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Lebanon: Independent, 'Dissident' MPs Seek to Form Opposition Front

A demonstrator rests on the ground as he and other demonstrators block a highway during ongoing anti-government protests in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
A demonstrator rests on the ground as he and other demonstrators block a highway during ongoing anti-government protests in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
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Lebanon: Independent, 'Dissident' MPs Seek to Form Opposition Front

A demonstrator rests on the ground as he and other demonstrators block a highway during ongoing anti-government protests in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
A demonstrator rests on the ground as he and other demonstrators block a highway during ongoing anti-government protests in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A number of Lebanese independent deputies and others, who withdrew from parliamentary blocs they had joined after the recent elections, are seeking to form a unified opposition entity in order to support civil society movements through the parliament.

MP Neemat Frem revealed ongoing talks between a number of deputies to establish a unified opposition, pointing that some MPs could leave their blocs.

In the wake of the massive protests that started on October 17, Frem decided to withdraw from the Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc, which is headed by MP Gebran Bassil, President Michel Aoun’s son-in-law.

MP Paula Yacoubian, for her part, emphasized that talks were underway with deputies “who actually embraced the demands of the revolution, and not within the framework of folklore and slogans, to try to form an opposition parliamentary front.”

“Our aim is to strengthen and expand the opposition so that its voice can be heard and it can assume its role in promoting real reform and change,” she told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Kataeb MP Elias Hankash noted that the opposition front was yet to be crystallized, adding that communication was underway between independent deputies to study the possibility of forming such a front under the current circumstances.

“This is why we are calling for early parliamentary elections to increase the number of independent deputies, in order to extend the front that we aspire to form,” he said in remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat.

MP Shamel Roukoz, the other son-in-law of Aoun, is actively working within an opposition front composed of retired officers.

Sources close to Roukoz said that the deputy was seeking to expand the “national rescue movement” to all Lebanese areas.

“The movement is operating under the slogans of revolution, and it aims to build a state of law and institutions,” the sources noted.

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World

French, Japanese Ships Cross Strait of Hormuz in First Since War

A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (Reuters)
A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (Reuters)
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French, Japanese Ships Cross Strait of Hormuz in First Since War

A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (Reuters)
A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (Reuters)

One French- and another Japanese-owned vessel are among a handful of vessels to have crossed the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, maritime tracking data showed Friday.

The passage, a vital maritime route for oil and liquified natural gas, has been virtually blocked by Iran since the start of the war, said AFP.

But both ships made the crossing on Thursday, according to ship tracking company Marine Traffic's website.

The Maltese-flagged Kribi belonging to the French maritime transport group CMA CGM crossed the waterway to leave the Gulf on Thursday afternoon, Marine Traffic's data showed.

By early Friday, it was off Muscat, Oman, still broadcasting the message "owner France" on its transponder system in the field usually used to give the destination.

The vessel's navigation data showed it had crossed via an Iranian-approved route through its waters, dubbed the "Tehran Toll Booth" by leading shipping journal Lloyd's List.

- Southern route -

In addition, three tankers -- including one co-owned by a Japanese company -- crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday by taking an alternative, southern route.

They hugged close to the shore of Oman's Musandam Peninsula -- a first in nearly three weeks according to Lloyd's List.

Before the war, which started more than a month ago, about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed through the Strait.

All three ships signaled they were an "OMANI SHIP" in the message broadcast by their transponder as they crossed the strait.

The Sohar LNG, which was empty when crossing, is co-owned by Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K.

That makes it the first Japanese vessel to exit the Gulf since the start of the war, according to a company statement quoted by Japanese media.

The Hong-Kong flagged New Vision, which crossed the strait on March 1 right after the war started, is expected in the French port of Le Havre on Saturday evening.

Since the conflict started however, that has dwindled to a trickle as Iran selectively attacks ships and energy facilities throughout the Gulf in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks.

A few commercial ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz recently have passed through the Iranian-approved route in the north of the waterway.

- Down to a trickle -

Just 221 commodities vessels have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since March 1, some more than once, according to Kpler data up to Friday morning.

In peacetime, the same waterway handles around 120 daily transits, according to Lloyd's List.

Of the vessels that made the crossing, 60 percent either came from Iran or were heading there.

It was not clear from the data how many had been cleared to make the crossing by Tehran.

But it did show that, among the 118 crossings by ships carrying cargo, 37 had left the Gulf carrying crude oil.

Most of those oil tankers -- 30 of them -- came from Iran or sailed under the Iranian flag. And most ships carrying Iranian oil did not specify their destination on their transponder.

Of those who did, all but one reported they were heading to China.

In the early days of the war, transponder data showed dozens of ships broadcasting messages such as "Chinese crew" or "Chinese owner" in the field usually used for their destination.

