Source: Asharq Al-Awsat
Security & Justice
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Gaps in Coastal Radar Enabled Israeli Raid in Batroun, Army Commander Says
Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, detailed to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati how Israeli forces likely exploited gaps in the country's coastal radar system during the recent raid carried out in Batroun. The briefing comes as Lebanese officials seek answers on how Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 unit carried out the landing undetected.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
FC Barcelona Fears First Team Star Will Be Banned From Playing, Reports SPORT
FC Barcelona is concerned that one of its main first-team stars will be banned from playing at the turn of 2025 because of issues related to his registration and Financial Fair Play (FFP) limits according to SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.
Friday, November 1, 2024
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Friday 1 March 2024 17:32:05
EU Suggests Using Frozen Russian Assets to Fund Ukraine
Russia's frozen assets should be used to purchase badly needed military equipment for Ukraine, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen proposed on Thursday.
“There could be no stronger symbol and no greater use for that money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live,” she said.Russia's frozen assets should be used to purchase badly needed military equipment for Ukraine, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen proposed on Thursday.
“The threat of war may not be imminent, but it is not impossible. The risks of war should not be overblown, but they should be prepared for,” von der Leyen added.
Her comments came shortly after the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell warned that “Putin has not won yet, but Europe has to wake up.” He then called on EU member states to increase and accelerate aid to Ukraine.
Von der Leye’s controversial proposal, at least from a legal point of view, comes after the EU and the G7, the group of seven leading industrialized nations, proposed to use profits from the estimated $285 billion frozen Russian funds to rebuild Ukraine after the war.
However, some countries raised concerns that confiscating Russian assets would have repercussions on the future of foreign investments in Europe.
On Thursday, von der Leyen’s comments acknowledged there is another recommendation for how to use the Russian reserves, not only to the reconstruction of Ukraine, but to purchase weapons for Ukraine.
“There could be no stronger symbol and no greater use for that money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live,” she said.
The Russian invasion has exposed glaring weaknesses in Europe’s arms manufacturing capacities.
Currently, the EU is attempting to put the final touches on a common European defense strategy which aims to establish a committee that jointly purchases military equipment and work for a financial increase of the fund in this sector.
Also, EU member states are concerned about a possible return of former US President Donald Trump to the White House. They fear his comeback would engender a deterioration of relations between Washington and Brussels and could lessen Washington's defensive commitments made to NATO.
