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Lebanon

LEBANON’S parliament failed to elect a new president after a first round of voting this week amid deep divisions over a replacement for Michel Aoun whose term expires next month.

A majority of lawmakers cast blank ballots, suggesting the election process is likely to drag on, an outcome Lebanon can ill afford as it wrestles with a crippling financial crisis.

Speaker Nabih Berri said he would call a new session of parliament “when an agreement is reached on the next president” – a process that could take months in a country where constitutional deadlines are routinely missed.

Thursday’s session was attended by 122 of parliament’s 128 members, of whom 66 cast blank ballots.

Deep divisions among lawmakers have raised fears Lebanon could be left without a president after Aoun’s mandate expires at the end of October. |

THE number of Russians entering the EU has jumped following a partial mobilisation ordered by Moscow, and illegal crossings are likely to increase should Russia decide to close the border for potential conscripts, EU border agency Frontex said this week.

“Over the past week, nearly 66 000 Russian citizens entered the EU, more than 30% compared to the preceding week. Most of them arrived to Finland and Estonia,” Frontex said in a statement.

Over four days this week alone, 30 000 Russian citizens arrived in Finland, according to the statement.

“Frontex estimates that illegal border crossings are likely to increase if the Russian Federation decides to close the border for potential conscripts,” the agency said. |