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Nigeria Discussing Security with US after Trump Threats

Nigeria is in talks with the United States following President Donald Trump's threats of military intervention over the killing of Christians by jihadists in the country, Nigeria's foreign minister told AFP on Monday. Trump said late last month he was naming Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), a State Department designation for ...

AI Nostalgia Videos Revive a Dreamy Vision of 1980s Life

“The 1980s are calling,” a teenager with a throwback hairstyle tells viewers as “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” the Tears for Fears rock anthem from that decade, plays in the background. The fake montage — entirely generated using artificial intelligence — has racked up more than 600,000 “likes” on Instagram and is part of an ...

US House Votes to Repeal Caesar Act Sanctions on Syria

The US House of Representatives has voted to repeal the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, a landmark sanctions regime imposed in 2019 on officials of former president Bashar al-Assad’s government for war crimes and human rights abuses. The repeal measure was included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, ...

Simon Karam's Appointment Sparks Reactions from Political Leaders

President Joseph Aoun’s appointment of former ambassador Simon Karam to Lebanon’s delegation for the ceasefire monitoring committee, established under the November 27, 2024, agreement, has sparked a wave of political reactions. The reactions, largely supportive, underscore the high political stakes tied to the appointment. Several national ...

Red Carpet and Big Deals: Trump Welcomes MBS to Washington

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will receive a lavish welcome from US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, signing defense and nuclear deals during his first visit to the United States since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump is expected to roll out the red carpet for the prince with a fly-by, cannon fire, and a gala dinner ...

Ceasefire Anniversary: Hezbollah Rebuilds, Israeli Strikes Persist

One year after the 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, southern Lebanon remains tense as the militia steadily rebuilds its military and civilian infrastructure, triggering daily Israeli airstrikes despite the truce. Hezbollah’s Ideology Drives Reconstruction An analysis of 669 Israeli airstrikes since November 27, 2024, by the ...

Pope Urges Lebanese to Stay in Their Country Despite Difficulties

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called on the Lebanese people to embrace reconciliation and to remain in their country. Arriving from Turkey on his first international trip, the American pope brought a message of peace for Lebanon, while also urging its leaders to put themselves fully "at the service of your people". "There are times when it is easier to ...

UN Nuclear Head Renews Call for Iran to Allow Inspections at Key Sites

The head of the UN nuclear agency on Wednesday renewed his call for Iran to allow inspections at key nuclear sites attacked by Israel and the United States in June. Tensions between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have repeatedly flared in recent years and were further inflamed after a 12-day war in June that saw Israeli ...

The Digital Dollar: Hezbollah’s New Financial Weapon

Hezbollah’s financing continues to raise serious concerns. A clash is unfolding between international law and the militia, which is using multiple strategies to protect its resources. According to several sources, the group has even turned to digital dollars, particularly Tether, to secure its financial survival. Last week, a US Treasury ...

Carbon Capture Promoters Turn Up in Numbers at COP30

Companies and groups backing carbon-capture technology, which critics slam as an excuse to keep burning fossil fuels, have deployed more than 500 participants to the COP30 climate talks, according to a list compiled by an NGO and shared exclusively with AFP. The list, assembled by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), names oil ...

Egypt's Foreign Minister Presents De-Escalation Proposal to Lebanon

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reaffirmed Cairo’s “full support” for Lebanon’s efforts to assert exclusive state control over weapons during an official visit to Beirut on Wednesday. After talks with President Joseph Aoun, Abdelatty underscored Egypt’s backing for the president’s latest Independence ...

Israel Finds Nine Bodies in Rafah Tunnels as Mediators Discuss Safe Passage for Hamas Fighters

The Israeli army announced on Friday that it had recovered the bodies of nine Palestinian fighters recently killed during its operations to dismantle the tunnel network in the southern Gaza Strip. During operations in the eastern sector of Rafah, soldiers “located nine additional terrorists who had been eliminated in the underground terrorist ...

Historic Pont Neuf Set to Become Artist JR’s Latest Monumental Installation

French artist JR, who made his way from tagging graffiti on the street to being one of the most recognizable figures on the country's art scene, has told AFP how he plans to turn the oldest bridge in Paris into an "immersive cave" for his latest project. Once hailed as the "French Banksy" after the secretive British street artist, JR has become ...

Kassem Rejects Disarmament, Opposes the Appointment of a Civilian to the "Mechanism"

Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem reaffirmed his militia’s categorical refusal to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state and criticized the appointment of a civilian—former ambassador Simon Karam—to the ceasefire supervision mechanism. He described the decision as “illegal,” “baseless,” and “another mistake,” ...

