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Iraq Reverses Hezbollah, Houthi Asset Freeze, Calls It ‘Mistake'

Iraq's central bank on Thursday said the appearance of Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis on a frozen assets list was a mistake, and ordered the correction of the official announcement, according to a document seen by AFP. An official gazette issue dated November 17 published a decision about Iraq freezing the assets of ...

Johnny Depp Calls Life With Vanessa Paradis “Bliss” in Rare Interview

Johnny Depp's life with former French partner Vanessa Paradis and their two children was "bliss," the US actor told AFP in an interview on Thursday. "I have nothing but incredible memories from those days. They gave me time to be a tour father," Depp said in Tokyo. "Vanessa was doing her shows, you know, various tours. I got to be just Daddy for ...

Parliament Approves $250 Million World Bank Reconstruction Loan

Despite a boycott by Lebanese Forces and Kataeb MPs, Lebanon’s parliament met Thursday morning and approved a World Bank loan intended to support reconstruction in the war-torn south. Lebanon has been working with the World Bank on a roughly $250 million loan under the Lebanon Emergency Assistance Project aimed at supporting efforts to ...

ALS: A Protein Signature that Could Change the Game

In the field of neurodegenerative diseases, scientists have spent decades chasing the same goal: finding an early and reliable biomarker that can reveal what the body has not yet shown. For ALS, that search has long seemed out of reach. The disease arrives quietly, progresses unnoticed, and only becomes visible once the first motor neurons are ...

In Turkey, a Patchwork of Christian Communities

Turkey's Christian community, which hosts Pope Leo XIV this week, was a minority under the Ottoman Empire whose numbers have dwindled due to forced exiles and massacres. Today, it counts around 100,000 members spread across five denominations -- just a fraction of Turkey's population of 86 million, the vast majority of whom are Sunni ...

Yemen Separatists Report Saudi Air Strikes in Hadramawt

Saudi Arabia, the main backer of Yemen's internationally-recognised government, conducted air strikes on separatist positions in Hadramawt on Friday, according to local media and the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the strikes, which came a day after Saudi Arabia urged the ...

Football – 2025 Arab Cup: Lebanon Self-Destructs Despite Numerical Advantage

No one will be able to say the context wasn’t favorable. In Doha, on the pitch of the Thani bin Jassim Stadium, in front of 20,816 spectators and under the eyes of Gianni Infantino and Lebanese FA president Hachem Haidar, Lebanon played more than an hour with eleven men against ten… only to lose 2–1 to Sudan and crash out of the 2025 Arab ...

Syria Welcomes Lifting of US Sanctions

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday welcomed the permanent lifting by the United States of the so-called Caesar sanctions, paving the way for the return of investments to the war-ravaged nation. The US Congress on Wednesday permanently ended the sanctions imposed on Syria under Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December last year. The ...

Qassem: “We Have the Right to Respond”, Adraee: Lebanese State Must Continue Disarming Hezbollah

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said Friday evening in a televised address that Israel’s assassination of Haytham Ali Tabatabai was “a blatant attack and a heinous crime.” He added, “We have the right to respond, and we will decide the appropriate time to do so.” Marking one year since the signing of the cease-fire, Qassem ...

Beirut Readies for a Historic Papal Mass

More than 120,000 people are expected to attend Pope Leo XIV's mass in Beirut on Tuesday, the final day of his Lebanon visit and a chance to pay his respects at the site of the huge 2020 port explosion. The pontiff arrived from Turkey on Sunday on his inaugural visit abroad as pope and brought a message of hope, particularly to young people in ...

Leo XIV in Lebanon: A Rich and Symbolic Program

Lebanon welcomes Pope Leo XIV for his first apostolic visit since his election. Described by the Vatican as “a message of peace and resilience,” this visit comes at a time when the country continues to face severe economic, political, and social challenges. Over the course of three days, November 30 to December 2, the program ...

‘Peter Hujar’s Day’ Leads Spirit Awards Nominations

Biopic Peter Hujar's Day on Wednesday topped the nominations for the Spirit Awards, which also saw singer SZA given a nod for her debut film role. The awards honor lower budget movies and are among the first significant pre-Oscars galas to unveil their shortlists. Peter Hujar's Day, which premiered at Sundance this year, bagged five nods, ...

From Porcelain to Tweed, EU Opens Protected Label to Crafts

Traditional crafts, from French Limoges porcelain to Irish Donegal tweed, became entitled to EU protected status as of Monday, placing them on par with agricultural products such as Champagne and Parma ham. Europe’s glassblowers, potters, jewellers, and other artisans will now be able to register their product names under the bloc’s new ...

Asterix in Germany: France’s Irrepressible Gaul to Conquer Neighbor

A theme park based on the beloved French comic strip series Asterix is to open in Germany, the first time the adventures of the pugnacious Gaul are to be the focus of an attraction outside France, its operator said on Tuesday. An existing theme park called Belantis outside the east German city of Leipzig is to morph into an Asterix theme park by ...

