Latest news with #L'Orient-LeJour
France 24
12-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
'Trump could stop the horror': Papers discuss Gaza aid blockade
Trump is set to start his tour of the Middle East tomorrow and will be going to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for negotiations, but what is more interesting is where he is not going: Israel. Trump's snub of Israel is on the front page of Lebanese paper L'Orient-Le Jour. The Israeli paper Haaretz tells us what it thinks really matters: it says the most important thing about the visit is the 'undeniable rift' between Israel and the Gulf states. NBC News says that disagreements on Iran and Gaza are creating this rift between Netanyahu and Trump. The Guardian has an editorial exploring Trump's policy on Gaza, and how he could stop the horror. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to worsen. NPR is discussing the US's proposed plan to get much-needed food into Gaza after Israel's 10-week ban on aid. The article says that aid groups believe the plan appears to be a way to gain control over vital supplies as part of a military strategy. Le Monde, meanwhile, is looking at the closure of several life-saving soup kitchens in Gaza as they run out of supplies. Finally, AP is reporting on the impact of Israel's blockade on hospitals which can no longer provide food for recovering patients. The article says that families now have to bring food to the hospital to care for their loved ones. Voting opens this Monday in the Philippines, where 24 Senate seats and 316 seats in the House of Representatives are at stake. The front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer focuses on potential foreign interference in the election, but other news outlets are billing it as the battle of the dynasties. The Straits Times says the ruling alliance between President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte is now locked in a fierce battle for seats in the Senate. The New York Times says that it is not a prison cell that will stop her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, for running for mayor of Davao. The paper says that despite being accused of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, Duterte has maintained his popularity. European leaders were in Kyiv at the weekend to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but their trip created some unexpected headlines. Turkyie Today says: "Russia alleges Macron, Merz, and Starmer had cocaine party in Kyiv". The evidence is supposedly a white unidentified object which sent the internet into turmoil after a Telegram post by a spokesperson for Russia's foreign ministry. The French papers were quick to come out against the conspiracy – as was the French government, which reacted with a post on X, confirming that the supposed cocaine is actually a tissue. Finally, The Times reports that an ex-marine has completed the world's longest triathlon, after swimming across the English Channel, cycling across Europe and Asia, and climbing Mount Everest.
L'Orient-Le Jour
10-05-2025
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Number of voters, regions, competing lists: Your cheat sheet on municipal elections in North Lebanon and Akkar
With just a few hours to go before the municipal elections in North Lebanon, the second round of voting this month, L'Orient-Le Jour put together a guide before the start of voting in the governorates of North Lebanon and Akkar. Here is everything to know about the municipal elections: Some figures on the municipal councils to be elected in North Lebanon and Akkar This Sunday, from the moment the polling stations open at 7 a.m., voters from North Lebanon and Akkar are called to vote to elect municipal councils and mokhtars (local officials). Here are some facts and figures to remember about this voting day. - The entire northern region of Lebanon is divided into two governorates: North Lebanon, which includes six districts, and Akkar. In total, across these two major administrative areas, 288 municipal councils will be elected. - The number of municipal councils for each region is divided as follows: In North Lebanon: Batroun: 31 municipal councils; Koura: 37 municipal councils; Minya-Dinniyeh: 37 municipal councils; Bsharri: 12 municipal councils; Zgharta: 32 municipal councils; Tripoli: five municipal councils, including that of the major city of the same name. In different regions, several municipal councils were elected unopposed due to a lack of competition at the closure of nominations. These include, in Batroun: Douma, Rashkida, Beit Shelala; in Zgharta: Eyaal, Haret al-Fouar, Raskifa, Arjis, Kfarhata, and Kfarfou; in Koura: Baakftein, Beshmezine, Bsarma, Baataboura, Darshmezin, Aafsaddiq, Batroumin, Kousba, Kfar Saroun, and Rashdibin. In total, approximately 648,600 voters are called to mobilize during the day in the governorate. In Akkar: the governorate is made up of a single large district, which includes 134 municipalities where new councils are to be elected. The total number of voters in Akkar amounts to 325,968. What are the major lists in different regions of northern Lebanon? For more details on the major battles to follow, read the following analysis here: In Tripoli, four main lists are competing: 1. The Vision of Tripoli Head of list: Abdel Hamid Karami Political support: The list is backed by an improbable coalition including Ashraf Rifi, a hawk of the anti-Hezbollah camp, and his biggest rivals: Faysal Karami, Taha Najji, and Abdel Karim Kabbara (an independent close to Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri). 2. The Tripolitan Fabric Head of list: Wael Zamarli Political support: Businessman and MP Ihab Matar, former Prime Minister Najib Mikati. 3. Lel Fayha' (Fayha' being Tripoli's nickname) Head of list: Samer Debliz Support: Actors of the Oct. 17 protest movement. 