🇺🇸 At least 2 people have died, over 1,000 structures have been damaged, and more than 80,000 people have evacuated their homes due to the ongoing fires in the Los Angeles area. Furthermore, about 300,000 households remain without power.

The wildfire was caused by a combination of dry conditions and powerful winds.


📝 NBC News
🗺 @PoliticsGR

📊 Macroeconomic Indicators Update (8/1/2025):

🇵🇭 Unemployment Rate: 3.9% ⬇️ 3.2%
🇩🇪 Retail Sales y/y: 2.4% ⬆️ 2.5%
🇸🇪 Inflation Rate y/y: 1.6% ⬇️ 0.8%
🇫🇷 Trade Balance: €-7.5 billion ⬆️ €-7.1 billion
🇹🇿 Interest Rate: 6 ➡️ 6
🇪🇺 Economic Sentiment: 95.8 ⬇️ 93.7
🇹🇿 Inflation Rate y/y: 3.0% ⬆️ 3.1%
🇨🇱 Inflation Rate y/y: 4.2% ⬆️ 4.5%
🇮🇪 Unemployment Rate: 4.1% ⬆️ 4.2%
🇨🇷 Inflation Rate y/y: -0.10% ⬆️ 0.95%


📝 Myfxbook, Tradays
🗺 @PoliticsGR

🇱🇧 Today it's election day in Lebanon, as the Parliament will convene to elect a president in order to resolve the ongoing crisis since 2022.


📃 Main contestant:
🗳 Joseph Aoun: general and commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) since 2017

📃 Potential contestant:
🗳 Jihad Azour: economist and former finance minister (2005-2008)

📃 Endorsed Aoun:
🗳 Souleiman Frangieh: leader of Marada Movement


🏛️ To make it through the first stage, a candidate needs two-thirds of the vote, or 86 lawmakers (the Parliament has 128 seats). An absolute majority is required in subsequent rounds. According to the constitution, the president must be a Maronite Christian.


⚖️ Most parties are likely to endorse Aoun, with the position of Hezbollah, Amal and FPM being uncertain after Frangieh’s withdrawal.


🌍 The election has garnered significant interest from international actors:
🇫🇷 France has endorsed Aoun through Macron’s envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian.

🇮🇷 Iran hasn’t endorsed any candidate, but will likely negotiate with the eventual winner to continue providing its support for Hezbollah.

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia has endorsed Aoun, preparing to invest millions of dollars if he gains power.

🇸🇾 Syria’s new ruler Ahmed Al Sharaa said that Damascus will no longer interfere in Lebanese political procedures.

🇺🇸 The United States reiterated its support for Aoun in a meeting in Riyadh, saying it’s the best opportunity to sideline Hezbollah.


🕚 The vote will take place at 11:00 AM local time.

🇺🇸🇱🇧🇮🇱🇪🇬 The Biden administration is shifting more than $100 million in military aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon in order to boost the army’s capacities in implementing the ceasefire.


📝 Naharnet
🗺️ @PoliticsGR

🇱🇧 The Lebanese Parliament has began the election procedure about 30 minutes ago.

So far nothing special, you can watch the election at the live stream of Al Araby.


🗺️ @PoliticsGR

🇱🇧🗺 Lebanese Presidential Election 2023 (12th Session)
📝 Source: MTV


🗺️ @PoliticsGR

🇱🇧 Head of parliament Nabih Berri confirmed that no deputy was absent.


📝 L’Orient Today
🗺️ @PoliticsGR

🇱🇧 Independent Shia MP Jamil Sayed:

This is not an election session, but a session to ratify the appointment of a president.

📝 L’Orient Today
🗺️ @PoliticsGR

🇱🇧 Head of Hezbollah’s coordination and liasion unit Wafiq Safa announced that the party won’t veto the election of Joseph Aoun for president.


📝 Beirut Today
🗺️ @PoliticsGR

🇱🇧🗳️ — Voting ends and counting begins

🇱🇧 Joseph Aoun has surpassed 60 votes, blank and invalid votes have reached 45.

This will likely aggravate the presidential crisis.


📝 MTV
🗺️ @PoliticsGR

🇱🇧 Lebanese Presidential Election 2025 Results (MTV):
🗳 Joseph Aoun: 71
🗳 Blank votes: 37
🗳 Invalid votes: 18
🗳 Chibli Mallat: 2

💬 Once again, the Parliament fails to elect a president.


🗺 @PoliticsGR

🇱🇧 Head of parliament Nabih Berri announces a second round at 14:00 PM Beirut time.


📝 L’Orient Today
🗺️ @PoliticsGR

🇱🇧 According to L’Orient Today, the Amal-Hezbollah tandem is the one that cast blank votes, as it wasn’t ready to endorse the election of Aoun in the first round.

Negotiations are taking place, not only with other political parties but also with representatives of other countries, to secure the rallying of the Shia blocs. The Parliament will convene again in a few minutes.


📝 L’Orient Today
🗺️ @PoliticsGR

🇱🇧 Lebanese Presidential Election 2025 Results (MTV):
🗳 Joseph Aoun: 99
🗳 Blank votes: 9
🗳 Invalid votes: 18
🗳 Chibli Mallat: 2

💬 After 3 years, Lebanon has finally a president.


🗺 @PoliticsGR