Special Tribunal for Lebanon

Two men who were suspected of robbing a bank in Lebanon have been detained in Istanbul after Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri called his Turkish counterpart to ask for help, Turkish newspaper Akşam reported on June 1.

Lebanon’s prime minister Saad Hariri, back in Beirut for the first time since his shock resignation, was expected Nov. 22 to explain his surprise decision and his extended stay in Saudi Arabia.

News over the past week has featured the case in which 74 soldiers, 14 of them under arrest, are on trial for invading the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) Istanbul office on the night of the attempted coup on July 15, 2016. In its fifth hearing, the court decided to release 10 more suspects. 

Lebanon's president asked Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri to form a new government on Nov. 3, after he won the support of a majority of MPs including the influential parliament speaker who said he would cooperate with efforts to set up the new cabinet. 

Several Lebanese leaders on April 13 warned that the lessons of the country?s civil war should not be forgotten, 40 years after the 15-year conflict began.

April 13 marks the 40th anniversary of the 1975 conflict, in which 150,000 people were killed before a peace deal was reached in 1990.