4. The Guardians of the City Support: The eponymous group composed of civil society volunteers and the Islamic Group. In Batroun: In Batroun itself, only one list is running, headed by Marcelino Hark, the outgoing president of the municipality. It is supported by a coalition of major Christian parties present: Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Lebanese Forces (LF), and Kataeb. In other villages of the district, such as Chekka, Aabrine, or Tannourine: the competition mainly opposes the FPM to the LF-Kataeb alliance, which can also count on the support of Majd Harb, a local political figure. In Hamat: the FPM faces another improbable coalition, that of LF with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) and the Communist Party. In Zgharta: In Zgharta itself: The list supported by the Sleiman Frangieh clan, close to Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, faces an incomplete list from the protest movement. In other villages of the district: the Frangieh-FPM alliance faces the LF-Kataeb alliance, supported by reformist MP Michel Moawad. In Koura and Minyeh-Denniyeh: The battle is mainly familial, with notable influence from local families. Political parties have limited presence, and alliances vary by village. This region is notably marked by the decline of SSNP influence, following internal dissensions and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. In Bsharri, the hometown of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, the Lebanese Forces are expected to maintain high influence. In Akkar In the Akkar governorate, made up of a single district where over 130 municipal councils are to be elected, the competition is also mainly familial. In some Sunni villages, the battle will oppose the Islamic Group and local families.
L'Orient-Le Jour
09-05-2025
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
When will newly elected municipal officials take office?
On Sunday, Lebanese citizens headed to the polls to elect new municipal officials for a six-year term. This marked the first phase of the municipal elections since 2016, with around 333 municipal councils in Mount Lebanon officially elected, according to final results announced by the Interior Ministry on Tuesday once the results are announced, what exactly happens during the post-election transition? L'Orient-Le Jour breaks down the mix of electoral law and customs that govern the inauguration of new officials and the transfer of power from their predecessors. Read more Official publication of municipal election results in Metn and Chouf When can the new municipal councils begin their term?The new municipal councils across all regions will be able to take office once the elections conclude, starting on May 31, 2025—the...
L'Orient-Le Jour
08-05-2025
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Two killed in a series of Israeli strikes 'among the most intense since the cease-fire' on Nabatieh
The Israeli air force carried out a series of strikes on Thursday morning in the Nabatieh region of southern Lebanon, north of the Litani River, described as "among the most intense" bombardments since the cease-fire came into effect, according to two security sources contacted by the Reuters agency. These airstrikes killed at least two people, medical sources told L'Orient-Le Jour, while the Ministry of Health reported a preliminary toll of one dead and eight injured. Hezbollah later announced, in two separate statements, the deaths of two of its members, Ali Mohammed Shahrour and Bassem Ali Assaf, both from the town of Harouf (Nabatieh). According to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south, both were killed in the series of Israeli strikes on Nabatieh. These bombings targeted the hills and wooded heights of Kfar Tabnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa, with at least 15 missiles. The detonations were heard throughout southern Lebanon, up to Sour. While Channel 14 in Israel, citing military sources, claimed they hit a "very important target" without giving further details, the Arabic-language spokesperson for the army, Avichay Adraee, quickly announced that these strikes targeted a site used by Hezbollah to "manage its firing and defense arrays" in the region of Shqif, a village about eight kilometers from Nabatieh. He stated that Hezbollah "saboteurs" and "combat means" were targeted. "This site was part of a strategic underground project, which has been put out of service," he added, while Hezbollah repeatedly published videos of a large network of tunnels during the last war. L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent said that among the injured are cases of slight injuries and fainting in homes close to the bombed sites. Cease-fire violations 'must stop' President Joseph Aoun stated he was "monitoring the security developments" in the south, according to a brief statement published on the presidency's X account. Aoun "received reports on the consequences" of these strikes on the targeted locations. "I affirm that all Israeli violations of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and the cease-fire agreement must stop and that the government has not spared and will not spare its efforts to expedite the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory," stated Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who was on tour in the Beqaa and at the Syrian-Lebanese border, also regularly bombarded by the Israeli army. According to witnesses contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour, the streets of Nabatieh filled with people after the strikes. A teacher at al-Moustapha school said that parents arrived to the school to pick up their children before the end of classes, while others rushed to universities to get the students out. Meanwhile, Haitham Abou Zeid, the president of the Kfar Ramman municipality, a village neighboring Nabatieh, stated that teams of municipal workers, accompanied by civil defense units and emergency services, "went to the strike site and are working to reopen the road that was blocked due to intense airstrikes by Israeli fighter jets." He added that many people, including students in local schools, panicked during the bombardments, which broke windows in the village. Hassan, who prefers to use just his first name because he also holds American nationality, is in Lebanon for his engagement and was in Kfar Joz to buy a gold set for his fiancée. "I had never heard such strikes before," he told L'Orient-Le Jour. "People didn't seem to react, even the children. They looked scared but weren't really screaming — it's become like a new normal. It seems that Israel won't stop on its own; it must be stopped." Meanwhile, Israeli fire targeted a civilian vehicle traveling on the road between Odaisseh and Kfar Kila (Marjayoun). The passengers survived the shootings, according to L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent. Israeli artillery targeted a farm in Bastara and the outskirts of Shebaa (Hasbaya) with two shells, while an Israeli drone dropped a bomb targeting workers conducting maintenance on the power grid in Houla (Marjayoun). No injuries were reported.
