Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has rejected reports he had direct contact with an Israeli official on the sidelines of the UN climate conference Cop27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Lebanon does not recognise Israel and the two countries technically remain in a state of war with each other.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese political party and armed group, has frequently fought with its arch foe Israel.
Israeli media had claimed that representatives from several countries, including Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Israel, had agreed to co-operate on climate change action at a closed-door meeting for regional countries.
Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg's office said an agreement by parties to the meeting would help “strengthen regional co-operation” and “act in a co-ordinated way” on global warming.
“The countries of the region share the warming and drying climate and just as they share the problems they can and must share the solutions. No country can stand alone in the face of the climate crisis,” Ms Zandberg said.
A picture posted online shows Ms Zandberg in the foreground around a large table sat next to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with Egyptian President Abdel Fateh El Sisi to the left and Mr Mikati in the background.
Mr Mikati's office accused Israeli media of overblowing the regional forum and creating “uproar”.
“To be clear, the expanded meeting took place at the invitation of the presidents of Egypt and Cyprus and with their presence and with wide international and Arab participation, as was the case with other activities of the [Cop27]. It did not involve any contact with any Israeli official,” his office said.
Lebanon and Israel recently signed a landmark maritime deal following indirect US shuttle mediation that would demarcate their sea borders and allow gas exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean for both countries.
But Lebanese officials have repeatedly emphasised that the deal in no way represents any sort of working partnership.
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
Monster Hunter: World
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
