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Geagea Returns from Saudi after Talks with Hariri, Top Officials

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea returned to Beirut on Wednesday evening after a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia.

Geagea's visit involved meetings with the kingdom's top officials, according to his press office.

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Mashnouq Says Did Not Hint at Hizbullah Link to al-Hassan Assassination

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq noted Wednesday that he did not hint in his latest speech at a Hizbullah link to the 2012 assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau chief Wissam al-Hassan.

“Had I meant Hizbullah, I would have named it … We won't announce anything before the completion of the investigation in a full manner based on evidence that is not subject to doubt,” Mashnouq said in an interview on al-Jadeed TV.

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Cypriot Training Plane Disappears En Route to Beirut

A training plane carrying a Lebanese pilot and a Cypriot citizen disappeared from the radar on Wednesday while en route from Cyprus to Beirut, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

The agency identified the pilot of the “Cypriot single-engine Cessna” as George Obagi.

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Judicial Probe Begins in Celine Rakan's Case

The judiciary started its investigations on Wednesday into the mysterious death of the toddler girl Celine Rakan, after the case sparked a huge controversy in the country and spawned dozens of sensational media reports.

“Beirut First Examining Magistrate Ghassan Oueidat has started his investigations in the case of the child Celine Rakan by interrogating the detained Ethiopian maid in the presence of representatives from the embassy” of her country, state-run National News Agency reported.

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Security Forces Confiscate Hashish, 500 Pills of Benzhexol in al-Qobbeh Prison

Internal Security Forces thwarted on Wednesday an attempt to smuggle hundreds of Benzhexol pills and an amount of hashish hidden in shoes into al-Qobbeh prison in Tripoli.

The ISF stated that during an inspection process of the prisoner's belongings, its forces in al-Qobbeh prison “discovered 500 pills of Benzhexol and two grams of hashish hidden in shoes.”

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March 14 Urges Govt. to Join International Coalition against IS

The March 14 General Secretariat called Wednesday on the government to take the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the Syrian conflict to Lebanon.

To that end, it urged the government to “clearly join the international coalition against the Islamic State group.”

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Abou Faour Announces Further Measures against Ebola

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour said Wednesday that flights arriving from countries where there is an Ebola outbreak would land in one terminal as he announced further measures to stop the virus from reaching Lebanon.

Following talks with the management of Rafik Hariri International Airport along with Public Works and Transport Minister Ghazi Zoaiter, Abou Faour said a specialized room has been established at the airport apron to isolate any suspected case.

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Israeli Soldiers Perform Combing Operation Near Wazzani

An Israeli military unit combed on Wednesday the area at the eastern bank of Wazzani River, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said the 40-member patrol was protected by three Merkava tanks.

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Families of Captive Servicemen Carry Out Threats, Block Qalamoun Highway

The families of abducted soldiers and policemen blocked on Wednesday the al-Qalamoun highway in the North in protest against the cabinet's failure to end the captivity of their sons, two days after they warned of a “Day of Anger.”

The relatives blocked the two lanes of the highway with sand, iron barricades and cement blocks.

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Soldiers Attacked in Tripoli, No Casualties

Unknown assailants tossed a grenade near an army checkpoint in the northern city of Tripoli, without causing casualties, the state-run National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The attack in the early hours of Wednesday took place in the area of al-Mankoubine in Beddawi, it said.

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