The United States levied sanctions Friday against six individuals and seven business with links to alleged Hizbullah financier Adham Tabaja, the White House said.

Over the strong objections of his own Justice Department, President Donald Trump will clear the way for the publication of a classified memo on the Russia investigation that Republicans say shows improper use of surveillance by the FBI, White House officials said.

The memo, prepared by Republicans on the House intelligence committee, is said to allege FBI misconduct in the initial stages of its investigation of potential ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign. Trump's Justice Department and Democrats furiously lobbied Trump to stop the release, saying it could harm national security and mislead the public.

Desperate to escape Syria's terrors, Ammar Maarawi bolted. In early 2016, he paid smugglers and endured a dangerous sea crossing to Greece and an exhausting journey by train, bus and foot through Europe.

Two years later, the 36-year-old is back home in Aleppo. He returned last summer — depressed, homesick and dreading another winter, he couldn't bear life in the German city of Suhl.

Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil vowed that Beirut will go ahead with oil and gas exploration near its maritime border despite Israeli claims to the field that provoked wide condemnation in the tiny Arab country.

A U.S. police officer has testified that an Oklahoma man charged with a hate crime in the killing of his Lebanese neighbor said the slain man didn't like him because he is gay.

Testimony resumed Wednesday in the first-degree murder trial of 63-year-old Stanley Majors for the 2016 shooting death of 37-year-old Khalid Jabara.

Israel's defense minister warned Wednesday that should war erupt again with Hizbullah, Lebanon will "pay the full price" for Iran's entrenchment.

Accusing Hizbullah of sacrificing Lebanon's national interests by "subjugating fully to Iran," Avidgor Lieberman warned that, as a result, all of Lebanon will be fair game in a future war.

In light of the latest political tension between Speaker Nabih Berri and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil over the latter's comments about the Speaker, Prime Minister Saad Hariri has postponed this week's government meeting until the atmospheres “calm down” between the two, media reports said on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to keep open the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, marking a formal reversal of his predecessor's eight-year effort to shut it down.

Trump made it clear during his campaign that he wanted Guantanamo to remain open and to "load it up with some bad dudes," but he has not yet sent a new detainee to the facility.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier concluded a three-day official visit to Lebanon on Wednesday at the invitation of President Michel Aoun, the National News Agency reported.

Steinmeier had met Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Muslim and Christian spiritual leaders during his visit.

Testimony began Monday in the trial of an Oklahoma man charged with first-degree murder and a hate crime in the slaying of his Lebanese neighbor.

Stanley Vernon Majors, 63, is accused in the August 2016 killing of 37-year-old Khalid Jabara. In opening statements to Majors' 12-member jury, prosecutors alleged Majors acted out of jealousy amplified by racist views.