Source: BBC
The official website of the Kataeb Party leader
Security & Justice
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Tuesday, November 5, 2024
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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
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
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Thursday 11 August 2022 19:35:32
France Firefighters Battle 'Monster' Wildfire near Bordeaux
More than 1,000 firefighters are battling a "monster" wildfire in south-western France that has already destroyed nearly 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) of forest, officials say.
The raging blaze near the city of Bordeaux has gutted a number of homes and forced 10,000 residents to flee.
"It's an ogre, it's a monster," firefighter representative Gregory Allione told France's RTL Radio.
Strong winds and high temperatures are hampering the firefighting operation.
President Emmanuel Macron announced that Austria, Germany, Greece, Poland and Romania "are coming to aid" France in battling the blaze. "European solidarity at work!" he tweeted.
This summer France and a number of other European countries have seen a wave of deadly wildfires, triggered by record temperatures and droughts across the continent.
More than 1,000 deaths have been attributed to the heat in Portugal and Spain.
In the UK, an amber extreme heat warning has now come into force, with temperatures forecast to hit 37C (99F) in some areas over the next four days. The heatwave will probably affect health, transport and working conditions, the authorities warn.
The huge wildfire in France's Gironde region has been raging for two days near the commune of Landiras, about 30km (19 miles) south-east of Bordeaux.
A number of firefighters have had to be urgently redeployed from other regions to boost the ongoing operation.
They are being backed by specialist aircraft that have been dropping water and flame retardant.
But despite all the efforts, the blaze was still out of control on Thursday, local officials said.
"It's the first time we've seen a fire like this," French firefighter Jérôme Jean told BFMTV news website.
Before the evacuation, some of the local residents had to save themselves on rooftops as the flames rapidly approached their houses, reports say.
Belin-Béliet is now a ghost town since all of its 2,000 inhabitants had to flee on Wednesday, BFMTV says.
In nearby Hostens, Allisson Fayol and her father - unlike many of their neighbours - decided to stay at home for now.
"There is still a lot of smoke but for now it's not coming this way," Ms Fayol was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
Temperatures are expected to reach as high as 39C later on Thursday.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin have arrived to the affected area to inspect the scale of the damage.
Climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires.
The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.