Xi to meet with visiting Malaysian PM

Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday afternoon.

At the invitation of the Chinese side, Anwar is paying a working visit to China from Monday to Thursday.

Anwar arrived in Shanghai on Monday, his first stop in China, where he attended the 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE). Malaysia was designated as the "Country of Honor" at this year's event. Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Anwar in Shanghai on Tuesday.

The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since the beginning of the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in last October had reached 3,050, with injuries rising to 13,658, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

At least 57 people were killed and more than 50 injured on Wednesday in Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon, according to the National News Agency (NNA) and local media reports.

Al-Jadeed TV reported that over 55 people died and more than 50 were wounded in a series of 33 Israeli airstrikes targeting towns and villages in the Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel regions in eastern Lebanon.

Governor of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate Bachir Khodr said on Wednesday the region had been subjected to 40 Israeli attacks on the day, resulting in 38 deaths and 54 injuries. Cleanup efforts of debris at multiple locations are still ongoing.

The strikes targete residential neighborhoods in Baalbek and the historic "Al-Manshiya" building, which was completely destroyed, according to Baalbek Mayor Mustafa al-Shal.

Baalbek was a significant religious center in the Roman Empire and is renowned for its temples dedicated to Jupiter and Bacchus, both listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites, along with several distinctive megaliths. The United Nations has expressed concern about the damage that Israeli airstrikes have inflicted on its valuable historic architecture.

In southern Lebanon, a separate airstrike killed one person in Ibl al-Saqi, while another civilian died in Bazourieh when a residential apartment was hit, the NNA said. Israeli forces also struck villages in Harouf, Beit Yahoun, Ansariyeh, Aadloun, Zrarieh, and Kunin in southern Lebanon.

In response, Hezbollah claimed to have launched attacks on Israel's Stella Maris naval base near Haifa, using precision missiles and assault drones. It also reported the attacks targeted Kiryat Shmona and Israeli forces at the Al-Marj site in Wadi Hunayn, close to Lebanon's Markaba and Maroun al-Ras villages.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a report on the same day, revealing that as of Nov. 4, nearly 873,000 people had been left homeless in Lebanon due to Israeli attacks, and over half of them are women. Moreover, there have been 78 attacks on medical facilities within Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 130 health care workers and injuries to 111 others.

Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has been launching a barrage of air attacks on Lebanon in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah. In early October, Israel initiated a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon.

The ongoing clashes between Israel and Hezbollah began on Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, prompting retaliatory fire and airstrikes by Israel in southeastern Lebanon.