Lebanese police traded gunfire with smugglers and Syria arrested Lebanese fishermen Sunday in new tensions on their borders, reflecting increasing acrimony between the two countries since Syria was forced to end its decades-long domination of its smaller neighbor.
In another surprise move, Damascus said it wants Lebanon to compensate the families of Syrian workers killed during a wave of anti-Syrian sentiment after the Feb. 14 assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Syrian media reports have said up to 35 Syrians were killed in Lebanon following Hariri's death, but there has been no official Syrian or Lebanese confirmation of the number and Lebanese unofficial estimates put the number at much less.
The Lebanese and Syrian governments always touted their nations' brotherhood during the years of Syrian control. But the slaying of Hariri, which many Lebanese blamed on Syria, opened a wave of anger at Damascus. Syria was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in April, and since then anti-Damascus politicians have gained control of parliament.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa tried Sunday to try to calm the bitterness, meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad and the foreign minister in Damascus. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak also spoke with Assad by telephone.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
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