...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers..., Assad regime authorities said Thursday.
Lebanon, a country that hosts more than a million refugees from Syria's civil war, has been mired in economic crisis for the past three years, prompting a rise in clandestine attempts to leave for the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
"The number of people found dead has risen to 34," Syria's Health Ministry said in a statement, adding that 20 survivors were being treated in Basel hospital in Tartus.
Syrian authorities initially reported 15 dead, before revising that figure to 28 and, shortly afterward, revising up by a further six.
The country's SANA news agency and the Health Ministry reported that the migrant boat sank.
"According to survivors, their boat left Lebanon days ago," the head of Syrian ports Samer Kbrasli said in the initial statement released by the ministry of transport.