Blog

Mother and daughter, their car loaded with luggage, are driving together back to their house in this bombed-out suburb of Beirut. I ask them how it feels coming home."Nothing feels like home," Samara Diab, the daughter, says. Dahieh, in the south of Beirut, is Hezbollah territory and much of it has been levelled. Its leader Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated by an airstrike two months ago.But the children here shout his name out of cars as they pass.His picture is draped over the tower blocks that have collapsed into rubble. And the yellow flags of Hezbollah still fly. The neighbourhood was a ghost town during the last two months of heavy bombardment. Image: Much of Dahieh has been levelled Read more:Analysis: Dark clouds ha...

Sinn Fein and Fine Gael are neck and neck to be the most popular party following Ireland's election, an exit poll suggests.Sinn Fein have picked up 21.1% of the vote, with Fine Gael on 21% and Fianna Fail on 19.5%, the poll by RTE, The Irish Times, TG4, Trinity College Dublin and Ipsos B&A suggests. The poll has a margin of error of 1.4% and was published after voting ended at 10pm on Friday. Counting will begin on Saturday morning at 9am.While the exit poll is a good indicator of how well each party has done, how many seats they will pick up is still unclear due to Ireland's electoral system. Voters in Ireland rank their choices rather than choosing one candidate. Prospective politicians must then reach a quota after rounds of vote counting, with between three and five seats ...

Violence has broken out again in Georgia's capital after protesters took to the streets near parliament over the suspension of EU membership talks.Police used water cannon and pepper spray as thousands gathered in Tbilisi to demand the government change its stance. Some protesters hurled fireworks at police and pushed a burning industrial bin towards officers.There were also protests on Thursday after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced accession talks were being put off until 2028 due to EU "blackmail".It followed the European Parliament adopting a resolution condemning last month's election as neither free nor fair and criticising the ruling Georgian Dream party. The party won almost 54% of votes, but opponents claim Russia helped rig the vote to halt the country's move towards th...

The newly elected prime minister of Mauritius has ordered an independent review of his predecessor's provisional deal with the UK over the future of the Chagos Islands.Navin Ramgoolam, who came to power earlier this month, has previously been critical of the confidential agreement, which is yet to be ratified. He reportedly expressed continued reservations after a meeting with the UK's national security adviser Jonathan Powell on Monday over the islands, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory. Image: Navin Ramgoolam. Pic: Reuters Under the reported terms of the draft deal, the UK will hand over sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius, except for the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia, which will remain under...