Lebanon’s opposition has agreed to a proposed government line-up, Hezbollah said yesterday, paving the way to end five months of tortuous negotiations following a June general election.
Hezbollah, which heads an alliance of parties supported by Syria and Iran, said in a statement that its leadership, including the head of the militant party Hassan Nasrallah, met late on Friday and agreed to join the national unity government proposed by prime minister-designate Saad Hariri.
“Those who took part in the meeting agreed to join a national unity government based on the agreements reached during negotiations,” the statement said.
“We hope that this step will be beneficial for Lebanon and its people,” it said.
An official from Hariri’s camp said they were awaiting official notification before announcing the new government.
An official with the presidency said the head of state was optimistic that the stalemate was over and an announcement was imminent.
The proposed 30-member Cabinet calls for 15 seats for the majority alliance and 10 for the opposition. The remaining five posts would be appointed by Lebanese President Michel Sleiman.
In related developments, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned recent violations of the 2006 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
In a report to the Security Council circulated on Friday, Ban said he was particularly concerned about the firing of rockets from Lebanon into Israel, the discovery of an arms and ammunition depot in southern Lebanon, and explosions and a fire in that area which are still under investigation.
Ban reiterated his call for full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 34-day Israeli-Hezbollah war, including the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, adherence to the arms embargo on Lebanon by all countries, especially those with ties to Hezbollah, demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian border and an end to Israeli overflights.
Ban also called on Israel and Syria to respond to the provisional definition of the disputed Chebaa Farms area on Lebanon’s border with Syria’s Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and urged Israel to withdraw from the village of Ghajar and an adjacent area that are on the Lebanese side of a UN-drawn boundary.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was