Saad Hariri: President ‘had last chance to end collapse’
Protesters swarm Beirut streets as currency exchange rate spikes on black market
Updated 22 March 2021
March 22, 2021 22:16
BEIRUT: A critical meeting on Monday between Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on the country’s uncertain future failed to reach an agreement.
The 18th meeting between the two men, held at the Presidential Palace, was met before and after with pessimism by much of the Lebanese public.
Hariri insists on forming a government of 18 independent specialists acting as ministers, without the capacity for a blocking third by any party, while Aoun and his Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) propose a government of 20 ministers, with the right to name 6 ministers in addition to an Armenian minister.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at a joint press conference in the president s house in New Delhi, India, on January 15, 2018. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Monday with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to thank him for his efforts to safeguard Israeli diplomats and officials, in the wake of a bombing last week outside Israel’s embassy in New Delhi.
The two leaders also discussed possible cooperation on coronavirus vaccines, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Modi told Netanyahu that India was committed to the security of Israelis in the country and would cooperate with Israel to fight against terrorism.
Last modified on Mon 1 Feb 2021 05.45 EST
The Foreign Office has told the husband of jailed British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to stop publicising plans to free her on 7 March or else risk jeopardising her release from prison.
Richard Ratcliffe rejected the advice, writing on Twitter: “We continue to believe that transparency is the best form of protection from abuse. We have also made clear that the government’s role is to remind the Iranian authorities that Nazanin has the UK’s protection not to act as a messenger for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps mafia tactics and suppression.”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe is under house arrest at her parents’ home in Tehran and is due to complete her five-year sentence for spying on 7 March. Last year Iran threatened to press additional charges against her, but the courts pulled back under media and diplomatic pressure and a trial was postponed.
Two Are Accused of Hacking U.S. Websites With Pro-Iran Messages
News Highlights: Two Are Accused of Hacking U.S. Websites With Pro-Iran Messages.
Two men have been charged with hacking into dozens of websites in the United States, actions taken in retaliation for the death in a US drone strike by Iran’s Major General Qassim Suleimani, according to federal authorities.
The men, Behzad Mohammadzadeh and Marwan Abusrour, were charged with conspiracy to commit deliberate damage to a protected computer and willful damage to a protected computer, the police said. indictment, which was dated September 3 and unsealed on Tuesday.
The Walla news site said Saturday that a previously unheard of group called “Jaish ul-Hind” took responsibility for the Friday explosion in a claim on the Telegram messaging service.
According to the report, the statement said the attack was in fact an act of revenge against the Indian government and that further attacks were expected, but with no mention of Israel.
Policemen stand guard near the Israeli Embassy after a blast in the area in New Delhi, India, Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Rishi Lekhi)
A police statement described the Friday explosion as caused by a “very low-intensity improvised device” that blew out the windows on three nearby cars and said a preliminary investigation “suggests a mischievous attempt to create a sensation.”