Tag: Lebanon

Congress Approves $380 Million for ‘Border Security’ Measures in Middle Eastern Countries

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Marjorie Taylor Greene

One provision of the $1.2 trillion spending package passed by Congress and signed into law by Joe Biden last month will see at least $380 million spent on securing the borders of several Middle Eastern countries, while the American border remains wide open.

According to Fox News, the appropriation of $380 million will be available until September 2025, and will fund “enhanced border security” measures in the countries of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, and Tunisia. Jordan will be receiving the most out of the five, at $150 million.

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Biden Admin Readies Plans to Evacuate Thousands of Americans from Israel and Lebanon

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The Biden administration is readying plans for mass evacuations of American citizens from Middle East hotspots amid fears of significant escalation of violence in the region, The Washington Post reported.

Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens could require rescue from Israel and Lebanon if the war between Israel and Gaza spills over into neighboring states, raising the prospect of the largest noncombat evacuation in recent memory, the Post reported, citing four U.S. officials familiar with the government’s contingency planning. Hezbollah in Lebanon and other Iran-backed militant groups throughout the Middle East have stepped up violence since the war’s onset and threatened to escalate further once Israel commences its planned ground operation in Gaza.

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U.S. Urges Americans to Flee Lebanon, Accuses Hamas of Blocking Americans from Leaving Gaza

Just the News

by John Solomon   The State Department on Sunday night urged U.S. citizens to depart from Lebanon because of an “unpredictable security situation” while accusing Hamas of blocking Americans from fleeing Gaza ahead of an expected Israeli offensive. “To date, at least, Hamas has blocked them (Americans) from leaving, showing once again its total disregard for civilians of any kind who are stuck in Gaza,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS News. Meanwhile, the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs posted an urgent alert Sunday night to X, formerly known as Twitter, to Americans in Lebanon. “U.S. citizens who wish to depart Lebanon should leave now, due to the unpredictable security situation,” the department tweeted. “There are still commercial flights available, but there is reduced capacity.” Lebanon: U.S. citizens who wish to depart Lebanon should leave now, due to the unpredictable security situation. There are still commercial flights available, but there is reduced capacity. Please check flight options at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport… pic.twitter.com/7tjvXHlXle — Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) October 22, 2023 The post gave readers resources, including flight options from Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport. “The Department of State urges U.S. citizens not to travel to Lebanon,” the U.S.…

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Massive Beirut Blast Kills More Than 60, Injures Thousands

The Associated Press

A massive explosion rocked Beirut on Tuesday, flattening much of the port, damaging buildings across the capital and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky. More than 60 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured, with bodies buried in the rubble, officials said.

Hours later, ambulances still carried away the wounded as army helicopters helped battle fires raging at the port.

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The Tennessee Star to Host Wilson County Town Hall February 17 to Discuss County’s Decision to Table Refugee Resettlement Resolution

Julie Carr

On Thursday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed former Wilson County GOP chair, Terri Nicholson on the newsmakers line to talk about the upcoming Wilson County town hall.

During the second hour, Leahy and Nicholson discussed plans for a Wilson County Town Hall which will take place at DT McCalls in Lebanon on February 17 at 6:30 p.m. Hosted by The Tennessee Star, this public town hall will give the Wilson County community an opportunity to openly and publicly discuss the resettlement of refugees in their community.

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Woman Reportedly Alleges Lebanon City Council Violated Tennessee Open Meetings Act

Chris Butler

  A Lebanon woman says Lebanon’s City Council violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act several times. This same woman, Lorrie Hicks, reportedly said the Lebanon City Council has barred her from entering a city council meeting. According to the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government’s website, Hicks wants city officials to get training on the law and reconsider their actions on a recent rezoning decision. “Lorrie Hicks, through her attorney Paul McAdoo, has sent a letter to the Mayor Bernie Ash of the Lebanon City Council, explaining the alleged violations. She told TCOG she has not yet heard back from the city, although the mayor was quoted in the local newspaper as saying he had turned over her letter to the city attorney,” according to the TCOG’s website. Reportedly, this is the result of emails Ward 3 Councilor Camille Burdine sent pertaining to rezoning requests in a residential neighborhood. “Hicks says the emails constituted deliberation with other council members about an issue to be voted upon, which would be prohibited under the open meetings law. Emails between members of governing body cannot be used to deliberate outside open meeting,” according to the TCOG. “The open meetings statute prohibits using electronic communication to ‘decide or deliberate…

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Illegal Alien in Lebanon to Serve 50 Years for Raping Child

Chris Butler

This week an illegal immigrant in Lebanon pleaded guilty in state court to two counts of rape of a child, according to the Lebanon Police Department. That man, Edwin Alfredo Velasquez- Curuchiche, 42, will serve 50 years for that crime. He will serve that concurrently with a 50-year federal sentence he received earlier this year for producing child pornography, Lebanon Police said on their Facebook page Tuesday. The child porn charge, police went on to say, is related to the rape charge he pled guilty to in state court. Lebanon Police said this case resulted from a joint investigation with the federal Department of Homeland Security. The case goes back to October 2015 when Lebanon Police said they responded to a call of a possible attempted kidnapping in the Weatherly Estates area. “Curuchiche had befriended a local family and used fraud to obtain a key to the victim’s home. The victims did not know he had made this key at that time,” Lebanon Police said. “The investigation further revealed the offender had snuck in to the home after everyone was asleep on two occasions, and his actions led to the charge of rape of a child (six-year-old female), who lived…

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