The Gucci Jackie: Italian Elegance in Jackie Kennedy’s Hand

Named after an icon and defined by its unmistakable silhouette, the Jackie exemplifies the subtle interplay between Italian refinement and global elegance. As one of the Florentine house’s signature pieces, it rose to fame through Jackie Kennedy Onassis, who lent it an enduring aura of sophistication. This is the remarkable journey of an ...

Sharaa Says Israeli Push for Buffer Zone Would Endanger Syria

President Ahmed al-Sharaa warned Saturday that Israel's demand for a demilitarized zone in southern Syria would endanger his country, as Israeli forces continue to operate in the area. Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone, which has separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights since 1974. Sharaa's Islamist forces ...

Is Hamas Rebuilding Its Military Presence in Lebanon?

The Israeli strike that targeted the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in southern Lebanon on Tuesday night has brought back into focus a question that had mostly stayed out of the spotlight in the conflict, at least since the November 27, 2024 ceasefire, which shifted attention primarily to Hezbollah: Is Hamas in the process of rebuilding ...

New Strikes on Gaza Kill Five

Gaza health authorities said fresh Israeli air strikes killed five people on Thursday, as ceasefire mediator Qatar warned the renewed attacks threatened to undermine the fragile weeks-long truce between Israel and Hamas. The new strikes came the morning after one of the deadliest days in the Gaza Strip since the truce began on October 10. Qatar, ...

Lady Dior: The Legendary Bag Inspired by Lady Di

In September 1995, the destiny of an accessory was forever transformed during an official visit by Princess Diana to Paris. Invited to the Cézanne exhibition at the Grand Palais, the princess received a Dior bag from Bernadette Chirac, then France’s first lady. This understated object, still unnamed, was soon destined for legend, born from the ...

Johnny Depp Calls Life With Vanessa Paradis “Bliss” in Rare Interview

Johnny Depp's life with former French partner Vanessa Paradis and their two children was "bliss," the US actor told AFP in an interview on Thursday. "I have nothing but incredible memories from those days. They gave me time to be a tour father," Depp said in Tokyo. "Vanessa was doing her shows, you know, various tours. I got to be just Daddy for ...

ALS: A Protein Signature that Could Change the Game

In the field of neurodegenerative diseases, scientists have spent decades chasing the same goal: finding an early and reliable biomarker that can reveal what the body has not yet shown. For ALS, that search has long seemed out of reach. The disease arrives quietly, progresses unnoticed, and only becomes visible once the first motor neurons are ...

Fondation Cartier Unveils its Bold New Home at the Heart of Paris

The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain is turning a page and stepping into a bold future as it leaves boulevard Raspail for 2, Place du Palais-Royal. Moving into the former Louvre des antiquaires—a Haussmann-era building revived by Jean Nouvel, who also designed its previous home—the Fondation embraces a transformed vision of what an ...

In Turkey, a Patchwork of Christian Communities

Turkey's Christian community, which hosts Pope Leo XIV this week, was a minority under the Ottoman Empire whose numbers have dwindled due to forced exiles and massacres. Today, it counts around 100,000 members spread across five denominations -- just a fraction of Turkey's population of 86 million, the vast majority of whom are Sunni ...

Football – 2025 Arab Cup: Lebanon Self-Destructs Despite Numerical Advantage

No one will be able to say the context wasn’t favorable. In Doha, on the pitch of the Thani bin Jassim Stadium, in front of 20,816 spectators and under the eyes of Gianni Infantino and Lebanese FA president Hachem Haidar, Lebanon played more than an hour with eleven men against ten… only to lose 2–1 to Sudan and crash out of the 2025 Arab ...

Kate Winslet Directs First Film, 'Goodbye June', Written by Her Son

Oscar-winning British actress Kate Winslet said she was "so proud" of herself for directing her first film, Goodbye June, and would "love to do more." Speaking at the Christmas drama's world premiere in London on Wednesday, the 50-year-old Winslet, who also acts in the film, said she found the experience of directing "incredibly rewarding." “I ...

Qassem: “We Have the Right to Respond”, Adraee: Lebanese State Must Continue Disarming Hezbollah

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said Friday evening in a televised address that Israel’s assassination of Haytham Ali Tabatabai was “a blatant attack and a heinous crime.” He added, “We have the right to respond, and we will decide the appropriate time to do so.” Marking one year since the signing of the cease-fire, Qassem ...