This is Beirut - middle east

After Assad’s Fall, Erdogan Enjoys Moment ‘In the Sun'

This is Beirut, 2024-12-17 12:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Israel Middle East Turkey Ukraine USA Vladimir Putin

After backing the rebels who overthrew Bashar al-Assad and brokering a key Horn of Africa peace deal, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan has boosted his international standing, leaving him well-placed to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, analysts say. Although Turkey was not directly involved in the Syrian strongman's overthrow, it has long ...

The Fall of the Captagon Empire: Assad’s Regime and the Drug Trade

Vanessa Kallas, 2024-12-16 11:10 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Hezbollah Middle East Captagon Syria

The Assad regime has fallen, leaving behind the largest Captagon empire in the world. For years, the regime relied on the multibillion-dollar Captagon market to finance its war efforts, support allied militias like Hezbollah and circumvent international sanctions. Recent seizures of Captagon factories and pills in former regime strongholds ...

Navigating the Uncertainties of the Post-Assad Era

Michel Touma, 2024-12-16 11:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Israel Middle East Benjamin Netanyahu Syria Bashar al-Assad

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had anticipated it well before Bashar al-Assad's downfall, pointing to the emergence of a new Middle East. Likewise, President-elect Donald Trump had set the tone during his campaign, emphasizing his commitment to forging peace in a region beset by over seven decades of armed conflict and largely ...

Egypt inaugurates $500 million solar power plant in Aswan

This is Beirut, 2024-12-14 16:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Banks Middle East

Egypt inaugurated a $500 million solar plant in the southern city of Aswan on Saturday as part of its push to boost renewable energy production after last summer's severe power outages. The Abydos Solar PV Plant, which was developed by Dubai-based energy company AMEA Power, has a capacity of 500 megawatts and was completed in just 18 months. The ...

Blinken Meets Turkish Counterpart in Ankara

This is Beirut, 2024-12-13 10:01 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Antony Blinken Middle East USA Syria

Mr. Blinken started his meeting with Mr. Fidan at 9:40 a.m. (6:40 GMT) on Friday, according to a U.S. official. He arrived in the Turkish capital on Thursday evening and held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a lounge at Ankara's airport. "Turkey will never show weakness in the fight against ISIS," President Erdogan told ...

Abolish the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council Immediately!

Maurice Matta, 2024-12-12 10:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Banks Beirut Port Damascus Hezbollah Middle East

Syrian presence in Lebanon dates back to 1976, a year after the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war. Syrian forces entered Lebanon as part of the Arab Deterrent Forces, and the Syrian government successfully cemented its presence. This was later consolidated by the Arab League mandate under the Taif Agreement, signed on October 22, 1989, which ...

Blinken Embarks on Syria Crisis Tour After Assad’s Fall

This is Beirut, 2024-12-11 16:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Antony Blinken Israel Middle East USA Syria

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads Wednesday on an emergency tour after the overthrow of Syria's dictatorship, in a new, last-minute attempt to shape a Middle East legacy after a turbulent year. The top US diplomat of President Joe Biden, who has little more than one month in office, is set to press principles he has outlined for a ...

Trump Reaffirms Solving Ukraine Crisis his Top Priority

This is Beirut, 2024-12-11 10:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump Emmanuel Macron Middle East Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

Donald Trump has reaffirmed that solving the Ukraine crisis would be his top priority once he assumes office next month, describing the Middle East as a "less difficult situation." "I think we have to solve the Ukraine problem with Russia," the US president-elect told French magazine Paris Match in an interview recorded on Saturday and released ...

Netanyahu Welcomes Assad's Fall, Reaffirms Israel's Hold on Golan Heights

This is Beirut, 2024-12-09 21:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Israel Middle East Benjamin Netanyahu USA Syria

A new chapter has unfolded in the Middle East following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the outset of a press conference in Jerusalem, his first in 99 days. Highlighting Iran's extensive financial and military support for Assad, Netanyahu emphasized the regime's brutality towards its own ...

The Fall of Assad Brings a New Middle East

This is Beirut, 2024-12-09 09:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Damascus Gulf Middle East United States

It took just 11 days for Syrian rebels to force Bashar al-Assad to flee the country and impose a new revision of the strategic map in the Middle East. The Syrian strongman had for nearly 14 years held off an uprising that many believed had been exhausted. But his downfall followed a series of battlefield convulsions for other allies of ...

The Fall of Assad: Another Major Setback for Hezbollah and Its Allies

Elie Ziadé, 2024-12-08 15:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Damascus Hassan Nasrallah Hezbollah Israel Middle East Tehran

The collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime delivers a major blow to the Iranian axis in the region, with Hezbollah bearing the brunt of the impact. Assad's departure signals the disintegration of the once-aspired "Shia Crescent," which aimed to connect Tehran to Beirut via Baghdad and Damascus. As a new Middle East takes shape ...

The Assad Reign in Lebanon: Discord and Destabilization

Michel Touma, 2024-12-08 13:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Kamal Joumblatt Middle East Syria Assad Lebanon

Four years ago, Lebanon celebrated the centennial of Greater Lebanon’s creation. It is important to acknowledge that almost half of these one hundred years were marked by the unfortunate conflicts with the Assad regime, from the early 1970s to the dramatic downfall of Bashar al-Assad and his regime on December 8, a historic day. Lebanon’s ...

middle east