Lebanon: Diab Sues American University of Beirut over Exit Package

Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab speaks during a televised address to the the nation at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon March 7, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab speaks during a televised address to the the nation at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon March 7, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
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Lebanon: Diab Sues American University of Beirut over Exit Package

Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab speaks during a televised address to the the nation at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon March 7, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab speaks during a televised address to the the nation at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon March 7, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab is suing the American University of Beirut (AUB), where he worked for 35 years as an academic in a dispute over his exit package, his spokesman said.

Diab presented his-long planned resignation in January - the month he became prime minister.

"... He asked for an exit package in line with common practices and precedents at AUB. This request was denied ...," the spokesman said.

AUB, which has been hit hard by Lebanon's economic meltdown, declined to comment on the case, Reuters reported.

Diab had "never made any special request for any payments to be made either in foreign currency or into foreign bank accounts. All AUB professors have their pensions paid in US dollars, from a AUB foreign account", the spokesman noted.

"What the PM expressed was only what was already stated in the AUB retirement plan regulations and policies."

President of private AUB, which was founded in the 1860s, told Reuters in May that Lebanon's catastrophic collapse represented one of the biggest challenges in the history of a university which has weathered many crises, including Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

Lebanon is grappling with a crisis caused by decades of state corruption and bad governance. A hard currency liquidity crunch has led to an 80% weakening of the local currency since October.



Israel Carries Out Intense Airstrikes in Southern Lebanon, 1 Dead

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes near Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon on June 27, 2025. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes near Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon on June 27, 2025. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
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Israel Carries Out Intense Airstrikes in Southern Lebanon, 1 Dead

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes near Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon on June 27, 2025. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes near Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon on June 27, 2025. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

Israel’s air force carried out intense airstrikes on mountains overlooking a southern Lebanon city on Friday in an attack that the Israeli military said targeted Hezbollah underground assets.

The airstrikes came in two waves on the mountains overlooking Nabatiyeh and bunker buster bombs were used, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. There was no immediate information about casualties.

Since the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes on southern Lebanon. Friday’s strikes were more intense than usual.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its fighter jets struck a site used by Hezbollah to manage its fire and defense array in the area and is part of a significant underground project that was completely taken out of use.

The Israeli army said it identified rehabilitation attempts by Hezbollah beforehand and struck infrastructure sites in the area.

There was no comment from Hezbollah.

An Israeli drone also targeted on Friday an apartment in a two-story building in Nabatiyeh.

Lebanon's health ministry said a woman was killed and 11 other people were wounded in the strike.

"The Israeli enemy strike on an apartment in Nabatiyeh led to a preliminary toll of one woman killed and 11 people wounded," the ministry said in a statement carried by the official National News Agency.