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Hassan Meets Aoun, Says General Lockdown a Possibility

Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan on Friday met with President Michel Aoun in Baabda and discussed with him the latest developments related to the coronavirus crisis in the country.

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Jumblat Says Assad 'Imported' Ammonium Nitrate that Devastated Beirut

The 2,755 tons of ammonium nitrate that exploded on August 4 at Beirut port and devastated swathes of the capital had been “imported” by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat charged on Friday.

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Bassil Defiant after Being Hit with U.S. Sanctions

The U.S. administration on Friday announced sanctions on Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil, who is the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun.

MTV said the sanctions were imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act, which targets those who are engaged in human rights abuses and corruption.

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Hariri Holds New Meeting with Aoun over Govt.

President Michel Aoun met Friday afternoon with PM-designate Saad Hariri and continued with him the discussions over the new government, the Presidency said.

The consultations were held “in a positive atmosphere,” the Presidency added.

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Geagea Says Hariri Using Same Old Approach in Formation Process

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea urged PM-designate Saad Hariri to push on with his efforts to form a “mission government," but said the PM-designate is unlikely to succeed because the same failed "previous approaches are adopted in the current formation process."

Geagea urged Hariri to insist on forming a non-partisan, mission government. But he voiced regret “because the upcoming government will definitely be formed based on shares.”

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Building Partially Collapses in Beirut's Ashrafieh

A deserted, blast-damaged building in Beirut neighborhood of Ashrafieh partially collapsed on Friday, two days after the total collapse of a building in the Medawar area, the National News Agency said.

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PSP Criticizes Assad’s Remarks on Lebanese Banks

The Progressive Socialist Party of ex-MP Walid Jumblat criticized Syrian President Bashar Assad on Friday, saying his remarks blaming the economic crisis in Syria on Lebanese Banks only confirm a “clear scheme to knock Lebanon’s banking sector.”

Assad's “statement yesterday that Lebanese banks are to blame for the economic crisis in Syria requires a decisive response to this rudeness and perseverance attempting to overwhelm Lebanon with the sinking Syrian regime,” the PSP statement said.

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Report: U.S. to Sanction ‘Strong’ Lebanese Ally of Hizbullah

The Trump administration is expected to impose sanctions on a top pro-Hizbullah Christian politician in Lebanon, in an attempt to diminish Hizbullah’s grip on power, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

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Daryan Inspects Dar al-Fatwa after Blaze

A blaze erupted Thursday on the first floor of the Beirut headquarters of Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon's highest Sunni Muslim religious authority.

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Wazni Says Deadline Extended to Submit Data for Forensic Audit

Caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni announced on Thursday a three-month extension of a deadline to provide all data required for a forensic audit of the Central Bank’s accounts, after the bank declined to submit all information needed, citing banking secrecy.

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