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Lebanese Student Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse of Child Bride in Australia

A 27-year-old Lebanese student accused of marrying and having a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old girl in Australia has pleaded guilty to the crime, Australian dailies reported Thursday.

The man, who was not named, was visiting Australia on a student visa when he married the girl during an Islamic ceremony in the Hunter Valley in the state of New South Wales in January, they aid.

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Downtown Beirut Protest Frowned on as Qatari Mediator Says Problem Lies with IS

The transfer of the protest by the families of the so-called Arsal hostages from Dahr al-Baidar to downtown Beirut was deeply frowned on by the Lebanese authorities with one cabinet minister describing their move as “unacceptable.”

The minister, who was not identified, told As Safir daily in remarks published on Thursday that the protest of the relatives of the soldiers and policemen taken captive by jihadists in August is legal as long as they are not harming anyone.

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Cabinet to Meet with Crowded Agenda

The cabinet will meet on Thursday afternoon to discuss the tenuous security situation in eastern and southern Lebanon with 50 articles on its agenda.

Ministers will discuss the political impasse in Lebanon, in addition to the security chaos, the fate of the abducted Lebanese soldiers and policemen, and the Syrian refugee crisis.

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U.N. Secretary-General 'Concerned' over Situation along Border with Syria

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, expressed grave concern over the activities of al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the mountainous areas surrounding the northeastern border town of Arsal.

The U.N. official warned of the tremendous impact of such acts on Lebanon's stability and security, in particular, Hizbullah's and other Lebanese groups involvement in the battles ongoing in the neighboring country Syria.

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Tensions High in Ain el-Hilweh after Fatah Member Assassinated

Masked gunmen shot dead a Fatah Movement member on Wednesday evening in the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, in an incident that also left three other people wounded.

State-run National News Agency said Fatah member Walid Yassine “was seriously wounded when gunmen opened fire at his bird shop in the Ain el-Hilweh camp.”

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Hizbullah Takes Umm Khorj Post as 3 Members Killed, 1 'Captured' in Qalamun

Hizbullah on Wednesday seized control of the so-called Umm Khorj post, from which militants launched their Sunday attack on the party's Ain Saa post in Brital's outskirts, amid reports that a Hizbullah fighter was “captured” in the Bqal al-Assal area in Syria's Qalamun.

In remarks to al-Jadeed TV, a Hizbullah source confirmed that his group had taken Umm Khorj, noting that “it was the launchpad for al-Nusra (Front's) gunmen on Sunday and it strategically overlooks Assal al-Ward's mountains.”

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Syrian Buying Arms Destined for Syria Held in Hasbaya

The Internal Security Forces on Wednesday arrested a Syrian man who had been purchasing weapons in Lebanon with the aim of smuggling them into Syria, which he intended to enter via Shebaa's mountains.

“A patrol from the Marjeyoun bureau apprehended the Syrian A. Kh. on charges of conducting suspicious activities in the Hasbaya region,” state-run National News Agency reported.

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Mustaqbal: Hizbullah Pullout from Syria Best Barter to Free Captive Troops

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Wednesday noted that “the most important barter that might occur to secure the release of the captive troops would be Hizbullah's pullout from Syria,” while stressing that “the responsibility for defending Lebanon falls exclusively on the state's shoulders.”

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc also condemned “the recurrent Israeli violations and attacks against southern Lebanon,” describing them as “a blatant violation of the U.N. Security Council Resolution (1701) and Lebanese sovereignty.”

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'Over Our Dead Bodies', Tenants Say about New Rent Law

Tenants of old rent law buildings on Wednesday renewed their rejection of the new rent law that has been recently passed by parliament, vowing that they will stay in their homes and demanding amendments to what they described as the “black law.”

“This black law will not pass except over our dead bodies. This is a displacement law,” tenants' spokesman Castro Abdullah said at a sit-in in Hamra Street in Beirut, which was briefly blocked by the protesters.

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Under Pressure on Two Fronts, Hizbullah in Show of Force

With its recent attack on Israeli troops, Hizbullah may be trying to prove it can fight on two fronts at once -- against both its traditional enemy and Syrian rebels.

But experts say there is little risk of that escalating into a full-blown conflict with Israel.

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