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Protester Dies of Wounds after Tripoli Clashes

A man, Fawaz el-Samman, who was wounded during fierce confrontations in Tripoli a day earlier succumbed to his wounds on Tuesday, media reports said.

Cautious calm prevailed in the city amid heavy deployment of army troops and security forces, said the National News Agency.

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Protests Hinder Virus Testing by Health Teams, Ministry Says

Scattered anti-government protests broke out in several parts of Lebanon on Monday amid a crash in the local currency and a surge in food prices, leading to road closures that prevented medical teams from setting out from Beirut to conduct coronavirus tests across the country.

The Health Ministry said its teams would try again on Tuesday, urging protesters to let the paramedics work to evaluate the spread of the virus in the tiny country of 5 million people.

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Lebanon among Mideast Economies Hit with Oil Price Crash

Iraq is planning painful cuts in social benefits relied on by millions of government workers. Saudi Arabia will likely have to delay mega-projects. Egypt and Lebanon face a blow as their workers in the Gulf send back less of the much-needed dollars that help keep their fragile economies afloat.

The historic crash in oil prices in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic is reverberating across the Middle East as crude-dependent countries scramble to offset losses from a key source of state revenue — and all this at a time when several of them already face explosive social unrest.

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Israeli Strike on Syria Kills 4 Iran-Backed Gunmen, 3 Civilians

Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon fired missiles toward areas near Damascus early Monday, killing three civilians, the Syrian military and state media said while a war monitoring group said four Iran-backed fighters were also killed.

The military said Syrian air defenses shot down some of the missiles in the attack, which happened around dawn. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that tracks the Syrian civil war, said the missiles hit positions belonging to Iran and its regional proxies, killing four fighters and causing damage south of Damascus. It did not give the nationalities of the dead gunmen only saying that they were not Syrians nor members of Lebanon's Hizbullah.

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Satellite Imagery Finds Likely Kim Train amid Health Rumors

A train likely belonging to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been parked at his compound on the country's east coast since last week, satellite imagery showed, amid speculation about his health that has been caused, in part, by a long period out of the public eye.

The satellite photos released by 38 North, a website specializing in North Korea studies, don't say anything about Kim's potential health problems, and they echo South Korean government intelligence that Kim is staying outside of the capital, Pyongyang. Seoul has also repeatedly indicated that there have been no unusual signs that could indicate health problems for Kim.

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Grenade Hurled at Bank Branch in Sidon

A hand grenade was hurled Saturday evening at a bank branch in the southern city of Sidon, the National News Agency said.

"Unknown individuals threw a hand grenade at Fransabank's branch on the city's Riad al-Solh Street, which smashed its glass facade and false ceiling," NNA said.

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Diab Slams Salameh's 'Suspicious' Performance, Vows State to 'Strike Firmly'

Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Friday launched a scathing attack on Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and said there is “suspicious ambiguity” in his handling of the monetary situation.

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Authorities Tighten Security around Refugee Camp over Virus

Authorities closed all entrances to a Palestinian refugee camp in eastern Lebanon on Friday after four more people tested positive for the coronavirus, heightening concerns the virus could further spread among its overcrowded population.

The four infected with the virus are relatives of a woman who tested positive earlier this week and are isolating inside their home, according to a statement from the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. It said they were so far not in need of hospitalization

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Protesters Block Highways, Roads as Lira Continues Downward Spiral

Anti-government protesters on Thursday blocked the vital Dbaye and Jiye highways and the road outside the central bank in Hamra and started gathering in Tripoli's al-Nour Square, as Lebanon's currency continued its downward spiral against the dollar and reached a new low.

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First Virus Case in Lebanon Palestinian Refugee Camp

A Palestinian woman from Syria has become the first refugee living in a camp in Lebanon to test positive for the coronavirus, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Wednesday. It triggered a spate of testing to determine whether other residents have been infected and the camp has been placed on lockdown.

The agency, UNRWA, said the woman resided in the only Palestinian camp in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa region. It said all necessary measures had been taken and the patient was transferred to the government-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut.

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