Four Killed in Syria in Attack on Aleppo University Dorms

19 November 2024, Syria, Al-Nayrab: A picture made available on 21 November 2024 shows Ismail Al-Riya standing with his friends to display the First Person View (FPV) drones they were able to shoot down and dismantle. Photo: Anas Alkharboutli/dpa
19 November 2024, Syria, Al-Nayrab: A picture made available on 21 November 2024 shows Ismail Al-Riya standing with his friends to display the First Person View (FPV) drones they were able to shoot down and dismantle. Photo: Anas Alkharboutli/dpa
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Four Killed in Syria in Attack on Aleppo University Dorms

19 November 2024, Syria, Al-Nayrab: A picture made available on 21 November 2024 shows Ismail Al-Riya standing with his friends to display the First Person View (FPV) drones they were able to shoot down and dismantle. Photo: Anas Alkharboutli/dpa
19 November 2024, Syria, Al-Nayrab: A picture made available on 21 November 2024 shows Ismail Al-Riya standing with his friends to display the First Person View (FPV) drones they were able to shoot down and dismantle. Photo: Anas Alkharboutli/dpa

Four civilians including two students were killed on Friday in the Syrian city of Aleppo in insurgent shelling of university student dormitories, the state news agency SANA reported.
Opposition led by the extremist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched an incursion on Wednesday into a dozen towns and villages in the northwestern province of Aleppo, which is controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government forces.
The next day, Russian and Syrian warplanes bombed opposition-held northwest Syria near the border with Türkiye to try to push back an insurgent offensive that had captured territory for the first time in years, Syrian army and opposition sources said.
The attack was the biggest since March 2020 when Russia, which backs Assad, and Türkiye, which supports the opposition, agreed to a ceasefire to end years of fighting that had uprooted millions of Syrians opposed to Assad's rule.



Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Lebanon's Presidential Election is My Priority After Ceasefire

Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) meets with French President's Special Envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian (L), in Beirut, Lebanon, 28 November 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) meets with French President's Special Envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian (L), in Beirut, Lebanon, 28 November 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Lebanon's Presidential Election is My Priority After Ceasefire

Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) meets with French President's Special Envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian (L), in Beirut, Lebanon, 28 November 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) meets with French President's Special Envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian (L), in Beirut, Lebanon, 28 November 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has set the presidential election session for January 9, 2024, calling it a “productive” meeting and announcing that accredited ambassadors in Lebanon will be invited.

Berri told Asharq Al-Awsat that his priority after the ceasefire with Israel is the presidential election, which he called a “national necessity.”

The announcement came as French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived in Beirut for talks with Lebanese leaders about restarting stalled political efforts due to the war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Both Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati received a call from French President Emmanuel Macron late Wednesday.

Macron discussed with Mikati the current situation in Lebanon following the ceasefire, as well as the implementation of decisions made at the recent Lebanon Support Conference in Paris.

In his call with Berri, Macron addressed the general situation, recent steps taken by Lebanon regarding the ceasefire and Israeli provocations, and preparations for the presidential election.

This renewed presidential push comes after more than two years of a vacant presidency, with Lebanese political parties still divided over a consensus candidate.