Security Council Calls on Lebanon to Implement Reforms

A general view shows the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanon October 13, 2021. The Arabic reads: 'The right to justice'. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A general view shows the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanon October 13, 2021. The Arabic reads: 'The right to justice'. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Security Council Calls on Lebanon to Implement Reforms

A general view shows the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanon October 13, 2021. The Arabic reads: 'The right to justice'. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A general view shows the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Lebanon October 13, 2021. The Arabic reads: 'The right to justice'. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The UN Security Council on Friday called on Lebanese officials to implement much needed reforms and hold free and fair elections.

In a statement, Council members “reiterated with urgency the need to implement previously outlined, tangible reforms which are necessary to help the Lebanese population.”

An economic meltdown has sank the once middle-income nation into poverty.

The Council also underlined the importance of delivering the reforms in order to ensure effective international support.

Council members also underlined the importance of holding free, fair, transparent and inclusive elections as scheduled on May15, “ensuring the full, equal and meaningful participation of women as candidates and voters in the election.”

They stressed once again the need for a swift, independent, impartial, thorough, and transparent investigation into the explosion that struck Beirut port on August 4, 2020.

The blast was caused by the detonation of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse at the port for years, apparently with the knowledge of senior politicians and security officials who did nothing about it.

The members of the Council “called upon all Lebanese parties to implement a tangible policy of disassociation from any external conflicts, as an important priority, as spelled out in previous declarations, in particular the 2012 Baabda Declaration.”



Brazil's President Accuses Israel of 'Premeditated Genocide' in Gaza

Palestinians attend an anti-war protest and against Hamas in a rare show of public anger against the group that rules the territory, in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians attend an anti-war protest and against Hamas in a rare show of public anger against the group that rules the territory, in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP)
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Brazil's President Accuses Israel of 'Premeditated Genocide' in Gaza

Palestinians attend an anti-war protest and against Hamas in a rare show of public anger against the group that rules the territory, in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians attend an anti-war protest and against Hamas in a rare show of public anger against the group that rules the territory, in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP)

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday during a trip to Paris accused Israel of carrying out "premeditated genocide" in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

"It's a premeditated genocide from a far-right government that is waging a war against the interests of its own people," he said at a joint press conference with France's President Emmanuel Macron, AFP reported.

While Lula has previously used the term "genocide", Macron has refused to, saying last month it was not for a "political leader to use to term but up to historians to do so when the time comes".