Haniyeh Re-elected as Hamas Chief

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Reuters file photo
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Reuters file photo
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Haniyeh Re-elected as Hamas Chief

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Reuters file photo
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Reuters file photo

Ismail Haniyeh has been elected to a second term as head of Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip, two Palestinian officials told Reuters on Sunday.

"Haniyeh was re-elected as the head of the movement's political office for a second time," one official told Reuters. His term will last four years.

Haniyeh, the group's leader since 2017, has controlled its political activities throughout several armed confrontations with Israel - including an 11-day conflict in May that left over 250 in Gaza and 13 in Israel dead.



Musk Calls Lebanese President as Starlink Seeks License

FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition, March 9, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition, March 9, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
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Musk Calls Lebanese President as Starlink Seeks License

FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition, March 9, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition, March 9, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun spoke by phone to discuss making elements of Musk's sprawling business empire available in Lebanon, a statement from Aoun's office said on Thursday.

The statement said Musk called Aoun and "expressed his interest in Lebanon and its telecommunications and internet sectors".

Aoun invited Musk to visit Lebanon and said he was open to having Musk's companies present in the country, which ranks among the countries with the lowest internet speeds, Reuters reported.

The call came just weeks after Aoun and other top Lebanese officials met with Starlink's Global Director of Licensing and Development, Sam Turner, in Beirut for talks on providing satellite internet services in Lebanon. US ambassador Lisa Johnson was pictured attending those meetings.

The negotiations have prompted some pushback in Lebanon. Internet access in the country has so far been operated exclusively by state-owned companies and their affiliates, who are lobbying the government not to license Starlink.

Starlink recently received licenses to operate in India and Lesotho.