This is Beirut 07/01 13:50 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Talks aimed at cementing a truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas are ongoing, with "technical meetings" taking place between the parties, mediator Qatar's foreign ministry said Tuesday. "The technical meetings are still happening between both sides," ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said, referring to meetings with lower-level officials on the ...
This is Beirut 07/01 12:50 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Damascus United Arab Emirates Syria
International flights resumed at Syria's main airport in Damascus on Tuesday for the first time since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al-Assad last month, AFP journalists said. A Syrian Airlines flight bound for Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, took off at around 11:45 am (0845 GMT), marking the first international commercial ...
This is Beirut 07/01 10:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
France on Tuesday urged its citizens to avoid travelling to Iran until French nationals held there have been released. "The situation of our compatriots held hostage in Iran is quite simply unacceptable. They have been unjustly detained for several years, in unworthy conditions," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, urging French nationals not ...
This is Beirut 07/01 09:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
United States North Korea Kim Jong Un
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said a new hypersonic missile system tested this week would help deter the country's Pacific rivals, state media reported Tuesday, as Washington's top diplomat visited the region. The test came two weeks before the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, who previously tried to woo North Korea, and ...
This is Beirut 07/01 09:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Antony Blinken USA Donald Trump US Secretary of State United States
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted during a visit to Tokyo on Tuesday that ties with Japan were stronger than ever, days after President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel's takeover of US Steel. Business groups say the decision could have a chilling effect on Japan's standing as the biggest foreign investor in the United States, just as ...
This is Beirut 06/01 22:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
US Treasury Department Untied States Sanctions Syria
The United States announced Monday that it was providing additional sanctions relief on some activities in Syria for the next six months to ease access to basic services following the fall of strongman Bashar al-Assad. The US Treasury said it had issued a new general license to expand the allowed activities and transactions with Syria while ...
This is Beirut 06/01 21:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Donald Trump Congress United States
Donald Trump capped a historic political comeback on Monday as Congress certified his election victory, in a remarkable turn from four years ago, when a mob he had summoned to Washington ransacked the US Capitol. The president-elect spent much of his campaign facing prosecution over the 2021 insurrection, when his supporters -- fueled by his ...
Soumia Benmerzoug 06/01 21:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Nicolas Sarkozy France Trial Libya
Accused of having received Libyan funds to finance his 2007 presidential campaign, Nicolas Sarkozy appeared on Monday before the Paris court in a historic trial. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy, already convicted for corruption in the Bismuth case and for illegal campaign financing in the Bygmalion case, faces justice for the third time in ...
This is Beirut 06/01 21:18 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Brazil on Monday announced that Indonesia had become a full member of BRICS, a bloc of developing economies increasingly seen as a counterweight to the West. Brazil's foreign ministry said in a statement that Southeast Asia's most populous country "shares with the other members the will to reform the institutions of global governance and ...
This is Beirut 06/01 21:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Yemen Houthi Movement United Nations United Nations
Hans Grundberg, the United Nation's special envoy for war-torn Yemen, arrived Monday in the rebel-held capital in a bid to breathe life into peace talks, his office said. Grundberg last visited the capital Sanaa, controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis, in May 2023 for meetings with the rebels' leaders in an earlier effort to advance a roadmap for ...
This is Beirut 06/01 19:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey Syrian Democratic Forces
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday he would order an intervention to prevent any splintering of Syria, a warning aimed particularly at the country's Kurdish forces. "We can not accept under any pretext that Syria be divided and if we notice the slightest risk we will take the necessary measures," the Turkish head of ...
This is Beirut 06/01 19:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
The UN's World Food Programme on Monday accused Israel of firing on one of its aid convoys in the war-torn Gaza Strip, saying at least 16 bullets hit the clearly marked vehicles but no staff were injured. Condemning the "horrifying" and "unacceptable" incident, the WFP called again for "all parties to respect ...