World

Iraq's Faces Lowest Water Reserves in 80 Years

This is Beirut 25/05 15:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iraq Tigris River Euphrates River Water Climate Change

Iraq's water reserves are at their lowest in 80 years after a dry rainy season, a government official said Sunday, as its share from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers shrinks. Water is a major issue in the country of 46 million people undergoing a serious environmental crisis because of climate change, drought, rising temperatures and declining ...

Jerusalem on Alert as Army Intercepts Yemen-Launched Missile

This is Beirut 25/05 14:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Yemen Houthi Movement

The Israeli army said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Sunday, shortly after air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem, according to AFP journalists. "Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted," the army said in a ...

Trump defends block on foreign students at Harvard

This is Beirut 25/05 13:27 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump Hamas Palestine United States USA

US President Donald Trump defended on Sunday his administration's move to block foreign students at Harvard after a judge suspended the action, branded by the top university as unlawful. "Why isn't Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United ...

"It's in our blood": How Vietnam Made the Latin Alphabet Its Own

This is Beirut 25/05 13:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Vietnam Calligraphy Culture Latin

At a calligraphy class in Hanoi, Hoang Thi Thanh Huyen slides her brush across the page to form the letters and tonal marks of Vietnam’s unique modern script — Quoc Ngu — in part a legacy of French colonial rule. The history of romanised Vietnamese, or Quoc Ngu, links the arrival of the first Christian missionaries, colonisation by the ...

Russia and Ukraine Complete Record Prisoner Swap

This is Beirut 25/05 12:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Ukraine Russia

Russia said Sunday it had exchanged another 303 Ukrainian prisoners of war for the same number of Russian soldiers held by Kyiv -- the last phase of the largest-ever such swap between the warring countries. "In accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements reached in Istanbul on May 16, the Russian and Ukrainian sides have (over the ...

Syria to Help Locate Missing Americans

This is Beirut 25/05 12:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Syria United States Tom Barrack

Syria's new authorities have agreed to help the United States locate and return Americans who went missing in the war-ravaged country, a US envoy said on Sunday, in another sign of thawing bilateral ties. The announcement came a day after the United States formally lifted sanctions on Syria, ending more than a decade of diplomatic ...

After Brief X Outage, Musk Says Refocusing on Businesses

This is Beirut 25/05 05:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

X - Twitter Elon Musk

Social media platform X was hit by a two-hour outage Saturday, prompting owner Elon Musk to say he needs to spend more time focusing on his companies. His statement echoed comments earlier this month suggesting he would reduce his role in US President Donald Trump's administration. The world's richest person has an extraordinarily full ...

Syria Restructures Interior Ministry as US and EU Lift Sanctions

This is Beirut 24/05 20:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Syria Interior Ministry Damascus

Syrian authorities on Saturday announced an interior ministry restructuring that includes fighting cross-border drug and people smuggling as they seek to improve ties with Western nations that have lifted sanctions. Keen to reboot and rebuild nearly 14 years after a devastating civil war broke out, the new authorities in Damascus have hailed ...

Sharaa Meets US Envoy After Lifting of Sanctions

This is Beirut 24/05 20:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Ahmed al-Sharaa Thomas Barrack Syria United States

The US ambassador to Turkey, who has assumed the role of Syria envoy, said Saturday he had met the country's interim leader following Washington's lifting of sanctions on the war-torn country. Tom Barrack, who met with interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Istanbul, said in a statement: "I reiterated the United States' support for ...

US Strike on Yemen Kills Al-Qaeda Members

This is Beirut 24/05 19:08 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Houthi Movement Yemen Al-Qaeda United States

The number of Al-Qaeda members killed in strikes on southern Yemen blamed on the United States increased to nine, a Yemeni security source told AFP on Saturday. The official in Abyan province, which borders the seat of Yemen's internationally recognised government in Aden, said the strikes killed nine members of the group including a local ...

Syrian Government Visits Notorious Camp for First Time Since Kurds Deal

This is Beirut 24/05 18:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Kurds Al-Hol Refugee Camp

A Syrian government delegation visited a notorious camp in the Kurdish-administered northeast that hosts families of suspected Islamic State group jihadists, the new authorities' first visit, both sides said Saturday. Kurdish-run camps and prisons in the northeast hold tens of thousands of people, many with alleged or perceived links to the ...

Cannes Hit by Power Cut as Film Festival Draws to a Close

This is Beirut 24/05 17:42 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

France Cannes Electricity Cannes Film Festival

A power substation and an electricity pylon were vandalized overnight in the region around France's Cannes, which has been hit by a major blackout on the final day of its film festival, officials said. A substation in the village of Tanneron, which supplies Cannes, was targeted by a suspected arson attack, while the legs of a pylon carrying a ...