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Govt. to discuss N. Litani plan Monday, Aoun seeks calm session

Cabinet will convene at 3pm Monday to discuss the army’s plan for monopolizing arms north of the Litani River, media reports said.

Information Minister Paul Morcos confirmed Wednesday in an interview that the government would decide next week on how to proceed with the plan.

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Once again, Israeli troops enter southern border towns and detonate houses

Israeli troops advanced Thursday at dawn into al-Nouriyeh neighborhood in central Kafr Kila, where they blew up a building.

Another force had pushed into the southern border town of Odaisseh overnight, demolishing another two houses on the outskirts of the town.

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Abu Omar, the fake Saudi prince: Latest developments

Authorities are investigating the imposter who posed as a Saudi prince, extorting several politicians with the help of a religious figure, a judicial official said.

A former prime minister and several other politicians, most of them Sunni Muslim, were caught up in the scandal that exposed the country’s deep-rooted corruption.

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Expats may be allowed to vote at Beirut airport at start of summer

Given President Joseph Aoun's insistence on holding the parliamentary elections on time, sources have told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper that he is seeking a practical solution that would suspend the sixteenth electoral district, designated for expatriate representation with six seats, while allowing for a limited postponement of the elections until mid-summer.

According to this solution, expatriates would be able to vote upon their return to Lebanon, via temporary ballot boxes at Beirut’s airport, starting at the beginning of the summer holiday and without being bound by the official election date, the daily said.

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Syrian who made 'deals' with Israel arrested in Lebanon

The General Directorate of State Security on Wednesday announced the arrest of a Syrian national who had conducted “deals” with Israel.

"As part of efforts to combat networks collaborating with the Israeli enemy, the Southern Regional Directorate of the General Directorate of State Security arrested a Syrian national for conducting deals with the Israeli enemy,” it said in a statement.

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Last legal obstacle in Bitar's way removed as accusatory body issues ruling

The accusatory body overseeing the lawsuit against Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar on Wednesday issued a ruling upholding the dismissal of the case previously made by Judge Habib Rizkallah.

The chamber, headed by Judge Elias Eid and including advisors Pierre Francis and Rabih Houssami, based its decision on the reasoning provided by Rizkallah while adding its own justification.

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Israel shells Ayta al-Shaab as mourners gather for funeral

Israeli drones dropped Wednesday stun grenades near Ayta al-Shaab's cemetery in south Lebanon as the border village prepared to burry a man killed two days ago by Israeli gunfire.

The Israeli army alleged he was a Hezbollah member who "gathered intelligence on (Israeli) troops and operated to rehabilitate Hezbollah’s infrastructure in southern Lebanon".

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Yanouh buries child and father killed in Israeli drone strike

Mourners in southern Lebanon on Tuesday buried a father and his young son killed in an Israeli drone strike that targeted a Hezbollah member.

Hassan Jaber, a police officer, and his child, Ali, were on foot when the strike on Monday hit a passing car in the center of their town, Yanouh, relatives said. The health ministry said the boy was 3 years old. Both were killed at the scene along with the car driver, Ahmad Salami, who the Israeli military said in a statement was a Hezbollah artillery official.

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US sanctions gold exchange firm, individuals and entities over alleged Hezbollah ties

The U.S. Department of the Treasury said Tuesday that it "took action to disrupt two key mechanisms Hezbollah uses to sustain its economic stability: revenue generation in coordination with the Iranian regime and exploitation of Lebanon’s informal financial sector."

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Lebanon, Jordan seek solutions after Damascus bans non-Syrian trucks

Lebanon and Jordan are seeking a solution with Syria after the latter barred foreign trucks from entering its territory, officials from both countries told AFP on Tuesday.

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