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Lebanon

Lebanon

August 26, 2025

Beirut 10:52 pm

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Lebanon’s ex-Central Bank chief to be released on $20M bail: What to know

Judicial authorities in Lebanon agreed to release former Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on $20 million bail nearly a year after his arrest on fraud and embezzlement charges.

A truck with a container leaves the Port of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on August 1, 2025. US President Donald Trump unveiled new tariffs on July 31 on nearly 70 countries -- including a blistering 35 percent on neighbor Canada -- as he seeks to reshape global trade to benefit the US economy. However, in a minor reprieve that opens the door to further negotiations, the White House said the measures will take effect in a week for most countries, not Friday as previously expected. (Photo by ANDREJ I

Canada: Montreal port tied to Hezbollah car trade, presence in Americas

The Canadian government said Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as Sikh nationalist groups, are receiving financial support originating from Canada.

US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a joint press conference following his meeting with Lebanon's president at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on August 18, 2025. Barrack called on Israel to honour its commitments under a ceasefire that ended its war with Hezbollah, after the Lebanese government launched a process to disarm the militant group. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

US envoys in Lebanon as Hezbollah balks at disarmament plan

Israel said it was “ready to support” Lebanon’s efforts to disarm the militant group by year's end.

Lebanese army soldiers are stationed at the Burj al-Barajneh camp for Palestinian refugees in Beirut's southern suburbs on Aug. 21, 2025, as armed Palestinian groups in the refugee camps start handing over their weapons.

Lebanon begins disarming Palestinian factions after refugee camp hands over weapons

Lebanese and Palestinian officials confirmed that the first phase of the disarmament process of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon has begun.

Latest News

Lebanon PM in Jordan as Beirut pushes Hezbollah disarmament, Iran’s influence wanes

Jordanian King Abdullah II receives Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Amman on Aug. 19, 2025.

Lebanon's PM slams Hezbollah chief for making 'threat of civil war'

RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Lebanon key to Trump plan for turnaround in Middle East

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, meets with US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, in Baabda, east of Beirut, July 7, 2025.

Andrew Parasiliti

By Andrew Parasiliti

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

Iran’s Larijani in Lebanon as Beirut, Tehran spar over Hezbollah disarmament

Iran's Supreme National Security Council chief Ali Larijani (C) speaks to reporters after meeting with Lebanon's parliament speaker in Beirut on Aug. 13, 2025.

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Joyce Karam

Senior News Editor

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional geopolitics, China in the Middle East

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Hanna Davis

In Beirut, reporting on politics, migration, human rights

Rodayna Raydan

In Boqaata, reporting on culture

Children offer flowers to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahianin during his visit to the southern Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras near the border with Israel, on April 28, 2023. - Abdollahian called on Lebanon on April 27 to overcome political deadlock and elect a president, urging foreign governments not to interfere in the choice. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Explosion in Beirut suburb as Iran FM tours Lebanon's border with Israel

The explosion occurred at an apartment belonging to a man previously arrested for manufacturing explosive devices and working with foreign agents.

Lebanon Prime Minister Najib Mikati (R) and Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meet in Beirut on October 7, 2021. (Photo by anwar amro / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran FM in Lebanon, urges vote on president without 'foreign interference'

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held talks with Lebanese officials as the country faces a deepening political and economic crisis.

Chairman Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) (L) speaks with Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on April 26, 2022 in Washington, DC. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday committed a total of $713 million in foreign military financing for Ukraine and 15 allied and partner countries. (Photo by Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images)

Lebanon: US senators call for electing president 'accountable to the people'

Leading US senators accuse Hezbollah and its allies of orchestrating the political deadlock in Lebanon.

Israeli fighters Lebanon

Israel shells Hezbollah targets in Syria in latest escalation

The shelling targeted Hezbollah positions in southern Syria, local outlets reported, but the Syrian government notably has not commented.

Syrian refugees prepare to leave Lebanon toward Syrian territory.

Lebanon deports dozens of Syrian refugees amid spike in racist rhetoric

The deportation of more than 50 Syrians to the war-torn country comes amid growing anti-Syrian sentiment in Lebanon.

A Lebanese demonstrator returns a tear gas canister that was fired by security forces during a protest demanding better pay and living conditions in the capital Beirut on April 18, 2023. - Lebanese security forces fired tear gas at protesters demonstrating in Beirut on Wednesday against deteriorating living conditions, as the currency plummeted to new lows against the dollar. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon raises minimum wage from $27 to $92 a month

Hundreds of retired soldiers protested outside government headquarters as the Cabinet discussed an increase in public sector salaries.

US Treasury Department

UK sanctions Lebanon art dealer accused of financing Hezbollah

Already sanctioned by the United States back in 2019, Lebanese art dealer Nazem Said Ahmad was sanctioned by the British government on Tuesday.

The US Treasury Department building is seen in Washington, DC, January 19, 2023, following an announcement by the US Treasury that it had begun taking measures Thursday to prevent a default on government debt, as Congress heads towards a high-stakes clash between Democrats and Republicans over raising the borrowing limit. - The world's biggest economy could face severe disruption with Republicans threatening to refuse the usual annual rubber stamping of a rise in the legal borrowing limit, and this could pu

US imposes sanctions on Hezbollah-linked money laundering network

The new sanctions target individuals and companies across nine countries, including Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa, tied to a Belgian-Lebanese art and diamond dealer.

A boy stands in the balcony of a building ravaged by Lebanon's Civil War, in Beirut's Ras al-Nabeh district on April 13, 2023. - The Lebanese civil war broke out on April 13, 1975 and ended in 1990 with the Taef agreement. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/afp/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon dysfunction hits new peak on 48th anniversary of war

Judge Ghada Aoun has lifted a ban on Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh ahead of his summoning in Paris next month and the municipal elections are likely to canceled for the second year in a row.

TOPSHOT - Israeli soldiers take up a position with a tank near Shtula, bordering Lebanon, on April 7, 2023. - Israel launched air strikes before dawn on April 7 in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, saying it was targeting Palestinian militant group Hamas in retaliation for several dozen rockets fired at Israel from both territories. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israeli fears grow of united Hezbollah-Hamas-Iran front

Netanyahu’s dream of a regional Israel-led alliance with Sunni Arab states against Iran has been shattered, as Israel’s fierce enemies unite.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Retired servicemen remove razor wire barricade outside Lebanon's central bank during a demonstration demanding inflation-adjustments to their pensions, in Beirut on March 30, 2023. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

In Lebanon, journalists come under legal intimidation as press freedom declines

Two editors-in-chief of independent Lebanese news outlets have been summoned by security services, reigniting freedom of the press issues in Lebanon.

Israeli soldiers deploy in an open area near Kibuttz Malkia, in northern Israel bordering Lebanon, on April 7, 2023. - On April 6, the Israeli army said more than 30 rockets had been fired from Lebanese territory into Israel in the largest escalation on the northern border since Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in 2006. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel, Lebanon's Hezbollah agree to avoid confrontation, but for how long?

After two days of rockets first from Gaza and then from the Lebanese border, tensions seem to have calmed, at least temporary.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense