The Latest Breaking News from Joseph Aoun

Lebanese army chief Joseph Aoun was voted in as president in a second round of parliamentary voting Thursday, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the war-battered country.

Aoun is widely seen as the preferred pick of the United States and regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon’s parliament is to vote for the country’s next president after a two-year void.

Lebanese lawmakers are expected to finally elect a president Thursday after more than two years of deadlock, in a much-needed step to help lift the war-battered country out of financial crisis.

Lebanese political heavyweights held talks Wednesday a day ahead of a parliamentary session to elect a president, but even with key player Hezbollah weakened by war, there is no guarantee of consensus.

Visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein said Israeli forces began withdrawing on Monday from a south Lebanon border town more than halfway into a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

In a significant escalation of military engagement, France has launched airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria as diplomatic efforts to strengthen stability in Lebanon are ongoing and a fragile ceasefire with Israel continues to hold.

French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati and army chief Joseph Aoun in Paris on Friday to discuss ways to stabilise the region as Israel reportedly carries out retaliatory strikes on Iran.

Air force helicopter came down in a mountainous area east of Beirut, but the cause of the crash has not been given.

The Saudi-Iran rapprochement has yet to reflect on Lebanon’s political deadlock.

Lebanon’s Army Commander General Joseph Aoun is opposed to the extension of his mandate, Lebanese political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. This comes as Parliament is preparing to hold a legislative session to approve the extension of the tenure of the country’s security chiefs, in light of the ongoing failure to…