This is Beirut - middle east

Scholz, Erdogan Progress on Defence Talks but Clash on Middle East

This is Beirut, 2024-10-19 19:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Europe Hamas Middle East Palestine Turkey

Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan thanked Germany's Olaf Scholz for his help in advancing a defence contract following talks in Istanbul on Saturday, although the pair remained starkly at odds over the Middle East crisis. The German chancellor arrived on Friday night for his first visit since March 2022 with tensions in the Middle East high on the ...

Threats and Diplomacy: Iran’s Dual Strategy on Israel

This is Beirut, 2024-10-19 17:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Gulf Middle East Turkey United Nations Iran

Awaiting Israel's promised retaliation for a missile attack earlier this month, Iran has balanced threats of a fierce response to any Israeli attack with diplomatic efforts to prevent escalation into all-out regional war. Iran launched 200 missiles at its arch-foe on October 1 in response to an Israeli strike that killed Iranian general Abbas ...

G7 Defense Ministers Convene as Tensions Rise in Middle East and Ukraine

This is Beirut, 2024-10-19 10:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

G7 Middle East Ukraine NATO

The Group of Seven (G7) defense ministers started talks on Saturday against a backdrop of escalation in the Middle East and mounting pressure on Ukraine as it faces another winter of fighting. Italy, holding the rotating presidency of the G7 countries, organized the body's first ministerial meeting dedicated to defense, staged in Naples, the ...

War and Displacement: A Population Reconfiguration?

Shaheer Idriss, 2024-10-18 16:58 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Middle East Turkey displacement war Lebanon

The crisis of displacement among residents of southern Lebanon, the Beqaa, and the southern suburbs of Beirut is intensifying. Many individuals have taken refuge in schools and shelters, spreading out on the grounds and sidewalks, while those wealthier have rented homes and businesses in safer areas across Lebanon to escape the relentless Israeli ...

Gold Prices Hit Record High Amid Geopolitical Uncertainty

This is Beirut, 2024-10-18 11:00 - Reading : less than a minute

Hamas Middle East Ukraine Gold

Gold prices hit a record high above $2,700 on Friday as traders piled into the safe-haven commodity at a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, including in the Middle East after Israel said it killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar. Bullion hit an all-time high of $2,704.89 in early Asian trade, up from its previous record of $2,688.83 touched on ...

Israeli-Iranian Conflict: The Strait of Hormuz as a Pressure Tactic

Liliane Mokbel, 2024-10-17 10:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Europe Gulf Kuwait Middle East Saudi Arabia Tehran Ukraine United States

Iran may have to resort to a strategic tool: control of the Strait of Hormuz. According to several analyses, this tactic could be as devastating as a nuclear weapon. However, unlike a nuclear weapon, whose use would bring catastrophic consequences for Iran itself, the threat of closing the Strait of Hormuz serves as a form of "asymmetric ...

Patriarch Rai Quoting Pope Francis: 'Violence Never Brings Peace'

This is Beirut, 2024-10-13 13:45 - Reading : less than a minute

Bechara Rai Middle East Pope Francis

Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai read out a letter from Pope Francis addressed to the Christians of the Middle East during his Sunday homily. During the mass celebrated at the patriarchal headquarters in Bkerke, Patriarch Rai shared the Pope's words to "comfort" and "encourage" the faithful. "I will not tire of repeating that war is a defeat, that ...

US Expands Sanctions Against Iran’s Oil Industry Over Israel Strikes

This is Beirut, 2024-10-11 22:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Middle East Tehran USA

The United States hit Iran's oil and petrochemicals sectors with fresh sanctions on Friday in response to Tehran's October 1 attack against Israel, designating dozens of new companies and firms. In a statement on Friday, the Treasury Department said it was going after Iran's so-called "shadow fleet" of ships involved in selling Iranian oil in ...

Japanese Atomic Bomb Survivor Group Wins Nobel Peace Prize

This is Beirut, 2024-10-11 21:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Middle East Tehran Ukraine United Nations Japan

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to Japan's Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors pushing for a nuclear weapons ban, as states like Russia threaten to use them. The group, also known as Hibakusha and founded in 1956, received the honor "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and ...

European Mediterranean States Discuss Middle East, Migration

This is Beirut, 2024-10-11 18:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

European Union Middle East Palestine United Nations West Bank

Leaders from nine European countries around the Mediterranean Sea met in Cyprus on Friday to discuss the wars in the Middle East, which they fear will fuel migration and threaten their own security. Heads of state or government from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia and Croatia were joined by the king of Jordan, ...

Russia and Iran Hail ‘Close’ World Views

This is Beirut, 2024-10-11 16:26 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Middle East Tehran Ukraine Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday hailed their "close" views on world affairs, with the Russian leader saying ties with Tehran were a "priority" for Moscow. The pair held a meeting in Turkmenistan, one of the world's most secretive states, amid soaring tensions in the Middle East, with Israeli air strikes on Beirut ...

Al-Quds Force Chief Esmail Qaani Jailed and Interrogated in Iran?

This is Beirut, 2024-10-10 18:22 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Hassan Nasrallah Middle East

Iranian general Esmail Qaani, head of the al-Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is alive but is reportedly in custody and under investigation in Iran, according to information revealed on Thursday by the British media outlet Middle East Eye (MEE). During his interrogation, Qaani reportedly suffered a heart attack and ...

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