World

Turkey Proposes to Host Trump-Putin-Zelensky Meeting

This is Beirut 12:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Turkey Ukraine Ceasefire Volodymyr Zelensky Donald Trump

Turkey on Friday proposed to host a meeting between the American, Russian and Ukrainian presidents in an effort to advance toward an end of the three years of war in Ukraine. NATO member Turkey, which has strove to maintain relations with both Kyiv and Moscow, has become a key mediator amid US President Donald Trump's push for a deal to end the ...

SpotlightThe Cost of No Peace: What Lebanon Loses by Staying in a Perpetual State of 'Resistance'

Tara B. Moussallem 10:50 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Peace Israel Hezbollah

In Lebanon, the word “resistance” has long been romanticized—chanted in songs, woven into political slogans and wrapped in the symbolism of national pride. Yet, behind this idealized notion lies a sobering truth: Lebanon is a nation trapped in a permanent state of conflict, with its sovereignty and future held hostage by Hezbollah’s ...

InterviewsWith AI and More Shade, Saudi Set for a Searing Hajj

This is Beirut 10:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Saudi Arabia Hajj

With artificial intelligence, more shade and misting machines, Saudi authorities are preparing to welcome more than a million hajj pilgrims amid punishing summer heat that has a deadly history in the holy city of Mecca. Saudi Arabia's hajj minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah told AFP on Thursday that efforts to mitigate the searing desert heat remained a ...

Islamic State Claims First Attack on New Syria Forces Since Assad Fall: Monitors

This is Beirut 10:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Conflict IS

The Islamic State (IS) group on Thursday claimed its first attack on Syria's new government forces since the fall of longtime Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, two war monitors said. In a statement picked up by SITE Intelligence Group, IS said it had planted an "explosive device" on a Syrian forces' vehicle in the southern province of ...

SpotlightElon Musk's Rocket-Fueled Ride With Trump Flames Out

This is Beirut 10:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump Elon Musk USA

Elon Musk stormed into US politics as President Donald Trump's chainsaw-brandishing sidekick. Four turbulent months later it's the tech tycoon himself on the chopping block. Trump hailed Musk as "terrific" as he announced that they would hold a joint press conference on Friday as the South African-born magnate leaves the so-called Department of ...

ReportNew Metro Cuts Through Saudi Social Divisions

This is Beirut 09:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Saudi Arabia Transport Traffic Social Metro

For decades, civil servant Zayed al-Ghamdi's social circles in Saudi Arabia were more than predictable, bound by routine and kinship in a country where societal divisions have rarely been challenged. Then came the metro. A decade after breaking ground, Riyadh's gleaming new metro opened in December, offering the capital's eight million residents ...

Ukraine Renews Demand to See Russia's Peace Terms

This is Beirut 09:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Ukraine Russia Negotiations Istanbul Peace

Ukraine said Thursday it was ready to hold more talks with Russia in Istanbul next week but again demanded that Moscow supply a document setting out its conditions for peace. And as the United Nations said that hopes for peace in the three-year-old war were "barely" alive, the United States again warned that it could withdraw from mediation ...

RSF Seizes Key Towns in Sudan as Cholera Outbreak Devastates Khartoum

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

Sudan Conflict Disease Cholera Khartum

Paramilitary forces fighting Sudan's military have said they captured two strategic towns in the war-ravaged nation, which has been hit by a cholera outbreak that killed 70 people in the capital this week. For more than two years Africa's third-largest country has been engulfed by a war between the army, led by the nation's de facto ...

France's Macron Says Ukraine a 'Test of Credibility' for US

This is Beirut 09:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Singapore France Ukraine Russia Conflict

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that Washington faces a "credibility test" over its response to Russia dragging its feet on a Ukraine ceasefire. Moscow has rebuffed calls for an immediate ceasefire and kept up an intense bombardment of Ukraine even as diplomatic efforts to end the war have gained momentum. US President Donald ...

Trump Tariffs Stay in Place for Now After Appellate Ruling

This is Beirut 09:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

United States Trade Tariff Court

US President Donald Trump celebrated a temporary reprieve for his aggressive tariff strategy on Thursday, with an appeals court preserving his sweeping import duties on China and other trading partners -- for now. The short-term relief will allow the appeals process to proceed after the US Court of International Trade barred most of the tariffs ...

Hamas Says Israel-Approved US Truce Plan Falls Short

This is Beirut 29/05 22:35 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Hamas Israel Palestine USA Gaza Ceasefire

The White House said Thursday Israel had "signed off" on a new Gaza ceasefire proposal submitted to Hamas, but the Palestinian militant group said the deal failed to satisfy its demands. Negotiations to end more than 19 months of war have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in Gaza in March after a ...

US Says Israel Backs Latest Gaza Truce Plan Sent to Hamas

This is Beirut 29/05 21:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

USA Hamas Israel Palestine Donald Trump Gaza

The White House said on Thursday that Israel had "signed off on" a new Gaza ceasefire proposal submitted to Hamas, as the Palestinian militants confirmed they were studying the deal. Negotiations to end more than 19 months of war have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in Gaza in March after a brief ...