Italy funds projects to support Christian villages in southern Lebanon 

Italy is allocating additional funding to projects supporting Christian villages in southern Lebanon, aiming to help residents remain in their villages amid the effects of war and the difficulties of sustaining daily life there.

The announcement followed a meeting in New York between Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi and his Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani. Raggi requested Italian support to help residents return and to sustain villages whose inhabitants stayed despite the war.

Tajani said Italy had previously funded projects in these villages and that the new support would build on those efforts to keep them inhabited and reduce the departure of residents.