Libanon

Lebanese diplomat Mustapha Adib has been tasked with forming a government by an overwhelming majority of parliamentarians representing the country's political establishment.

[…] The French-drafted resolution reduced the troop ceiling for the force, known as UNIFIL, from 15,000 to 13,000 under US pressure, while extending its mandate for another year.

Tough negotiations on the scope and scale of a 42-year-old UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon are set to run all the way up to a Friday United Nations Security Council (UNSC) session to renew its mandate.

Le Drian calls on Lebanon’s political elite to quickly create new government to implement crucial reforms.

The Israeli army on Tuesday reported a "security" incident near the Lebanon border, and told local residents to seek shelter.

One of four men accused of killing a former Lebanese prime minister in Beirut in 2005 has been convicted by a special UN-backed court. Salim Ayyash and the others, all from the Shia militant group Hezbollah, had been on trial in absentia since 2014.

The $565 million appeal targets four areas: food security, health, shelter and education. Immediate plans include providing hot meals and food rations, as well as grain deliveries.

Lebanon's parliament has approved a state of emergency that grants sweeping powers to the army, citing the exceptional circumstances in the country following a massive explosion in Beirut last week. 

A U.N.-backed court will soon pronounce verdicts in a 15-year-old bombing in Beirut that roiled the Middle East. But critics say the court’s protracted deliberations and huge expense have undermined its original purpose.

Earlier in the day the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that as a result of a huge explosion, a ship from its Maritime Task Force docked in the port was damaged, leaving some UNIFIL naval peacekeepers injured – some of them seriously.