Geagea: LF Ministers to Reject Financial Regularization Law

Chief of the Lebanese Forces (LF) party, Samir Geagea, confirmed on Tuesday that LF ministers will vote against the Financial Regularization Law in the Council of Ministers, citing its failure to return depositors’ funds. In his remarks at the Graduates’ Body dinner at the party headquarters in Maarab, Geagea said, “the criterion is simple: ...

Saudi Residents Report Booze Ban Eased for Select Foreigners

Diplomats and premium visa-holders in Saudi Arabia told AFP that the conservative kingdom has quietly eased restrictions on purchasing alcohol for select foreign residents. While the government has not made any statements regarding the sale of alcohol in recent days, the sources said non-Muslim individuals with so-called premium resident status ...

Israeli Army Launches New Operation in West Bank

Israel's military on Wednesday launched a new operation against Palestinian armed groups in the occupied West Bank, where a local governor told AFP that Israeli forces had raided several towns. The Israeli military, police and internal security service said in a joint statement that they had begun "a broad counter-terrorism operation" in the ...

Iran Announces Discovery of Major Gold Deposit

Iran has announced the discovery of a major gold deposit at one of the country's biggest mines for the precious metal, local media reported Monday. The new vein structure was found at the privately owned Shadan gold mine in the eastern province of South Khorasan, which Fars news agency described as "among the country's most important." The ...

Israel Strikes Northeast Lebanon, Targeting Radwan Force Infrastructure

Israel launched a series of airstrikes Friday afternoon on the outskirts of Hermel, targeting a training site used by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X that the strike targeted a site used for training operatives, conducting live-fire drills and planning attacks against Israeli forces and ...

Paris to Host Meeting on Lebanon Next Week

A meeting on Lebanon will be held in Paris next week with the commander of the Lebanese army and U.S. officials, as France and the United States push Beirut to speed up Hezbollah’s disarmament process, four sources familiar with the matter told AFP. “Rodolphe Haykal is expected on Wednesday,” one of the sources said. U.S. Middle East envoy ...

Rare Fabergé 'Winter Egg' Expected to Break Records in London

The Winter Egg, one of Faberge's most dazzling creations, is due to be auctioned in London next week and set another sales price record for the legendary jeweler of Imperial Russia. The egg, commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II in 1913 as an Easter gift to his mother, is expected to fetch at least £20 million ($26 million), according to Christie's ...

SDF Arrest Senior IS Cell Leader in Syria's Eastern Deir Ezzor

The Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement on Sunday that their elite units arrested a senior Islamic State cell leader during a security operation in eastern Deir Ezzor province. The SDF said the suspect supplied weapons, ammunition, and explosive devices to Islamic State cells operating in the area, describing him as one of the group’s ...

Negotiations Under Way on Hamas Fighters Trapped in Gaza Tunnels: Sources Close to Talks

Negotiations are under way to ensure safe passage for dozens of Hamas fighters holed up in tunnels in southern Gaza, multiple sources close to the talks told AFP on Thursday. Israeli media has reported that for weeks, between 100 and 200 Hamas militants have remained trapped in a network of tunnels under the city of Rafah, in an area of the Gaza ...

Badminton: Lebanon Shines in Erbil With 12 Medals

Lebanese badminton soared high in Erbil. At the West Asia Regional Championships, held in the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Lebanon’s young shuttlers delivered a statement performance: 12 medals in total (2 gold, 4 silver, 6 bronze) across the U15, U17, and U23 categories—plus a team title and a steady harvest in individual events. Under the ...

Senior Hamas Military Leader Raed Saad Killed in Israeli Airstrike

Israel said it killed the head of weapons production in Hamas's military wing in a strike in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. "In response to the activation of a Hamas explosive device that wounded our forces today... Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the elimination of the terrorist Raad Saad, ...

Pope Leo XIV Honors the Dedication of the Sisters of the Cross and Hospital Staff

During his visit to the Sisters of the Cross Hospital, Pope Leo XIV expressed his joy at being there: “Jesus dwells here: in you who are sick and in you who care for the sick – the sisters, the doctors, and all staff.”  He thanked everyone for their dedication and reminded them: “You are a tangible sign of Christ’s merciful ...

Boualem Sansal Calls for Bold Steps Toward Franco-Algerian Peace

“If there’s the will,” reconciliation between Algiers and Paris “can move very fast,” says French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal in an interview with AFP. According to him, Algerians “are eager for peace” with France. Released on November 12 after nearly a year in detention in Algeria, the novelist says it is up to leaders in both ...

Financial Restructuring: Fadi Khalaf Cautions Against a “Partial” Approach

The Secretary-General of the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL), Dr. Fadi Khalaf, has cautioned that any financial restructuring confined to the banking sector is likely to fail unless accompanied by comprehensive state reform. In his editorial for the ABL’s November report, published Monday, Khalaf emphasized that Lebanon’s ...

Papal Visit: Routes and Security Measures

The official commission in charge of organizing Pope Leo XIV’s visit held a press briefing on Tuesday to inform citizens and the media about the planned logistical, security-related and media arrangements. It also detailed the routes that the papal convoy will follow during the three-day visit to Lebanon (November 30-December 2). The conference ...