Lebanon's newly elected president, Joseph Aoun, said Thursday that "a new phase" has started for the war-ravaged country and pledged to rebuild the state, adopt a policy of "positive neutrality" and fight corruption.

As the country endured economic crisis and a devastating war, lawmakers failed 12 times to pick a head of state. They have now settled on Joseph Aoun, the leader of the military.

Lebanon’s Parliament chose a U.S.-trained general as president, ending a two-year vacancy in a sign of Hezbollah’s waning influence.

Though Lebanon’s presidency is mostly symbolic, it has a few important powers, like approving prime ministers and cabinets. In a country still haunted by the memory of civil war, symbolism is important too: how the head of state is chosen says much about the balance of power in Lebanon’s factious politics.

The outcome showed the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group after its devastating war with Israel.

Lebanese government bonds extended their three-month-long rally on Thursday as the crisis-ravaged country's parliament voted in a new head of state for the first time since 2022.

General Joseph Aoun was widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States, which funds, trains, and arms the Lebanese military and helped broker a cease-fire between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in November.

NOW A LOT OF THE DAMAGE FROM THIS THREE STORY BUILDING IS ON THE OTHER SIDE. AND WE CAN SHOW YOU THAT HERE. THE FIRE CHIEF SAYS THAT THE FIRE AT 39 MECHANIC STREET WAS REPORTED JUST BEFORE 11:00 LAST NIGHT.

The Russian filmmaker talks to us about the mastery and folly of humankind’s relationship with rock, the “emotional depression of boring architecture”, and his take on Megalopolis.

The 'Greater Israel' map includes significant portions of modern-day Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, sparking widespread condemnation from Arab nations who view it as an affront to their sovereignty.

Israel’s army has confirmed that one of the bodies recovered from Gaza earlier this week was that of 23-year-old hostage Hamzah AlZayadni. His body was retrieved with that of his father, Yosef AlZayadni,