Source: Reuters
Security & Justice
Judge Faces Legal Resistance as Defendants Plan to Block Summonses in Beirut Port Explosion Probe
The Lebanese judiciary is grappling with a profound structural crisis, impeding justice for the Beirut Port explosion—the largest non-nuclear blast in history. Political interference, stalled judicial appointments, the exploitation of legal loopholes by implicated individuals, and the Public Prosecution’s opposition to the lead investigator have created an ongoing deadlock.
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Lebanese Army Deploys in Bint Jbeil, Expanding Control in Southern Lebanon
The Lebanese Army has initiated a strategic deployment in the southern city of Bint Jbeil as part of its broader plan to restore control in the border region following the recent ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Opinion
Lebanon Can Escape Iran's Orbit and Return to the Arab Fold
Lebanon is going through a historic transformation – one marked by a shift in its domestic and regional status quo. The election of former army general Joseph Aoun as President and the appointment of jurist Nawaf Salam as Prime Minister usher in some long-awaited positive change to the country’s domestic balance of power and in its international relations.
Sunday, January 19, 2025
With Its New Prime Minister, Lebanon’s Revolution Comes Full Circle
Lebanon has just gone through a revolution – one that started more than five years ago with street protests demanding an end to corrupt political rule. It took all that time and a whole myriad of developments to get to a point where a president and prime minister have been elected outside the grip of the usual political parties that have dominated the country for decades.
Saturday, January 18, 2025
Sports
Fury Announces Retirement from Boxing Again
Former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has announced his retirement from boxing.
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
World Number 219 Habib Puts Lebanon on the Map at Australian Open
Lebanese qualifier Hady Habib broke new ground for the strife-torn nation on Sunday as he beat China's Bu Yunchaokete 7-6(4) 6-4 7-6(6) to reach the second round of the Australian Open.
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Tuesday 21 January 2025 15:21:37
Trump Orders US Exit from the World Health Organization
The United States will leave the World Health Organization, President Donald Trump said on Monday, saying the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises.
Trump said the WHO had failed to act independently from the "inappropriate political influence of WHO member states" and required "unfairly onerous payments" from the U.S. that were disproportionate to the sums provided by other, larger countries, such as China.
"World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It's not going to happen anymore," Trump said at the signing of an executive order on the withdrawal, shortly after his inauguration to a second term.
The WHO said on Tuesday that it regretted the move from its top donor country.
"We hope that the United States will reconsider, and we really hope that there will be constructive dialogue for the benefit of everyone, for Americans but also for people around the world," WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarević told reporters in Geneva.
Trump's order said the administration would cease negotiations on the WHO pandemic treaty while the withdrawal is in progress. U.S. government personnel working with the WHO will be recalled and reassigned, and the government will look for partners to take over necessary WHO activities, according to the order.
The government will review, rescind, and replace the 2024 U.S. Global Health Security Strategy as soon as practicable, the order said.
The next-largest donor to the WHO is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, although most of that funding goes to polio eradication. Its chief executive Mark Suzman said on X that the foundation would continue to make the case to strengthen not weaken the WHO. The next-largest state donor is Germany, which contributes around 3% of the WHO's funding. Germany's health minister said on Tuesday Berlin hoped to talk Trump out of the move.
When asked about Trump's decision and remarks, China's foreign ministry told a regular press briefing on Tuesday that the WHO's role in global health governance should only be strengthened, not weakened.
"China will continue to support the WHO in fulfilling its responsibilities, and deepen international public health cooperation," said Guo Jiakun, a ministry spokesperson.
Trump's withdrawal from the WHO is not unexpected. He took steps to quit the body in 2020, during his first term as president, accusing the WHO of aiding China's efforts to "mislead the world" about the origins of COVID.
WHO vigorously denies the allegation and says it continues to press Beijing to share data to determine whether COVID emerged from human contact with infected animals or due to research into similar viruses in a local laboratory.
Under U.S. law, leaving the WHO requires a one-year notice period and the payment of any outstanding fees. Before the U.S. withdrawal could be completed last time, Joe Biden won the presidential election and put a stop to it on his first day in office on Jan. 20, 2021.