World

US NGO Believes Missing Journalist Austin Tice 'Alive' in Syria

This is Beirut 2024-12-24 13:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

US group Hostage Aid Worldwide said Tuesday that it believes journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, is still alive, though it did not offer concrete information on his whereabouts. "We have data that Austin is alive till January 2024, but the president of the US said in August that he is alive, and we are sure that he is alive ...

Russia Sentences US Man to 15 Years in Prison for 'Espionage'

This is Beirut 2024-12-24 13:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

United States Russia spy

A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced a US man to 15 years in a penal colony for "espionage", Russian news agencies reported. Russia has detained and sentenced a number of US citizens and dual-nationals in recent years, some of whom have been freed in prisoner exchanges. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted of espionage in ...

Turkey Says over 25,0000 Syrians Returned Home Since Assad's Fall

This is Beirut 2024-12-24 13:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Damascus Turkey Syria refugee

More than 25,000 Syrians have returned home from Turkey since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by Islamist-led HTS rebels, Turkey's interior minister said Tuesday. Turkey is home to nearly three million refugees who fled the civil war that broke out in 2011, and whose presence has been an issue for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. "The ...

Russia's Shadow Looms Over Estonian Border Town

This is Beirut 2024-12-24 09:35 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Ukraine Vladimir Putin russia estonia

In heavy snowfall and high winds, around 200 people wearing rain ponchos and fur hoods queued in the Estonian border town of Narva to cross into neighboring Russia. Arriving at the crossing in taxis or buses, some dragged suitcases through thick snow, and others walked up and joined the line with just a single plastic shopping bag. Checks have ...

London Wall Illuminates Covid's Enduring Pain at Christmas

This is Beirut 2024-12-24 09:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Covid-19 United Kingdom london

UK families of some 240,000 people who died from Covid-19 have hung festive lights on a London wall, a symbol of love, anger and pain ahead of another Christmas overshadowed by loss. As the fifth anniversary of the global pandemic approaches, emotions still run raw across the UK amid lingering accusations that the then government responded too ...

Notre-Dame De Paris Hosts Its First Christmas Masses Since The Fire In 2019

This is Beirut 2024-12-24 05:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Notre-Dame Paris Noël

For the first time since the fire in 2019, Notre-Dame de Paris is celebrating Christmas again on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the traditional Nativity Masses expected to attract thousands of worshippers. ‘We are now back at Notre-Dame, which has just been opened to worship and visitors. Our hearts are in celebration,’ said the archbishop of ...

The ministers in the Bayrou government take up their duties

This is Beirut 2024-12-24 05:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Emmanuel Macron Republicans

The ministers in François Bayrou's government will take up their duties on Tuesday, on the eve of Christmas, as they hand over power to the Prime Minister, who is confident in his ability to avoid censure. ‘I am convinced that the action I am defining before you and the government team will ensure that we will not be ...

Israel Mentions ‘Progress’ Towards An Agreement On Hostages In Gaza

This is Beirut 2024-12-24 03:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hamas Israel Middle East Benjamin Netanyahu Palestine

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ‘cautiously’ referred to ‘progress’ towards an agreement on the hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian Hamas attack in October 2023, one of the conditions for a ceasefire. Indirect negotiations last week in Qatar between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Doha and Egypt, ...

Rights Groups Urge Protection of Evidence of Assad’s Abuses

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 22:46 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Bashar al-Assad Human Rights Watch Amnesty International ADMSP

Three rights group on Monday appealed to Syria's new rulers to urgently preserve evidence of atrocities committed under former president Bashar al-Assad. Such evidence -- including government and intelligence documents as well as mass graves -- will be essential for establishing the fate of tens of thousands of people forcibly disappeared, ...

Israel Acknowledges It Killed Ex-Hamas Leader Haniyeh in Tehran

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 22:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Israel Katz Houthi Movement Ismail Haniyeh

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz acknowledged that Tel Aviv had killed former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year, as he warned the military would "decapitate" the leadership of Yemen's Huthi rebels. "We will strike hard at the Huthis... and decapitate their leadership -- just as we did with Haniyeh, ...

Erdogan Reaffirms Turkey’s Stance on Syria’s Territorial Sovereignty

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 20:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey Syria

Ensuring the protection of Syria's territorial integrity is an unchanging line for Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday. "Protecting Syria's territorial integrity and unitary structure under all circumstances is Turkey's unchanging line. We never step back from this," he said after remarks warning Israel that it would be "forced" to ...

France's Macron Announces Fourth Government Of The Year

This is Beirut 2024-12-23 20:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

France Emmanuel Macron Francois Bayrou

French President Emmanuel Macron named a new government Monday evening, putting together a team under Francois Bayrou, his fourth prime minister of the year, to drag the second-largest EU economy out of political crisis. Macron named former prime minister Elisabeth Borne education minister in a new cabinet under centrist Bayrou, the presidency ...