Source: France24 and AFP
Security & Justice
Mawlawi Ensures Strict Monitoring for Wanted Syrian Regime Figures at Beirut Airport
Caretaker Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, conducted an inspection tour of Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut to review the security arrangements and measures implemented by the Airport Security Apparatus ahead of the holiday season.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Hezbollah Faces Internal Criticism Over Missing Fighters and Captured Prisoners
Hezbollah is grappling with increasing internal and external pressure as the fate of over 1,000 of its fighters remains uncertain following the recent war with Israel, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper revealed.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Opinion
Lebanon After the Assads
The United States has important equities in Lebanon, including a desire for a generally friendly government’s economic and political stability; security cooperation; long-standing relations with the large Christian community in Lebanon and Lebanese diaspora in the United States; and ultimately peace between Israel and Lebanon within a broader regional settlement. Achieving these objectives will require navigating a tumultuous period in the country’s history following a war between Hezbollah and Israel that has devastated a large part of the country, exacerbating Lebanon’s already challenging economic conditions. But perhaps the most important dynamic will be how a likely Sunni-dominated state of uncertain composition in Syria will differ in its intentions toward Lebanon from the previous Alawite-led minoritarian Assad regime.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Europe’s Syrian Dilemma
The news of the sudden and unexpected demise of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has met a mixed response in Europe. The jubilation that a murderous dictator and close ally of Russia and Iran has fallen is not just good for the Syrian people but serves as a morale booster for Eastern Europeans wondering whether Russia can be defeated
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Sports
Cristiano Ronaldo Unveils New Private Jet Worth $73 Million
Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the richest global athletes, has unveiled his upgraded private jet reportedly worth $73 million. With its top-notch design, exceptional speed and range of 7500 nautical miles, the Gulfstream G650 is among the fastest jets in the world.
Monday, December 16, 2024
Guardiola Accepts Man City May Need to Sign More Players to Cope with Schedule
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes he will need a bigger squad to handle soccer’s ever-expanding fixture schedule.
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Wednesday 13 November 2024 19:05:16
Trump Meets Biden at White House to Begin Transition of Power
US President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden shook hands as they met in the Oval Office on Wednesday to begin what Trump pledged would be a “smooth” transition of power.
Biden welcomed Trump to the White House on Wednesday for an Oval Office visit that is a traditional part of the peaceful handoff of power – a ritual Trump himself declined to participate in four years ago.
لقاء ترامب-بايدن في البيت الأبيض pic.twitter.com/zG5ikr9qgm
— kataeb.org (@kataeb_Ar) November 13, 2024
“Donald, congratulations,” Biden said, greeting Trump with a handshake and adding that he looked “forward to a smooth transition.”
“Thank you very much," Trump said. "Politics is tough. And it’s, in many cases, not a very nice world. But it is a nice world today and I appreciate it very much.”
The president-elect touched down in Washington on Wednesday, arriving near the Capitol with billionaire Elon Musk in tow, for a meeting with House Republicans and then an Oval Office session with Democratic President Joe Biden as Trump prepares for a potentially unified Republican government and sweep of power.
Back in Washington for the first time since his election victory, Trump told the GOP lawmakers, “It’s nice to win.”
It’s a stunning return to the US seat of government for the former president, who departed nearly four years ago a diminished, politically defeated leader after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol but is preparing to come back to power with what he and his GOP allies see as a mandate for governance.
The White House meeting between a president and president-elect is one Trump himself declined to participate in four years ago after he lost to Biden.
Trump disputed his 2020 election loss to Biden, and he has continued to lie about widespread voter fraud that did not occur. He didn't invite Biden, then the president-elect, to the White House and he left Washington without attending Biden's inauguration. It was the first time that had happened since Andrew Johnson skipped Ulysses S. Grant's swearing-in 155 years ago.
Biden insists that he'll do everything he can to make the transition to the next Trump administration go smoothly, despite decrying Trump as a threat to democracy and the nation’s core values throughout the election campaign.
In the wake of the election, the president has abandoned his dire warnings about Trump, saying in a speech last week, “The American experiment endures. We’re going to be okay.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden is committed to “making sure that this transition is effective, efficient and he's doing that because it is the norm, yes, but also the right thing to do for the American people".
“We want this to go well," Jean-Pierre added. "We want this to be a process that gets the job done."
Traditionally, as the outgoing and incoming presidents meet in the West Wing, the first lady hosts her successor upstairs in the residence, but her office said Melania Trump wasn't attending, saying in a statement that “her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success".
