BEIRUT: Lebanon Prime Minister Najib Mikati has condemned a military exercise by Hezbollah that used live ammunition, warning against any action that “undermines the authority and sovereignty of the state.”

His remarks came in response to a question from US Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka regarding the Hezbollah maneuver, which was held on Sunday in southern Lebanon.

The exercise included demonstrations of heavy weapons, missiles and drones.

TEHRAN: Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday appointed a Revolutionary Guards general as the new secretary of the country’s top security body, replacing longtime chief and leading Gulf mediator Ali Shamkhani.
“Ali Akbar Ahmadian was appointed as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council by the decree of the president,” the official presidential website reported.

CAIRO: Egypt and Oman have underlined the need to intensify diplomatic efforts to resolve regional crises in the interests of Arab countries and their peoples.

The call came during talks between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al-Said of Oman in Cairo.

The pair exchanged the highest decorations of their respective countries in celebration of Sultan Haitham’s visit to Egypt.

AMMAN: Jordan’s Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya met on Saturday with his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Amir Al-Shammari to discuss ways to boost security cooperation, Jordan News Agency reported on Sunday.

The ministers discussed ways to facilitate the movement of people, vehicles and goods between the two countries, as well as exchanging security and administrative expertise.

Al-Faraya will meet with several senior Iraqi officials during his stay in Baghdad.

 

 
 

CAIRO: The Egyptian Red Crescent has begun transporting 27 tons of relief supplies to Sudan, in cooperation with the EU and the UN Development Programme.

The Red Crescent held a press conference alongside Egypt’s minister of social solidarity, Nivine El-Kabbag, the head of the EU delegation to Egypt, Christian Berger, and the UNDP resident representative in Egypt, Alessandro Fracassetti, to announce the relief supplies provided by the UNDP and funded by the EU.