Six makeshift bombs exploded in a mixed Sunni-Shiite area of west Beirut overnight, causing damage but no casualties, a security official said yesterday.
The blasts occurred in Corniche al-Mazraa, an area that was the scene of violent sectarian clashes in May, during fierce fighting between political rivals that killed 65 people and sent Lebanon to the brink of civil war.
Windows in shops and cars were shattered in the majority Sunni Muslim area, but no injuries were reported.
Two similar bombs were defused by the Lebanese army near a church in the village of Lassa, north of Beirut, the security official said.
Security concerns are running high in Lebanon ahead of national reconciliation talks between rival political leaders scheduled for today, following the killing of a pro-Syrian politician in a car bombing last Wednesday.
The national dialogue, being chaired by Lebanese President Michel Sleiman, is expected to focus on the divisive issue of weapons held by the powerful Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah.
Controversy over Hezbollah’s arsenal intensified after its fighters captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid in July 2006, sparking a deadly 34-day war that devastated Lebanon.
When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination. Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei Province late last month. When reviewing the photographs, he saw something he had not noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge. “It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
Chinese authorities said they began live-fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin on Monday, only days after Vietnam announced a new line marking what it considers its territory in the body of water between the nations. The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration said the exercises would be focused on the Beibu Gulf area, closer to the Chinese side of the Gulf of Tonkin, and would run until tomorrow evening. It gave no further details, but the drills follow an announcement last week by Vietnam establishing a baseline used to calculate the width of its territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. State-run Vietnam News
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
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