The Spanish government says it will exhume and relocate the remains of late military dictator Gen. Francisco Franco on Thursday.

In a statement Monday, the government said the remains would be taken from the grandiose mausoleum at the Valley of the Fallen complex outside Madrid and taken to a discreet grave close to the capital by helicopter.

Arab Gulf nations are encouraging their citizens to leave Lebanon amid violent nationwide protests over the country's worsening economic crisis.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency says Saudi Arabian nationals have been warned against travelling to Lebanon and those already there are being asked to take utmost caution. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain went a step further, calling on their citizens to leave amid the unrest.

President Michel Aoun received Friday evening a delegation representing protesters and told them that he will do all he can to "ease your suffering,” media reports said on Saturday.

Army troops and riot policemen used excessive force Friday evening to disperse anti-government protesters, making a large number of arrests.

Violent clashes and riots had broken out in downtown Beirut following a speech by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who gave political parties a 72-hour ultimatum to support his reform agenda or face a possible resignation.

Hundreds of protesters blocked major highways in Lebanon Friday, after thousands angry at proposed tax increases thronged the streets overnight demanding the government's resignation in the largest demonstrations in years.

Public anger has simmered since parliament passed an austerity budget in July to help trim a ballooning deficit and flared on Thursday over plans to tax calls on messaging applications such as WhatsApp, prompting the government to withdraw the deeply unpopular proposal.

Security forces fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in Beirut early Friday after they tried to push through security barriers around the government headquarters amid some of the largest demonstrations the country has seen in years. The riots left two people dead and dozens wounded.

It rises out of what were once rolling sand dunes stretching toward the horizon, a feverish construction site by tempo and temperature that has tens of thousands of workers building what looks like a new city in the desert of Dubai.

This is the site of Expo 2020, a world's fair that will be hosted by a city-state that is already home to the world's tallest building, the busiest airport for international travel, an indoor ski slope and other modern marvels.

Wildfires that spread across vast areas of Lebanon started to subside Tuesday evening with the fall of rain, amid strenuous efforts by the Civil Defense and firefighters and volunteers from across the country.

By 7:00 pm, blazes were still raging in Chouf's al-Dibbiyeh and Dmit and Aley's Kfarmatta as rain contributed to containing the flames in ِAley's Baawarta and south Lebanon.

Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab said Tuesday that Lebanon and Cyprus have agreed to work together on curbing boat loads of migrants from reaching the east Mediterranean island nation.

Bou Saab said after talks with his Cypriot counterpart that Lebanon would pass on information to Cypriot authorities to better coordinate in heading off such arrivals.

From a humble start of leaving the world of finance to write a beauty blog, Huda Kattan now has become one of the most recognizable names in makeup around the world.

The 36-year-old Iraqi-American now runs her eponymous empire Huda Beauty, a makeup line valued at $1.2 billion that has fast become a favorite among A-list celebrities and artists around the world.