This is Beirut - United States

Trump Says Deal with Xi 'Extremely Hard' as Steel Tariffs Double

This is Beirut, 04/06 22:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump United States China Tarrifs Xi Jinping

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday it is "extremely hard" to reach a deal with China over a trade impasse that has roiled global markets, while his doubling of metal tariffs fueled tensions with key partners. Trump's latest salvos came as ministers from Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries ...

Trump Says Putin Plans to Retaliate after Ukraine Drone Strikes

This is Beirut, 04/06 22:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump Vladimir Putin Russia United States Ukraine

Donald Trump says Vladimir Putin warned him "very strongly" in a call Wednesday that he would respond to Ukraine's stunning attack on Russian airfields, adding that any immediate prospect of peace remained far off. Kyiv's daring mass drone strikes on Sunday destroyed several nuclear-capable bombers worth billions of dollars and ...

Trump Accuses Iran of 'Slow-walking' as Khamenei Opposes Nuclear Proposal

This is Beirut, 04/06 22:09 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

United States Donald Trump Ukraine Russia

US President Donald Trump accused Tehran on Wednesday of "slow-walking" on a nuclear deal after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the latest proposal from Washington was against the national interest. The longtime foes have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new accord to replace the deal with ...

Zelensky Says Russian Ceasefire Memorandum is an 'Ultimatum'

This is Beirut, 04/06 17:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Volodymyr Zelensky Ukraine Russia United States

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said that Russia was giving Ukraine an ultimatum for peace negotiations but said he was ready to hold direct talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump "any day." His comments came after Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul swapped terms for agreeing to a ...

US to Eventually Reduce Military Bases in Syria to One

This is Beirut, 03/06 22:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

United States Syria Tom Barrack

The United States has begun reducing its military presence in Syria with a view to eventually closing all but one of its bases there, the US envoy for the country has said in an interview. Six months after the ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, the United States is steadily drawing down its presence as part of Operation Inherent ...

Trump to Attend NATO Summit in The Hague

This is Beirut, 03/06 21:52 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump NATO The Hague United States

US President Donald Trump will attend a NATO summit in The Hague later in June where his demands to ramp up defense spending will dominate the agenda, the White House said Tuesday. Trump has long criticized NATO partners for not paying their fair share and had not previously confirmed he would attend the meeting, his first with the transatlantic ...

Iran Says US Nuclear Proposal Contains 'Ambiguities, Questions'

This is Beirut, 03/06 19:26 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran Iran Nuclear Program Uranium Enrichment United States

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday that a US proposal for a new nuclear agreement submitted through mediator Oman has "many ambiguities and questions." "The written proposal we received from the US contains many ambiguities and questions. Many issues in this proposal are not clear," Araghchi said while on a visit to Lebanon. On ...

As Iran Retreats, Islamist Turkey and Qatar Surge in Lebanon

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, 03/06 10:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Iran Lebanon Qatar United States Saudi Arabia

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, a Sunni, entered the stadium of Beirut’s Sports City to watch the classic football game between the two rival teams Nijmeh and Ansar. When the Shia supporters of Nijmeh saw Salam, they started shouting slogans in support of Hezbollah and its late chief Hassan Nasrallah. The Sunni fans of Ansar fired back, ...

Trump and Xi ‘Likely’ to Speak This Week

This is Beirut, 02/06 21:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump United States Xi Jinping China

US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping will likely hold a long-awaited call later this week, the White House said Monday, as trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies ratchet back up. Trump reignited strains with China last week when he accused the world's second-biggest economy of violating a deal that had led ...

Zelensky Urges Trump to Approve Sanctions to 'Push' Russia to Full Ceasefire

This is Beirut, 02/06 20:35 - Reading : less than a minute

Volodymyr Zelensky Ukraine United States Donald Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday urged his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to approve more sanctions to "push" Russia into a full ceasefire after Moscow once again declined a 30-day halt to hostilities. "We really expect Trump to take strong steps," he said at a briefing with journalists after a second round of ...

When Cigarettes Fueled the Economy…

Christiane Tager, 31/05 21:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Europe United States USA tobacco Lebanon

For decades, cigarettes were a real nicotine cash cow for governments. A thriving industry, lucrative taxes, countless jobs and mass consumption that, despite health warnings, was an integral part of the global economic and social landscape. But that was before public health got seriously involved. On May 31st, we take a collective breath: it’s ...

Hamas Agrees to US Truce Plan, Will Release 10 Living Hostages

This is Beirut, 31/05 19:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hamas Gaza Israel Steve Witkoff United States

Hamas announced on Saturday that it had submitted its reply to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal, but Washington's main negotiator almost immediately criticised the response as "totally unacceptable". Hamas did not say it had accepted the proposal from US envoy Steve Witkoff, but a Hamas source told AFP the group's response ...

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