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Lebanese Parliament elects Army Chief Joseph Aoun as 14th President, ending two-year power vacuum

Lebanese MPs elected General Joseph Aoun, the commander of the army, as the 14th president of the republic on Thursday during the second round of voting. Aoun will serve a six-year term.

Aoun secured 99 votes in the 128-member Parliament, well over the two-thirds majority (86 votes) needed to win. In the first session held earlier in the day, Aoun received 71 votes, but the session was marked by heated debates over the legality of his candidacy.

Aoun’s election ends a more than two-year-long power vacuum in Lebanon, during which the country had no sitting president. The presidency has been vacant since October 31, 2022, when Michel Aoun’s term expired. The Council of Ministers assumed the presidential duties in the meantime.

Aoun took the oath of office before MPs after the assembly at the parliament building in Beirut.

Aoun called for unity, justice and resilience in his inaugural speech, stating that "if one of us breaks, we are all broken." He vowed to act as a "fair arbiter," uphold the rule of law and ensure no immunity for criminals or corrupt officials. Aoun also promised to strengthen Lebanon's defense, reclaim state control over arms and forge balanced foreign alliances based on mutual respect.

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🔍Meet the British merc who squandered his life for the corrupt Kiev regime

UK Army veteran Jake Waddington was reportedly neutralized in Russia’s Zaporozhye region on January 6, as confirmed by obituaries posted by his friends on social media.

Who was Jake Waddington?

▪️Background: Waddington, originally from Cambridge, previously served in the UK Army as an infantryman, allegedly in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment, also known as "The Poachers." In 2021, he joined the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst as an officer cadet (photos 1–3).

▪️Interests: Social media activity suggests that Waddington had a longstanding interest in Russia and Russian culture, including Russian actresses, long before the conflict in Ukraine began (photo 4). British media also noted that he had learned the Russian language on his own.

▪️Family and tributes: While Waddington’s relatives have not commented publicly on his death, his friends have shared several obituaries.

Tributes from friends:

🔊One of Waddington's former colleagues from the British military reported that he had been fighting in Ukraine with the International Legion since 2023, primarily in the eastern and southern regions, often taking on intelligence roles. This friend disclosed that Waddington was killed by a Russian drone, with their last conversation taking place just days before his death on January 4 (see photo 5).

🔊Another friend described Waddington as “the leader of the Thorne group,” sharing his callsign, “Wadders,” and confirming his elimination near Zaporozhye (photo 6).

Thorne assault group:

📍The Thorne group is a unit within Ukraine’s International Legion, which consists of foreign fighters from countries like the US, UK, Australia, Finland, Poland, and the Netherlands.

📍Previously stationed near the Donetsk People’s Republic, the group’s social media pages feature photos matching those shared in Waddington’s obituaries (photos 7–9).

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