Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati will on Saturday make his first official trip to neighbouring Syria since the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, his office told AFP.

Lebanon’s newly elected President Joseph Aoun called Thursday for a comprehensive defense policy to counter Israeli assaults and for dialogue with neighboring Syria. Aoun was elected by the Lebanese parliament on Thursday, ending over two years of political vacuum since President Michel Aoun left office in October 2022.

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.

For decades, Syria’s Assad family maintained a tight grip on Lebanon, wielding influence over its politics and shaping its alliances

Lebanon's Prime Minister Ziad Makary will visit Damascus "soon", the information minister announced Tuesday, in the first such visit by the country's leadership since Islamist-led rebels seized

Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said Friday that Lebanon was working to find a solution with Syria, after two security officials said Damascus had imposed new restrictions on the entry of Lebanese citizens.

Syria’s embassy in Lebanon has suspended consular services a day after two relatives of deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad were arrested at the Beirut airport with allegedly forged passports.

Iran ‘s top general in Syria acknowledged they were “defeated very badly” with the collapse of the Assad regime, which represented a candid assessment divergent from other messages out of Tehran since the fall of the government.

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.

A devastating economic crisis, a political power vacuum, massive corruption and most recently the war between Hezbollah and Israel: For a long time, things were not looking good for Lebanon. But, after two years without a president,