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Budget Talks Spiral Into Iran Clash in Parliament

Lebanon’s parliamentary session on Tuesday was marked by a heated verbal clash after MP Firas Hamdan was cut off mid-speech while denouncing Lebanon’s relationship with Iran. Hamdan accused political forces of turning southern Lebanese communities into bargaining chips in regional power struggles, arguing that such alignments have brought ...

Syria Imposes Night Curfew on Port City After Sectarian Violence

Syrian authorities imposed an overnight curfew in the port city of Latakia on Tuesday after attacks in predominantly Alawite neighbourhoods a day prior. The interior ministry announced a "curfew in Latakia city, effective from 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, until 6:00 am (0300 GMT) on Wednesday, December 31, 2025". Individuals ...

U.S. Halts Issuing Immigration Visas for 75 Countries, Including Lebanon

On Wednesday, U.S. State Department issued a memo directing consular officers to cease issuing immigration visas to citizens of 75 countries deemed likely to incur “public charges” in the United States, including all Middle Eastern and North African countries except Saudi Arabia, Oman, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and ...

Beyoncé Becomes a Billionaire: Queen B Joins Music’s Elite Club

US singer Beyonce is now a billionaire, Forbes magazine said Monday, becoming only the fifth musician to achieve such a milestone. The 44-year-old entertainer joins a select club that includes her husband, rapper Jay-Z, as well as Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, and Rihanna, according to the publication, known for its rankings of the world's ...

Israel Strikes Buildings in South Lebanon Towns

On Wednesday, following earlier strikes in Zahrani, additional Israeli airstrikes targeted buildings in the south Lebanon towns of Jarjouaa, Qenarrit, and Kfour. The Israeli army carried out the attacks aiming to impair alleged Hezbollah military infrastructure. Prior to the strikes, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee released an ...

Syria State TV Reports Jordanian Strikes Targeting Drug Trafficking Networks

The Jordanian army launched air strikes targeting drug smuggling networks in southern Syria on Wednesday, Syrian state media said. State broadcaster Al-Ikhbariya reported on Telegram that the Jordanian army targeted "drug smuggling networks and storage farms in the southern and eastern countryside" of Sweida. In a statement, the Jordanian army ...

Yemen Separatists Set for Riyadh Talks After Fighting: Official

The leader of Yemen's separatists is heading to Riyadh on Tuesday for talks, a Yemeni official told AFP, after days of fighting between his UAE-backed forces and pro-Saudi rivals. The Saudi-organised talks indicate the beginning of de-escalation efforts after the clashes in Yemen's government-run areas that exposed a rift between Gulf powers ...

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman Convince Trump to ‘Give Iran a Chance:’ Senior Saudi Official

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman led efforts to talk U.S. President Donald Trump out of an attack on Iran, fearing “grave blowbacks in the region,” a senior Saudi official told AFP on Thursday. The Gulf trio “led a long, frantic, diplomatic last-minute effort to convince President Trump to give Iran a chance to show good ...

One Million Refugees Are Expected to Return to Syria in 2026

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) predicted that around one million Syrian refugees will return to their country during 2026, given the gradual recovery that Syria is witnessing after the fall of the Assad regime. Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, the UNHCR representative in Syria, stated, "Our estimates indicate that 2026 could see ...

Israel Shells Hezbollah Radwan Force Sites

The Israeli army announced Friday that it carried out a series of intense air raids targeting what it described as a training complex belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, along with military buildings in southern Lebanon. In a post on the platform X, the Israeli army’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said the strikes targeted a ...

Exclusive: Lindsey Graham Says Arab States are “Not a Very Good Ally”

Lindsey Graham U.S. Senator (R-South Carolina) and Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said that if Arab countries intervened on Iran’s behalf to block U.S. military action in Tehran, then “they are not a very good ally,” warning that such behavior would call future partnerships into question. He added that he believes “the regimes ...

Netanyahu Set to Present Iran Strike Options to Trump

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to present plans for a potential strike on Iran to U.S. President Donald Trump during his forthcoming visit to the United States, NBC News reports, citing several unnamed officials. According to the report, Israel is increasingly alarmed that Iran is rebuilding, and possibly expanding, its ballistic ...

Houthis, Yemen Government to Exchange Nearly 3,000 Prisoners: Officials

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels and its internationally-recognised government have agreed to a prisoner swap that includes nearly 3,000 people in total, including seven Saudis, officials from both sides said Tuesday. The deal came after nearly a fortnight of discussions between Yemeni officials from both sides in Muscat, the capital of ...

