BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities on Friday announced the arrest at Beirut Airport of “a spy cell working for the Israeli enemy.”

The cell comprised two individuals attempting to leave Lebanon, said Brig. Gen. Elias Al-Baysari, acting director general of General Security.

He added: “These individuals have connections with the enemy and were tasked with missions inside the country.

“We have interrogated and handed them over to the competent military judiciary, and we will reveal the danger of this network in subsequent statements.”

BEIRUT: A three-year probe against Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister and his family over corruption allegations has been closed by Monaco’s judicial authorities for lack of evidence, the premier’s office said Friday.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s office said that Morgan Raymond, the deputy public prosecutor in Monaco, told the Lebanese premier’s legal team that they have closed the investigation into the case that was raised by unspecified Lebanese plaintiffs on allegations of illicit enrichment and money laundering.

ALGIERS: Algeria said it sent a high-ranking official to Niger on Thursday as part of its diplomatic push in the aftermath of a military coup in the neighboring country.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry’s secretary-general, Lounes Magramane, “will be visiting” Niger, the ministry said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

It comes a day after Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf began a tour of West African countries in a bid to find a solution in Niger, where Algiers opposes any military intervention following the coup.

BEIRUT: A Jordanian globetrotter, who in July embarked on a cycling trip to spread a message of love among Arab Gulf states and promote tourism, has reached Qatar after traveling from Saudi Arabia.
Cyclist Issa Al-Qazaqza told Arab News on Thursday: “This personally initiated cycling trip is to spread love and peace amongst Arab brothers in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and promote Jordanian hospitality and tourism.
“I entered Saudi Arabia on July 18, and visited Tabuk and Madinah.”

ANKARA: Turkiye’s central bank raised its key interest rate by an aggressive 7.5 percentage points on Thursday, a larger-than-expected hike that further signaled a return to more traditional economic policies under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The bank increased its policy rate to 25 percent as it continued to backtrack from the previous rate-cutting course set by Erdogan, which is blamed for fueling a cost-of-living crisis that left many households struggling to afford rent and basic goods as inflation surged.