — Condemning the UAE' tie normalization with the usurping Zionist Regime, the representative of Islamic Jihad in Lebanon called Iran as the main supporter of Resistance Front in the fight against the Zionists in the region.
(2020-08-19). Lebanon: The Top Ten Myths About The Country And Its Conflicts. popularresistance.org Plenty of folks finally know the CIA-Soviet-Afghan thread of that backstory; fewer are familiar with the Lebanese layer. They should be. After all, an impressionable young Saudi named bin Laden tuned in to America's dastardly dalliances there in the 1980s, and vowed revenge. | Then as now, the US was hardly alone among the opportunist foreign vultures who've picked the Lebanese carcass throughout its centenary existence. However, Americans — those most confidently uninformed and incurious of peoples — keep proving those repeatedly-wrong-on-the-Mid-East New York Times editors right: Lebanon does remain…
(2020-08-19). Syria's Idlib records first coronavirus death. yenisafak.com The first coronavirus death in Syria's northwestern Idlib province was recorded, according to health officials. | "A female patient in her 80s died from the virus," the interim government's Health Minister, Maram al-Sheikh, said in a statement late Tuesday. | He indicated that the patient had suffered from a chronic kidney failure. | A total of 54 virus infections have been recorded in areas under the Syrian opposition, of which 46 recovered as of Wednesday.
(2020-08-18). 'What Happens If Julian Assange Dies In A British Prison?'. popularresistance.org For Assange however, justice delayed is not only justice denied. With global attention shifting from Wuhan to Washington, from Minneapolis to Lebanon, the father of two young children has spent another five months in incarceration without access to lawyers or family visitations. It follows what is approaching ten years of what the United Nations has repeatedly labeled arbitrary detention — the British government has so far failed to respond to three separate U.N. reports and correspondences on the matter. | Serena Tinari, a Switzerland-based investigative journalist, condemned Britain's handling of the case…
(2020-08-18). UN Ambassador Moncada: US Keeps Plotting To Invade Venezuela. popularresistance.org The Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, reiterated his denunciation of the United States' orchestrating an invasion in Venezuela to destroy the military and political forces of the Bolivarian Revolution. | On his Twitter account, the Ambassador indicated that the White House's war propaganda against Venezuela seeks to assassinate the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro and turn the country into a colony. | "War propaganda in the US affirms that its objective is democracy in Venezuela. The truth is more sinister and deadly: eliminating President Maduro continues the invasion to destr…
(2020-08-18). Supporting communities and refugees in Lebanon a 'top priority': UNHCR chief. news.un.org The head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is in Lebanon to drive home the message of solidarity with all those affected by the devastating blast a fortnight ago, reaching out to both Lebanese and the many refugees and migrants sheltering in the country.
(2020-08-18). Hands Off Lebanon: Macron's Self-Serving 'New Pact' Must Be Shunned. commondreams.org The destroyed port a day after a massive explosion rocked Beirut, killing at least 100 people and injuring thousands. (Photo: Marwan Naamani/picture alliance via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/macron-lebanon-baroud.jpg …
(2020-08-18). Hariri assassination: UN-backed tribunal finds one guilty, three acquitted. news.un.org The UN Secretary-General took note on Tuesday of the guilty verdict delivered by a special UN-backed court, in the case of one of the defendants accused of killing former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, in a bomb attack 15 years ago. Three other defendants, also reportedly members of militant group, Hezbollah, were acquitted.
(2020-08-18). Activists Blockade Entrance To Chemical Weapons Maker. popularresistance.org Jamestown, PA – Five activists blockaded the entrance of Combined Systems Inc. on Monday with giant tear gas cans and gas masks, refusing to move. | These five are with a group of 40 activists from cities across the U.S. who are onsite in Jamestown, PA with the goal of shutting down operations at Combined Systems Inc. for the day. Outside the facility, other activists staked over a hundred yard signs, each with the name of a different city where tear gas has been used against people. | By shutting down this facility, we are here to put CSI President Jacob Kravel on notice that his company's production of tear gas…
(2020-08-18). Three Rockets Strike Near US Base in Syria's Deir Ez-Zor. sputniknews.com According to local authorities in Syria's Deir ez-Zor Governorate, several rockets landed near the US base set up outside the region's eponymous capital city, causing no damage or casualties.
(2020-08-18). UN sends 20 truckloads of aid to Syria's Idlib. yenisafak.com The trucks carrying supplies entered Idlib province through the Cilvegozu border gate in Turkey's south.The aid will be distributed among residents of Idlib, and nearby rural areas.Syria has been ravaged by civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN estimates.Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia.The area has been the subject of multiple cease-fire understandings, which have frequently been violated by the Assad re…
(2020-08-18). Netanyahu says UAE deal does not include sale of F-35 jets. yenisafak.com Israel said Tuesday that a deal to normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) does not include the US sale of F-35 fighter jets to the Gulf state.In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the agreement did not include "any approval by Israel on any arms deal between the United States and the United Arab Emirates".Netanyahu said he directed Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Drammer on Aug. 3 to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to convey an explicit message of Israel's opposition to selling the F-35 and other advanced weapon systems to any country in the Middle East."The peac…
(2020-08-17). "A Cynical Manipulation": On Israel's Empty Gesture of Goodwill to Beirut. mintpressnews.com 
While some may see Israel's gesture as an act of magnanimity, showing solidarity with an enemy country, one is hard-pressed to find words to express just how disgusting and cynical it really is.
(2020-08-17). Lebanon Devastated by Corruption, Economic Collapse, and Beirut Explosion. globalresearch.ca A perfect storm affects Lebanon and vast majority of its near-seven million people, including: | Out-of-control rampant corruption. | Unemployment of a third or more of working-age Lebanese. | Poverty exceeding 50% of the population. | Over 80% inflation since last October, debasing the …