Lebanon’s parliament chose a U.S.-trained general as president, ending a two-year vacancy in a sign of Hezbollah’s waning influence.

Lebanon's parliament convened on Thursday to elect a new head of state, aiming to fill a post which has been vacant since 2022, with political sources expecting army commander General Joseph Aoun to be elected.

Lebanon's parliament has elected the country's army chief as president, ending a power vacuum that has lasted more than two years. Joseph Aoun's candidacy was backed by several political parties, as well as the US, France and Saudi Arabia.

President Claudia Sheinbaum proposed using the 17th-century name in response to President-elect Donald Trump's comment he'd try to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico.

Trump has butted heads with Sheinbaum, a leftist scientist who became Mexico’s first female president in October, since he won re-election. The beef began over Trump’s pitch to slap 25 percent tariffs on Mexican imports—a measure that Sheinbaum has pledged to match if Trump actually implements such a measure.