BEIRUT: In recent weeks in Lebanon there has been a series of violent assaults and other crimes committed by Lebanese people against Syrian refugees and vice versa.

The attacks have resulted in an increase in discriminatory rhetoric targeting Syrian refugees in Lebanon, while popular support for their repatriation to Syria has also gained momentum as the situation in Syria is widely perceived to have improved sufficiently to allow the refugees to return home.

BEIRUT: Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri said on Saturday he would not call for a session to elect a new president until the legislature passes reforms that are preconditions for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.
An IMF deal is seen as the only way for Lebanon to recover from a financial meltdown that has plunged the country into its most destabilising crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.

Iran’s intelligence ministry said on Saturday that it had arrested a Swedish citizen on espionage charges, the official IRNA news agency reported, without naming the detained person.
“The intelligence ministry announced that a citizen of the Kingdom of Sweden was arrested on espionage charges,” IRNA quoted a ministry statement a saying. It did not say when the arrest was made.
Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said it was aware of the case.

BAGHDAD: At least 60 protesters were injured in the Green Zone in central Baghdad after clashing with security forces on Saturday, the Iraqi Ministry of Health said in a statement. 

Security forces used tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets to try to disperse thousands of protesters who broke into the parliament building for the second time this week, according to local media reports. 

TUNIS: Tunisian voters have approved a referendum on a new constitution that gives more powers to the country’s president. It’s a step that brings hope to many in the struggling North African nation.
Some people interviewed by The Associated Press this week celebrated the result of Monday’s referendum and expressed support for President Kais Saied, who spearheaded the project and proposed the text himself.
Others said they worry about what the changes could mean for the future of democracy in the country.