Syria Port Authority Shuts All Ports Due to Bad Weather

Waves are pictured during high winds in the Syrian port city of Banias, Syria March 29, 2023. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
Waves are pictured during high winds in the Syrian port city of Banias, Syria March 29, 2023. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
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Syria Port Authority Shuts All Ports Due to Bad Weather

Waves are pictured during high winds in the Syrian port city of Banias, Syria March 29, 2023. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
Waves are pictured during high winds in the Syrian port city of Banias, Syria March 29, 2023. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)

Syria's port authority has shut down all the country's sea ports including Tartous due to poor weather and high winds, state media reported on Wednesday.

The port of Tartous had initially been exempt from the closure but the country's ports authority later said it was shutting down as conditions worsened.

"There are winds and high waves in bursts and we cannot risk opening the ports at this time," Brigadier General Samer Kobrosli, the director general of the authority, told Reuters.

The war-ravaged country operates seven sea ports through which it brings in basic needs including food and petroleum products.

Kobrosli said the port authority's decision did not include oil terminals. There was no immediate comment from Syria's oil ministry on whether the terminals were operational.

The winds also caused a power blackout across the southern province of Sweida after a number of electrical towers collapsed, according to Syrian state TV.



Lebanon's Speaker Sets Jan. 9 Date to Elect President

FILED - 01 October 2020, Lebanon, Beirut: Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri speaks during a press conference. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
FILED - 01 October 2020, Lebanon, Beirut: Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri speaks during a press conference. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
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Lebanon's Speaker Sets Jan. 9 Date to Elect President

FILED - 01 October 2020, Lebanon, Beirut: Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri speaks during a press conference. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
FILED - 01 October 2020, Lebanon, Beirut: Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri speaks during a press conference. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri set a Jan. 9 date for lawmakers to elect the country's president, the state news agency (NNA) reported on Thursday.
Lebanon has not had a president or a fully empowered cabinet since October 2022 due to a power struggle.

Israel's offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon had prompted a renewed bid by some leading Lebanese politicians to fill the two-year-long presidential vacuum.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday under a deal brokered by the US and France, allowing people in both countries to start returning to homes in border areas shattered by 14 months of fighting.

Berri has said that, once there's a ceasefire, he supported the election of a president who doesn't represent "a challenge" to anyone.

The presidency is decided by a vote in Lebanon's 128-seat parliament. No single political alliance has enough seats to impose its choice, meaning an understanding among rival blocs is needed to secure the election of a candidate.