BEIRUT: Two attempted bank holdups and a sit-in protest on Wednesday highlighted the growing desperation of Lebanese people grappling with the country’s worsening economic crisis.
Bank raids by depositors demanding their money have been relatively infrequent during the past two months, but a string of incidents in recent days has again raised fears of growing unrest.

NEW YORK: The UN special envoy for Yemen on Tuesday told Arab News that any attempt to settle the country’s conflict through violence is “unhelpful,” and that a long-term settlement can only be achieved through direct negotiations.

Hans Grundberg was commenting on the Houthi militia’s several drone attacks in the past two months that targeted Yemeni government ports, including one that hit a Greek oil tanker near Al-Dubba oil terminal in Hadramawt governorate.

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s vital oil terminal in the southern province of Hadramout, which was targeted by Houthi drone attacks, will shut down for some time to repair damaged infrastructure and to strengthen the port’s air defenses, the governor of Hadramout said on Tuesday.

Gov. Mabkhout bin Madhi told Arab News that the Houthis fired a barrage of drones on Monday at Al-Dhabbah oil terminal on the Arabian Sea as an oil tanker was loading fuel, inflicting damage to one of the port’s single-point moorings.

LONDON: The head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Military Intelligence Directorate has claimed Iran could attack the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar in which its national team is currently participating.

Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva said the regime in Tehran was “considering” the move in a bid to destabilize the region and distract from its domestic unrest following widespread protests against the government that have left hundreds dead and as many as 14,000 people in jail.

DUBAI: Investigators have concluded that an Iranian drone was used to bomb an oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire last week, the US Navy said on Tuesday.
The drone attack on the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Pacific Zircon last Tuesday off the coast of Oman appears to be part of the long-running shadow war between Israel and its archenemy Iran that has included the targeting of Israeli-linked ships in strategic Mideast waterways.