Here are the top stories for Lebanon today:
Lockheed Martin awarded $723 million Hellfire missile contract for France, Lebanon and the Netherlands
The contract provides for “a variety” of AGM-114 Hellfire II missile variants for the three U.S. allies, the Defense Department said on Thursday, April 25.
Ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn released on bail but barred from contacting his wife
Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn was released from a Japanese detention center Thursday after posting $4.5 million in bail. In a twist, the court also decided to restrict Ghosn’s contact with his wife, Carole Ghosn, targeting her as someone related to the latest allegations, according to his legal team. Ghosn was arrested in November, released on bail in early March, but re-arrested and detained again April 4 on new allegations. The latest bail comes on top of the 1 billion yen ($9 million) Ghosn posted for his earlier release. Japan’s practice of detaining criminal suspects for extended periods of time before trial has been described by observers as hostage justice .
Shebaa Farms are not Lebanese: Jumblatt
“In my opinion, Shebaa Farms are not Lebanese. After the liberation of the south in 2000, the maps of the south were changed by Syrian officers in partnership with Lebanese officers. Theoretically, we occupied Shebaa farms and Wadi al-Asal. The first geographical change came on paper in order to keep Syrian and non-Syrian pretexts calling for the liberation of Shebaa,” said Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblatt on Friday in an interview to Russia’s state-owned English-language channel RT. Syria claims that the Shebaa farms are Lebanese but refuses to demarcate its borders with Lebanon or provide any documents to the UN to prove that their Lebanese identity
US imposed new sanctions on 2 individuals and three entities linked to Hezbollah
U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) further targeted the global business operations of Hezbollah by designating two individuals and three entities acting as conduits for sanctions evasion schemes. Specifically, OFAC designated Belgium-based Wael Bazzi for acting for or on behalf of his father and Hezbollah financier, Mohammad Bazzi. OFAC designated Belgium-based Voltra Transcor Energy BVBA, Belgium-based OFFISCOOP NV, and United Kingdom-based BSQRD Limited for being owned or controlled by Wael Bazzi. OFAC is also adding Energy Engineers Procurement and Construction as an alias for Global Trading Group NV (GTG), one of Mohammad Bazzi’s companies, which was designated in May 2018. Additionally, OFAC designated Lebanon-based Hassan Tabaja for acting for or on behalf of his brother and Hezbollah member and financier, Adham Tabaja. These individuals and entities were designated under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism.
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