BEIRUT: A massive silo holding thousands of tons of grain at Beirut port is at risk of collapse because of a fire that has been smoldering for weeks amid Lebanon’s summer heat.

Flames and thick black smoke could be seen rising from the silo after the blaze flared up on Friday.

The fire prompted a warning by Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati to “workers and members of the civil defense and the fire brigade not to approach the location for their safety and to avoid endangering their lives.”

JERUSALEM: Israeli police said Friday they placed a couple under house arrest, a day after a man attending a party at their villa died after being sucked into a sinkhole that formed at the bottom of their swimming pool.
The man and woman, both in their sixties, are suspected of causing death by negligence, police said. They were arrested on Thursday night and a court decided to release them Friday under “restrictive conditions of house arrest” for five days.

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military censors have lifted a ban on reporting the country’s use of armed drones, an official said, ending an open secret by admitting that the armed forces have unmanned attack aircraft and have used them.

Palestinians have accused Israel of using armed drones in targeted killings in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, something never confirmed by Israel, which had previously barred all publication of news on the issue.

CAIRO: Russia’s top diplomat will address the Arab League at its Cairo headquarters Sunday, the organization said, days after Russia took part in a summit hosted by Iran.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia will meet Arab League head Ahmed Aboul Gheit and representatives of the 22 nations that make up the pan-Arab bloc, it said on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi hosted a summit that was attended by his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

CAIRO: The Arabic translation of the sixth Global Environment Outlook was launched on Thursday by the Arab League, in cooperation with the UN Environment Program and the Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe, the Qatar News Agency reported.