RAMALLAH: Political analysts were on Friday split over the next diplomatic moves for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas following his recent talks with the leaders of France and America.

Abbas held discussions with US President Joe Biden in Bethlehem on July 15 and then spoke to President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on July 20.

General disappointment with the outcome of the Biden talks saw the Palestinian leadership turn its attention toward the EU.

TUNIS: Tunisians will vote on Monday on a constitution that would give President Kais Saied more powers, a key moment in his plan to overhaul the political system.

The referendum takes place a year to the day after Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament.

His opponents have called for a boycott, but while observers have predicted most Tunisians will snub the poll, few doubt the charter will pass.

“The biggest unknown in this referendum is the turnout and whether it will be low or very low,” said analyst Youssef Cherif.

BEIRUT: A massive silo holding thousands of tons of grain at Beirut port is at risk of collapse because of a fire that has been smoldering for weeks amid Lebanon’s summer heat.

Flames and thick black smoke could be seen rising from the silo after the blaze flared up on Friday.

The fire prompted a warning by Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati to “workers and members of the civil defense and the fire brigade not to approach the location for their safety and to avoid endangering their lives.”

JERUSALEM: Israeli police said Friday they placed a couple under house arrest, a day after a man attending a party at their villa died after being sucked into a sinkhole that formed at the bottom of their swimming pool.
The man and woman, both in their sixties, are suspected of causing death by negligence, police said. They were arrested on Thursday night and a court decided to release them Friday under “restrictive conditions of house arrest” for five days.

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military censors have lifted a ban on reporting the country’s use of armed drones, an official said, ending an open secret by admitting that the armed forces have unmanned attack aircraft and have used them.

Palestinians have accused Israel of using armed drones in targeted killings in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, something never confirmed by Israel, which had previously barred all publication of news on the issue.