BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Parliament on Tuesday voted to extend the terms of municipal council members and other local officials, delaying elections to avoid further political paralysis in the country.

Some members of the parliament, including from the Lebanese Forces party, boycotted the vote, saying elections were a right.

The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections described the approval of the extension as “undermining the democratic process and the principles of good governance.”

PRAGUE: Twenty artefacts repaired by Czech art restorers after being damaged during the civil war in Syria are on display at Prague’s National Museum before their return back home next month.
The objects include three limestone funerary portraits from the UNESCO-listed ancient site of Palmyra, which were damaged by Daesh group militants who took the city by force in 2015.
“Things get damaged by fighting, on purpose for ideological reasons, or by local people looking for something to sell,” National Museum director Michal Lukes told AFP.

DUBAI: Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, COP28 president-designate, has returned from a two-day visit to Beijing, where he held a series of bilateral meetings with Chinese officials, Emirates News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Discussions centered around Emirati-Chinese partnerships in the run-up to climate conference COP28. Given China’s leadership position in advancing clean technologies, the country has significant opportunities to promote low-carbon economic growth.

DUBAI: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Monday renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan and urged the involved parties to resort to dialogue. 

OIC Secretary General Hussein Ibrahim Taha expressed “his deep concern about the ongoing fighting and violence, which led to many casualties and injuries.”

“The escalation of fighting would have dire effects on civilians and the overall humanitarian situation in Sudan,” the OIC statement read.  

BAGHDAD: Iraq on Monday offered to mediate between Ukraine and Russia to try and find an end to the war in Europe, but Ukraine’s top diplomat rejected the offer during a rare visit to Baghdad.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reiterated his country’s position that it would not engage in any peace talks unless Russia withdraws from all Ukrainian territory.