This is Beirut

Council of Ministers Approves UNIFIL’s Mandate Extension

This is Beirut, 17/04 14:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Council of ministers Lebanon Hezbollah UNIFIL Syria

Lebanon’s Cabinet approved the annual extension of the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Thursday. The decision, made during a meeting at Baabda Palace chaired by President Joseph Aoun, sets the stage for the upcoming UN Security Council vote on renewing the peacekeeping mission for another year at Lebanon’s ...

Sharaa–Bin Laden: Reversed Paths!

Marc Saikali, 17/04 13:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Damascus Israel HTS Ahmad al-Sharaa Syria Bachar el Assad

Let it be crystal clear: no Syrian, no Lebanese, no Palestinian… regrets the fall of the Khmer Rouge of the Levant. The Assad dynasty, guilty of crimes against humanity and large-scale massacres against its own people, as well as those of “brotherly” countries, has finally fallen after fourteen years of civil war. The problem is that today, ...

Charity Says 400,000 Children in Syria Risk 'Severe Malnutrition' after US Cuts

This is Beirut, 16/04 18:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Save the Children USAID

Save the Children said on Wednesday that more than 400,000 children in Syria were at risk of "severe malnutrition" after the United States suspended aid, forcing the charity to slash operations in the war-torn country. Bujar Hoxha, Save the Children's Syria director, in a statement called on the international community to urgently fill the ...

Syria Ministers to Attend IMF and World Bank Meetings Next Week

This is Beirut, 14/04 19:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

IMF World Bank Syria

Syrian ministers and the country's central bank chief are to take part in the International Monetary Fund and World Bank's spring meetings in Washington next week, two sources told AFP on Monday. Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Finance Minister Mohammed Barnieh and central bank governor Abdul Qadir al-Hasriya were set to join the April 21-26 ...

PM Salam and al-Sharaa Conclude Talks, Agree on Key Issues

This is Beirut, 14/04 17:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Lebanon Ahmad Sharaa Nawaf Salam

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa concluded high-level talks in Damascus on Monday, agreeing to form a joint ministerial committee to address several long-standing bilateral issues, in what was described as a “very positive” atmosphere. Salam arrived at Damascus International Airport around 1:30 PM, accompanied ...

UAE President says Ready to Support Syria Reconstruction

This is Beirut, 14/04 09:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

United Arab Emirates Syria

The United Arab Emirates wants to support Syria's reconstruction, the Gulf nation's president said as he met Sunday with Syria's interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, state media said. At the meeting in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan "affirmed the UAE's keenness to support... Syria to confront the challenges of the transitional phase and ...

Lebanon: The Staggering Transition

Charles Chartouni, 14/04 09:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lebanon United States Syria Hezbollah Israel

Foreign observers wonder why the transition seems to be so awkward at a time when the proper conditions for an orderly political change are in place. Far from being accidental, these botched opportunities are ascribed to systemic factors related to undermined national legitimacy, curtailed sovereignty, dysfunctional governance, and regional ...

Syria Leader Makes First Visit to Wealthy Emirates

This is Beirut, 13/04 16:15 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

United Arab Emirates Syria Ahmad al-Sharaa

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose war-devastated country seeks Gulf financial support, traveled to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday for his first visit since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow, state media said. Nearly a week after rebels toppled Assad in December, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said his government found ...

Salam on 50th Anniversary of Civil War: Time to Rebuild a State Protected by Its Army

This is Beirut, 13/04 13:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon Civil War Nawaf Salam Syria

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who laid a wreath of flowers at the Martyrs’ Monument in central Beirut on the 50th anniversary of the commemoration of the Lebanese Civil War on Sunday, said, “We must learn from the tragedies of the war and it is time to rebuild our state capable of protecting us through its army.” On the occasion, he ...

Army Seizes Truck Carrying Captagon Manufacturing Equipment in Hermel

This is Beirut, 13/04 12:30 - Reading : less than a minute

army lebanon captagon syria narcotics lebanese-syrian border

An Army unit, in coordination with a patrol from the Intelligence Directorate, seized a truck carrying equipment used for Captagon production along with raw materials used in narcotics manufacturing in Sammaka, Hermel on Saturday, April 12. According to a statement issued by the Army Command – Directorate of Orientation, “the seized items ...

Syrian Forces Deploy at Key Dam Under Deal with Kurds

This is Beirut, 12/04 17:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Syrian Democratic Forces Kurds

Security forces from the new Islamist government in Damascus deployed Saturday around a strategic dam in northern Syria, under a deal with the autonomous Kurdish administration, state media reported. Under the agreement, Kurdish-led fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will pull back from the dam, which they captured from the ...

Erdogan Accuses Israel of Destabilizing Syria

This is Beirut, 11/04 17:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Erdogan Syria Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday accused Israel of sowing divisions in Syria in a bid to "dynamite" the "revolution" that toppled strongman Bashar al-Assad. Turkey is a key backer of Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led the rebel coalition which ousted Assad in December. "Israel ...

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