This is Beirut

Gaza Truce Talks Resume in Qatar as Violence Shows no Let-Up

This is Beirut, 05/01 09:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Palestine Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu USA Hamas

Israel confirmed on Saturday that negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal had resumed in Qatar, as rescuers said more than 30 people had been killed in fresh bombardment of the territory. The civil defence agency said a dawn air strike on the home of the al-Ghoula family in Gaza City killed 11 people, seven of them ...

Judge to Sentence Trump Before Inauguration in Hush Money Case

This is Beirut, 04/01 09:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump New York USA

The New York judge presiding over President-elect Donald Trump's hush money case on Friday set sentencing for 10 days before his January 20 inauguration and said he was not inclined to impose jail time. Judge Juan Merchan said Trump, the first former president ever convicted of a crime, can appear either in person or virtually at his January 10 ...

National Funeral Service, Flyover and 39 Bells for Carter Sendoff

This is Beirut, 04/01 09:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA Washington White House Carter

Mourners are to begin paying their respects to Jimmy Carter on Saturday, kicking off a carefully choreographed six-day farewell for America's longest-lived president. Flags have been flying at half-mast around the country since Carter died on December 29 at the age of 100 in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. Carter's state funeral officially ...

Biden Blocks US Steel Sale to Japan's Nippon Steel

This is Beirut, 04/01 09:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

USA Donald Trump

US Steel and Nippon Steel threatened legal action Friday after President Joe Biden blocked a controversial $14.9 billion deal for the Japanese company to buy its American rival. Biden cited a strategic need to protect domestic industry -- but the move drew sharp criticism from both companies. The decision came after a government panel failed to ...

Czech Republic Reopens Damascus Embassy to Help US

This is Beirut, 03/01 12:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

USA Damascus Israel Middle East

The Czech Republic, whose embassy has represented the United States in Syria since 2012, has reopened its mission after closing it last month following a coup that toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. The Czech Republic has represented the US and other Western countries in Syria after nations closed their embassies because of civil war. "We ...

Top US Republican Fights for Future in Cliffhanger Vote

This is Beirut, 03/01 09:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Republicans USA Donald Trump Democrats

US Republican leader Mike Johnson was set to face down critics Friday in a vote in Congress that could see him returned as one of the country's top statesmen – or jettisoned to the back benches and political obscurity. Having seized the gavel in a palace coup in 2023, the Louisiana conservative is vying for reelection as speaker of the House of ...

Asia stocks begin year on cautious note

This is Beirut, 02/01 17:27 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump New York USA Washington

Asian stocks began 2025 mostly in the red on Thursday after worries about US interest rates, tariffs and China's economy gave Wall Street the holiday blues for a fourth straight session. Equities mostly had a bumper 2024 on the back of enthusiasm about artificial intelligence (AI), cuts in borrowing costs by central banks and Donald Trump's ...

Attack in New Orleans: The Suspect is An Ex-Military Man ‘Inspired’ By The Islamic State Group

This is Beirut, 02/01 05:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

New York USA Terrorist attack New Orleans

Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, the deceased suspect in the ram-vehicle attack in New Orleans that killed at least 15 people on Wednesday, was ‘inspired’ by the Islamic State group and had reportedly become radicalised in recent years. An estate agent and former soldier, the man was a 42-year-old American citizen born in Texas. US President Joe ...

Minassian: Lebanon Needs a Unifying and Visionary President

This is Beirut, 01/01 11:00 - Reading : less than a minute

USA

The Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenian Catholics, Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, called on Lebanese leaders to “assume their responsibilities and put the interests of the nation first.” In this context, he stressed the need for Lebanon to have a president who is “unifying, visionary, not affiliated with any particular group, and who can ...

French Air Strikes Target IS Positions in Syria

This is Beirut, 2024-12-31 14:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

USA France Syria

French aircraft have bombed Islamic State positions in Syria, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Tuesday, in its first such strike on the country's soil since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. "Our armed forces remain engaged in battling terrorism in the Levant," Lecornu wrote on X while on a New Year visit to French UN peacekeepers in ...

Carter's Legacy in Iran: A "Negative Role" in the Eyes of Many Iranians

This is Beirut, 2024-12-31 10:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

USA Tehran United States

Iran played a central role in Jimmy Carter's presidency, but in Tehran, where state television branded him the "architect of economic sanctions", many have far from fond memories of the late US president. The former US president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who passed away on Monday at the age of 100, left behind a legacy of punitive measures ...

Houthis Claim Missile Strikes on Israel and US Aircraft Carrier

This is Beirut, 2024-12-31 10:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

USA Israel Gulf Hamas Houthi

Houthis said Tuesday that they had fired two missiles at Israel, hours after the Israeli military said it had intercepted a projectile launched from the Yemen. "The first (attack) targeted Ben Gurion Airport" in Tel Aviv, and the second was fired at a power station south of Jerusalem, a Houthi military statement said. The rebels also said they ...

USA