This Is Beirut 2024-05-26 12:01 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Emmanuel Macron arrived Sunday in Berlin on the first state visit to Germany by a French president in a quarter-century, bringing a plea to defend democracy against nationalism at upcoming European elections. Macron made an appearance at a democracy festival his first stop, where, accompanied by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, he warned ...
Ali A. Hamadé 2024-05-26 09:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
It’s a bombshell! British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised everyone by announcing that UK general elections will be held on July 4, moving them up several months from the original deadline of January 2025. This unexpected decision has sent shockwaves through government and parliamentary circles, where it was widely believed that Sunak ...
This Is Beirut 2024-05-25 14:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Real GDP is projected to contract by 1.5% in 2024. As of 2022, poverty affects 69% of the population. Extreme poverty reached 27%, up from a negligible level in 2009. More than a decade of conflict, compounded by external shocks, has further worsened Syria’s dire economic situation in 2023 and led to a dramatic deterioration in the welfare of ...
This Is Beirut 2024-05-25 14:14 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
An Israeli drone strike in central Syria killed two fighters from Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement on Saturday, a war monitor said. "An Israeli drone fired two missiles at a Hezbollah car and truck near the town of Qusayr in Homs province, as they were on their way to Al-Dabaa military airport, killing at least two Hezbollah fighters and ...
This Is Beirut 2024-05-25 11:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
A car bomb killed a Syrian officer working with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in Damascus Saturday, a war monitor said, with state media reporting one dead without identifying the victim. Bombings targeting military and civilian vehicles still occur intermittently in the Syrian capital more than 12 years into a devastating civil war. "A ...
This Is Beirut 2024-05-25 11:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced on Saturday that Rome would restore funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees as he met with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa. "Italy has decided to resume financing specific projects intended for assistance to Palestinian refugees, but only after rigorous controls that ...
This Is Beirut 2024-05-25 10:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
China puts an end to the military exercises around Taiwan, which began on Thursday morning in reaction to the election of pro-independence president Lai Ching-te. China has ended two days of military drills around Taiwan that saw jets loaded with live munitions and warships practice seizing and isolating the self-ruled island. The exercises ...
This Is Beirut 2024-05-24 22:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Several hundred Tunisians marched through the capital, on Friday, chanting "down with the dictatorship" as they protested a spate of arrests under a presidential decree critics say is being used to stifle dissent. Two Tunisian media figures received one-year jail sentences on Wednesday after making comments the authorities deemed critical, in the ...
This Is Beirut 2024-05-24 19:23 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
In a key step towards normalizing ties between the historic rivals, Armenia has returned four border villages it seized decades ago to Azerbaijan. The move, which has sparked protracted protests in Armenia, represents an important move towards reaching a comprehensive peace agreement after years of fruitless talks mediated by Russia and Western ...
This Is Beirut 2024-05-24 18:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Prosecutors in France's first trial of officials from the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad said on Friday that they were seeking life sentences for three top security officers. On the final day of the trial before the Paris Criminal Court, they also asked for an international arrest warrant for the three, who are being tried in absentia for ...
This Is Beirut 2024-05-24 13:32 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
China said on Friday that Taiwan's leadership was pushing the self-ruled island into war and warned of further "countermeasures," as Beijing conducted military drills around the territory. Chinese warships and fighter jets surrounded Taiwan on the second day of drills that Beijing said were a test of its ability to seize the island, days after ...
This Is Beirut 2024-05-24 12:27 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Iran's army has so far found no evidence of criminal activity in a helicopter crash that killed the country's President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others, state media reported. Raisi, 63 years, died on Sunday after his helicopter went down in the country's mountainous northwest, while returning from a dam inauguration on the border with ...