Lebanon elects Nawaf Salam as Prime Minister and Gaza ceasefire is imminent - Trending

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Nawaf Salam was named as Lebanon’s next Prime Minister after receiving the support of 84 MPs when they held binding consultations with newly elected President Joseph Aoun on Monday.

Mr Salam is president of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The decision was a blow to Hezbollah, which supported the status quo with caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati as leader.

Israel and Hamas on Monday gave their approval "in principle" to a draft deal brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar to pause the Gaza war and free the hostages held in the enclave, sources told The National.

US President Joe Biden addressed the progress in his final foreign policy speech in office.

Israel and Hamas said an announcement of an approved deal could be made on Tuesday morning in Doha, where mediators and Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been involved in the latest push to end the 15-month war.

Meanwhile, the UAE's MBZ-Sat, the region’s most advanced Earth observation satellite, is set to launch today.

The 700kg satellite will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, engineered by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, at 10.49pm (UAE time), the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre said. Live coverage of the launch will begin at 9.30pm (UAE time).

MBZ-Sat has been in development by Emirati engineers at the MBRSC since 2020, with the majority of the satellite parts manufactured by private companies.