This appeared to be an attempt by the ships to avoid being targeted by Iran.

Varieties

Artemis Astronauts More than Halfway to Moon, Putting Earth in Rearview

This screen grab from NASA's feed released on April 3, 2026, shows the four Artemis II crew members (L-R) Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist (hidden), NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist and Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot as they head to orbit the Moon for the first time in more than half a century. (Photo by Handout / NASA TV / AFP)
This screen grab from NASA's feed released on April 3, 2026, shows the four Artemis II crew members (L-R) Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist (hidden), NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist and Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot as they head to orbit the Moon for the first time in more than half a century. (Photo by Handout / NASA TV / AFP)
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Artemis Astronauts More than Halfway to Moon, Putting Earth in Rearview

This screen grab from NASA's feed released on April 3, 2026, shows the four Artemis II crew members (L-R) Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist (hidden), NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist and Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot as they head to orbit the Moon for the first time in more than half a century. (Photo by Handout / NASA TV / AFP)
This screen grab from NASA's feed released on April 3, 2026, shows the four Artemis II crew members (L-R) Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist (hidden), NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist and Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot as they head to orbit the Moon for the first time in more than half a century. (Photo by Handout / NASA TV / AFP)

The Artemis 2 astronauts have passed the halfway point between Earth and the Moon on Saturday as they sped toward a planned lunar flyby, with NASA releasing initial images of Earth taken from inside the Orion spacecraft.

Astronaut Christina Koch said the crew had a collective "expression of joy" upon being told of the milestone, which was hit around two days, five hours and 24 minutes after the spacecraft blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, AFP said.

"We can see the Moon out of the docking hatch right now, it is a beautiful sight," Koch said around 11 pm (0400 GMT) Friday, according to the space agency's official live broadcast.

NASA's online dashboard showed early Saturday that the Orion spacecraft carrying the astronauts was more than 229,000 kilometers (142,000 miles) from Earth.

The space agency earlier released images from Orion that included a full portrait of Earth, featuring its deep blue oceans and billowing clouds.

After a flurry of high-stakes activity including a dramatic blast-off and an engine firing that catapulted them on their historic trajectory to circle the Moon, the four astronauts aboard were able to catch their breath, even as they continued to perform a variety of equipment checks and tests.

"There has been a tremendous amount of disbelief for me, it's just so extraordinary," said Canadian Jeremy Hansen during a Q&A session with press late Thursday.

"I really like it up here," said Hansen, on his first ever journey to space. "The views are extraordinary."

"It's really fun to be floating around" in zero gravity, he added. "It just makes me feel like a little kid."

Hansen is on the crew with Americans Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman.

They are due to loop around the Moon early next week -- a feat not accomplished in more than 50 years.

NASA official Lakiesha Hawkins praised the photographs taken by commander Wiseman, calling them "amazing" during a briefing Friday.

"We continue to learn all about our spacecraft as we operate it in deep space with crew for the first time," Hawkins said.

"It's important to remind ourselves of that as we learn a little bit more day by day."

- 'Great spirits' -

Friday's to-do list includes a CPR demonstration and medical kit checks, the US space agency said, as well as preparation for the scientific observations they'll need to document when they are closest to the Moon on day six of their journey.

NASA officials reported Friday that all systems were performing well, and that the astronauts were in "great spirits" and had spoken to their families.

The next major milestone of the approximately 10-day journey is expected overnight Sunday into Monday, at which point the astronauts will enter the "lunar sphere of influence" -- when the Moon's gravity will have stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth's.

If all proceeds smoothly, as Orion whips around the Moon the astronauts could set a record by venturing farther from Earth than any human before.

"There is nothing normal about this," said mission commander Wiseman late Thursday.

"Sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a Herculean effort, and we are now just realizing the gravity of that."

The Artemis 2 mission is part of a longer-term plan to repeatedly return to the Moon, with the goal of establishing a permanent lunar base that will offer a platform for further exploration.

World

Iran Executes Two Linked to Opposition Group

Executions in Iran have surged in recent years - AFP
Executions in Iran have surged in recent years - AFP
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Iran Executes Two Linked to Opposition Group

Executions in Iran have surged in recent years - AFP
Executions in Iran have surged in recent years - AFP

Iran on Saturday executed two men it said were convicted of links to an opposition group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of ‌Iran, and ‌of carrying out armed ‌attacks, ⁠domestic media reported.

The ⁠executions were the latest in recent days of individuals with PMOI links.

The PMOI confirmed ⁠Saturday's executions, saying ‌in ‌a statement that Iran was "trying ‌to hide its ‌weakness by executing political prisoners, especially PMOI members and supporters." Four PMOI ‌members were executed earlier this week, ⁠it ⁠said.

The group said the two men executed on Saturday were arrested in January 2024 and had their death sentences upheld in December 2025.