Being a sea turtle is difficult; sharks, fishermen and a dwindling habitat have all taken their toll. Using the beaches of war-ravaged Lebanon as a nesting site has not made life any easier. So it must have felt like the final straw when the foxes turned up.

Driven from the coastal hills by the 34-day bombardment last summer, the red foxes took refuge on the last wild beach in the country. There they discovered a tasty treat in the form of the eggs of the rare green and loggerhead turtles, midway through their five-month nesting season.

This year, the turtles have returned, but so too have the foxes. “The foxes are destroying nests,” said Mona Khalil, a conservationist who has become the reptiles’ champion.

Lebanon’s woes had already led to many ups and downs for the turtles. The Israeli gun boats that patrolled offshore during the

25-year occupation of southern Lebanon kept locals off the beach at night when the turtles come ashore to nest each summer between May and October.

More at the Telegraph

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - A majority of families from a besieged Palestinian refugee camp caught in the crossfire between Islamic militants and the Lebanese army have fled but thousands remain trapped inside, a U.N. official said Sunday.

The Nahr al-Bared camp, located near the outskirts of this northern Lebanon port city, was calm Sunday after sporadic gunfire overnight between the army and Fatah Islam militants inside punctured a four-day-old truce.

Hoda al-Turk, a spokeswoman for U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, known as UNRWA, said more 5,000 refugee families - or about 25,000 refugees - have left the camp since the fighting began one week ago. The camp is home to about 31,000 people.

A majority of the families have fled to the nearby Beddawi refugee camp, while others are staying in Tripoli and other villages, she said.

In a videotape obtained Saturday by AP Television News in Tripoli, the head of the Fatah Islam, Shaker Youssef al-Absi, said his fighters would not surrender but would kill those who storm the camp.

“We wish to die for the sake of God … Sunni people are the spearhead against the Zionist Americans,” said the bearded leader, who is suspected of having ties to al-Qaida. He was shown seated before a black banner, as another militant holding a machine gun stood next to him. The tape also showed militants training in an unidentified camp.

More at Yahoo News