This Is Beirut 2024-07-07 17:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
French voters turned out in number on Sunday for the second round of a historic election that is expected to leave the far right as the biggest force in a deeply divided parliament. At midday, according to interior ministry figures, some 26.63% of voters had turned out for the high-stakes poll — the highest number at that time since 1981. At ...
This Is Beirut 2024-07-07 15:47 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that he might invite his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad to Turkey "at any moment," in a sign of reconciliation after the 2011 war broke ties between Ankara and Damascus. "We may send an invitation (to Assad) at any moment," Erdogan told journalists aboard a plane from Berlin, where he watched Euro ...
Michel Touma 2024-07-07 12:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
The election of the so-called “moderate” candidate Massoud Pezeshkian to the presidency of Iran on Friday is not a major surprise. The fact that his candidacy was approved this time by the central authorities, after being rejected in the 2021 presidential election, suggested that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali ...
This Is Beirut 2024-07-07 10:39 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
It was supposed to be a grand celebration of the 75th anniversary of a strengthened alliance. Instead, this week's NATO summit in Washington is likely to be overshadowed by uncertainties over Ukraine and political turbulence on both sides of the Atlantic. From Tuesday to Thursday, a strange atmosphere will hang over the US capital as Joe Biden ...
This Is Beirut 2024-07-07 10:06 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
French voters began casting their ballots on Sunday for the second round of the country's legislative elections, a historic vote in which the National Rally (RN) could emerge victorious, although there is still considerable uncertainty as to whether it will be able to secure an absolute majority in the parliament and form a government. Voters can ...
This Is Beirut 2024-07-06 18:21 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Masoud Pezeshkian's victory in Iran's presidential elections has given a rare boost to efforts for scaling down years of tensions over Tehran's nuclear program, even with no indication of any upcoming breakthrough in the crisis. Pezeshkian's defeat of ultra-conservative Saeed Jalili, a former chief nuclear negotiator whose intransigence and style ...
This Is Beirut 2024-07-06 17:48 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
The war continued unabated on Saturday, with Israel's military saying it had conducted operations across much of the Gaza Strip, including Shujaiya in the north, Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Rafah in the south. Shujaiya is among the areas the military had previously declared to be cleared of Hamas, but where fighting is again taking ...
This Is Beirut 2024-07-06 17:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Newly elected United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday began his first full day in office by declaring himself "restless for change" and pledging that growth would be his Labour government's "number one mission." Starmer also confirmed his previously declared intention to end the outgoing Conservative government's flagship scheme to ...
This Is Beirut 2024-07-06 11:23 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Joe Biden fended off questions about his mental fitness and electability on Friday in a TV interview meant to draw a line under a disastrous debate performance that triggered calls for him to quit his re-election bid. With rebellion brewing among some nervous Democratic voters, lawmakers and donors, the one-to-one with the ABC network was hyped ...
2024-07-06 09:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Iran's reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday won a runoff presidential election against ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, the interior ministry said. Pezeshkian received more than 16 million votes and Jalili more than 13 million out of about 30 million votes cast, electoral authority spokesman Mohsen Eslami said, adding that voter ...
This Is Beirut 2024-07-05 22:12 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's media adviser Luna al-Shibl died on Friday three days after being injured in a car crash, Assad's office announced. "The presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic mourns the death of the adviser Luna al-Shibl, who passed away today after a serious car accident", it said in a statement. "She served in recent years ...
Ali A. Hamadé 2024-07-05 20:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
The annihilation of the Conservative Party and the overwhelming victory of the Labour Party have indeed taken place. As expected, Sir Keir Starmer was appointed British Prime Minister by King Charles III. In these times of political alternation, the British people hope to regain faith in change after fourteen years of Conservative government. So, ...