Elections in Lebanon, Hezbollah and its allies lose votes

BEIRUT – Not an avalanche, but a crack: the first, in a system of power and in a Parliament hitherto dominated by the Shiite group Hezbollah and its allies. This is the picture that emerges from the still provisional results of the legislative elections that were held yesterday in Lebanon, the first since the country slipped into the terrible economic crisis that brought 80% of the population below the poverty line.