BEIRUT: Lebanon’s former president Michel Aoun has traveled to Syria to shore up relations with Damascus after his party rejected Hezbollah’s preferred presidential candidate. The Free Patriotic Movement said Aoun, its leader, “traveled on Tuesday to Damascus on a visit during which he will meet with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.” It came days after the FPM announced it
The Lebanese opposition appears on the verge of reaching an agreement on the nomination of Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and former minister Jihad Azour as president. With an agreement in sight, the opposition will then shift its focus on pressuring parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to call the legislature to session to hold the presidential elections as soon as possible. Berri said months ago that he would only call for an elections session if political parties are in consensus over the names of candidates.
A 3-year-old Palestinian boy was in critical condition at an Israeli hospital Friday morning after being shot by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank. The army opened an investigation into what it said was an unintentional shooting.In a statement, the military said that gunmen opened fire late Thursday toward the West Bank settlement of Neve Tzuf. It said soldiers at a guard post returned fire.Moments later, Israeli medics received reports that a Palestinian man and the child had been badly wounded.