Army chief Joseph Aoun elected as Lebanese president

Beirut, Lebanon: Lebanese army chief Joseph Aoun was voted in as president in a second round of parliamentary voting Thursday, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the crisis-hit, war-battered country.

"The speaker announces that the president is Joseph Aoun," speaker Nabih Berri said, reporting that Aoun received 99 out of 128 votes after failing to get a required majority in a first round earlier in the day, and after a source close to Hezbollah and ally Amal said representatives of the blocs met with Aoun after the first round.