L'Orient-Le Jour
08-05-2025
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
‘Beirut Madinati 2025' presents its list ‘against coalition of parties'
The list Beirut Madinati 2025 officially presented its candidates on Wednesday during a gathering of a few 100 people at Martyr's Square, downtown Beirut, 10 days before the municipal elections in the capital (May 18). The list is supported by the National Bloc, of which four members are included, the Li Watani coalition and the Madinati party. It is endorsed by members of the protest parliament, Ibrahim Mneimneh, Paula Yacoubian and Melhem Khalaf, all present at the gathering. These supporters have participated in developing the reform project supported by the list, partly finance its campaign and have chosen the 24 candidates: Levon Televizian, Anita Vartanian, Pierre Vartanian, Najwa Baroudi, Sarah Mahmoud, Christy Assaily, Marie Daou, Paula Rbeiz, Marc Tueini, Lina Jarrous, Georges Kiriakos, Mazen Houssami, Souha Mneimneh, Lama Wazzan, Ghina Kassem, Fady Darwish, Mounir Mabsout, Bilal Ramadan, Amal Sherif, Riyad Arnaout, Zeina Mouqaddem, Ihab Hammoud, Jihane Rizk and Antoine Raheb. The list aims to succeed the previous Beirut Madinati list from the 2016 municipal elections, which surprised everyone by garnering nearly 35 percent of the votes but failed to secure any seats. "Our main opponent is the list of the coalition of parties," Mneimneh explained to L'Orient-Le Jour. "All attempts to gather the parties to form the municipal council have been unsuccessful" in improving the residents' daily lives, he argued. "As long as there is no unified vision for the city and a common action program, nothing will move forward," the deputy concluded. The 24 members of the list – mostly composed of civil society members (lawyers, engineers, financial experts, entrepreneurs and social actors) – are committed to working on the development of the public transportation network, sidewalks, greenery, fighting against corruption, ensuring security and fighting for justice, at a time when the investigation into the double explosion at the port in 2020 that devastated large parts of the capital is still struggling to progress. 'Residents just want a safe city' This list observes gender parity as well as confessional parity. "The problem is not confessional parity, but the quota system among parties," explained Darwish, head of the list, to L'Orient-Le Jour, at a time when confessional overbidding is coming from all sides amid fears of a break in the Islamic-Christian parity within the capital's municipal council. According to an unwritten custom, it is composed of 12 Christian members and 12 Muslims. "By ensuring confessional parity, we prevent the debate from stalling at this stage, which benefits traditional political parties," said Michel Helou, secretary-general of the National Bloc and former executive director of L'Orient-Le Jour. The same sentiment was echoed by Paula Yacoubian, who said she fears that parties will once again manage to convince voters to vote for them just because they guarantee confessional parity. "Residents just want a safe city, with greenery, sidewalks and sewers," she explained. This is the case of Jawad Makarem, a father who once again came to support a protest list in the elections. "We feel a wind of change, and we believe in it: In 2016, no one thought that a list outside the traditional parties could break through, and today the protest lists are taken seriously everywhere," he said. On Sunday, May 4, during the municipal elections in Mount Lebanon, the protest was nonetheless eclipsed.
