Politics
Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun has promised to rebuild what the Israeli occupation has destroyed, in a speech before parliament after taking his oath of office. The Lebanese state will be able to remove Israeli occupation and the effects of its aggression, Aoun said, after hurdling the second round
Politics
Lebanon’s parliament was set Thursday to make yet another effort to elect a president, filling a vacuum that’s lasted for more than two years. While 12 previous attempts have failed to choose a successor to former President Michel Aoun, whose term ended in October 2022, there are indications
Politics
Lebanon’s parliament will try to elect a president on Thursday, with officials seeing better chances of success in a political landscape shaken by Israel’s war with Hezbollah and the toppling of the group’s ally Bashar Assad in neighboring Syria. The post, reserved for a Maronite Christian in
Politics
Jordan and Syria have agreed to form a joint security committee to secure their border, combat arms and drug smuggling and work to prevent the resurgence of Daesh, Jordan’s foreign minister said on Tuesday. Western anti-narcotics officials say the addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon is being mass-produced in
Politics
Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday that he found it worrying that billionaire Elon Musk was involving himself in the political issues of countries outside of the United States. Musk, a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, last month endorsed a German anti-immigration, anti-Islamic political
Politics
Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared set to evade arrest ahead of a Monday night deadline after anti-graft investigators asked for more time to enforce a warrant. The former star prosecutor has defiantly refused questioning three times over a bungled martial law decree last month and remained holed
Politics
Syria’s new foreign minister met with his Qatari counterpart and Qatar’s prime minister in Doha on Sunday, as Syria’s new de facto authorities under Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham establish diplomatic ties with regional and global governments. Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani posted on X that he’s also set
Politics
Republican Mike Johnson narrowly won reelection Friday to the House speakership on a first ballot, overcoming hard-right GOP holdouts after a tense standoff and buoyed by a nod of support from President-elect Donald Trump. The uneasy scene brought an ominous start to the first day of the new Congress. A
Politics
South Korea’s political leadership was in uncharted territory Saturday after the sitting president resisted arrest over a failed martial law decree days before the warrant expires. In scenes of high drama on Friday, Yoon Suk Yeol’s presidential guards and military troops shielded the former star prosecutor from investigators,
Politics
The European Union backs a peaceful, inclusive transition in Syria, top French and German diplomats said Friday as they visited Damascus to meet with new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock were in the Syrian capital for talks on behalf of the
Politics
A court in southeastern Bangladesh on Thursday rejected a plea for bail by a jailed Hindu leader who led large rallies in the Muslim-majority country demanding better security for minority groups. Krishna Das Prabhu faces charges of sedition after he led huge rallies in the southeastern city of Chattogram. Hindu
Politics
Syrian lawyers launched an online petition demanding free elections for their bar association after the country’s new rulers appointed a council to govern the association, a lawyer told AFP Tuesday. Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime president Bashar Assad earlier this month, ending more than 50 years of his family’s
Politics
Newly-declassified UK government documents published Tuesday reveal the frustrations of then-prime minister Tony Blair and his government with French leader Jaques Chirac for blocking UN-backed military action in Iraq in 2003. Minutes of an emergency cabinet meeting on March 17, 2003 — a week after Chirac said he would veto any
Politics
A few days after insurgents in Syria overthrew President Bashar Assad, his ruling Baath party announced it was freezing its activities, marking a stunning change in fortunes for the political group that had ruled for more than six decades. Many members of the party’s leadership have gone into hiding
Politics
Syria hopes for “strategic partnerships” with Ukraine, its new foreign minister told his Ukrainian counterpart on Monday, as Kyiv moves to build ties with the new Islamist rulers in Damascus amid waning Russian influence. Russia was a staunch ally of ousted President Bashar Assad and has given him political asylum.
Politics
South Korea’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol refused a summons to appear for questioning on Sunday, the third time he has defied investigators’ demands in two weeks. Investigators probing Yoon had ordered him to appear for questioning at 10 am (GMT 0100) on Sunday, a demand he rejected. Yoon,