Syrian Close to Assad-era Commander Killed in Lebanon

A former Syrian intelligence officer who was close to one of ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad's top army commanders was killed in Lebanon, a judicial official said Tuesday, with the army announcing it had arrested a suspect. It was the first confirmation since Assad's ouster in December last year of a former Syrian government official being present ...

Trump at Davos: Hezbollah is “a Small Remnant”

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Hezbollah in Lebanon has been significantly weakened, describing the group as “a small remnant compared to what it used to be.” In his remarks during the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Trump stressed that action is still required against the ...

Qassem: Hezbollah to Continue "Cooperation" With LAF to Expel "Occupation"

Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday in Lebanon, where the two discussed cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces “to expel the occupation” and reconstruction efforts.  According to a statement by Hezbollah, Qassem talked about “the continuation of the ...

Iran Says Missile Programme Defensive, Non-Negotiable

Iran insisted on Monday that its missile program was defensive in nature and designed to dissuade attack, while adding the existence of its arsenal was not up for debate. Israel had presented Iran's ballistic missiles, along with its nuclear program, as the two main threats it sought to neutralize during the 12-day war the foes fought in ...

8 Killed and 18 Wounded in Terrorist Mosque Bombing in Homs

Eight people were killed and others wounded on Friday in a terrorist bombing at the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the al-Waer district of Homs, Syrian state media reported. The Islamic State group (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack. The director of the Emergency and Ambulance Department at Syria’s Ministry of Health, ...

U.S. Says Gaza 'Phase Two' Beginning With Goal of Hamas Demilitarization

President Donald Trump's envoy said Wednesday that a plan to end the Gaza war was now moving to Phase Two with a goal of disarming Hamas, despite a number of Israeli strikes during the ceasefire. "We are announcing the launch of Phase Two of the President's 20-Point Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, ...

Hezbollah Operative Claims Widespread Israeli Penetration, Questions Leadership

A Hezbollah military operative told Israel’s N12 channel on Thursday that Israel has infiltrated the militant group so extensively that “70% of Hezbollah members work with Israel.” The anonymous military operative highlighted a significant intelligence gap in Hezbollah, noting the persistent uncertainty over how Israel has ...

Yemen Prime Minister Quits, Replaced by Foreign Minister

The prime minister of Yemen has been replaced by his foreign minister after the premier submitted the government's resignation, the country's Saudi-backed presidential body said. The move comes after weeks of tensions between Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates following a failed push by Abu Dhabi-backed separatists to seize ...

Syrian Financial Conduit of Assad Regime Detained in Lebanon

Syrian national Ahmad Dunya, who was collaborating with former affiliates of the Bashar Al-Assad regime plotting to destabilize the new Ahmad al-Sharaa regime, was arrested in Lebanon on Friday. Since December 2025, Syrian and Lebanese officials have engaged in discussion over the status of over 200 exiled members of the Assad regime who fled to ...

UN Rights Chief Urges Iran to 'End Brutal Repression'

The United Nations rights chief decried Friday that "thousands" of people, including children, had died in Iran's crackdown on nationwide protests and urged the authorities to "end their brutal repression." Speaking at the start of a UN Human Rights Council urgent meeting on the situation in Iran, Volker Turk urged the authorities in Tehran "to ...

IMF Reservations Fuel Dispute Over Financial Gap Law

Nidaa al-Watan reported Tuesday that controversy persists over the leaked draft Financial Gap Law, amid claims that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is dissatisfied and has raised reservations. While the draft is expected to be circulated to ministers ahead of a possible Cabinet vote, political and diplomatic circles cited by the newspaper ...

Yemen Declares State of Emergency as Separatist Conflict Flares

The leader of Yemen's presidential council declared a state of emergency and cancelled a security pact with the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday after Abu Dhabi-backed separatists seized swathes of territory. "The Joint Defence Agreement with the United Arab Emirates is hereby cancelled," a statement said, while a separate decree announced a ...

The ‘Five-Nation Committee’ Confirms Support for Lebanese State

The five-nation committee of ambassadors from Saudi Arabia, France, Qatar, Egypt, and the United States met with Lebanese Prime Minister Salam to discuss the ongoing weapons inventory, among other issues, reaffirming their support for the Lebanese state and urging timely progress on the disarmament file. Egyptian diplomat Alaa Moussa said, “We ...

IDF Targets Hezbollah Operative in Al-Tayri

The IDF carried out an airstrike targeting a Hezbollah operative near al-Tayri in southern Lebanon on Thursday evening, the Israeli army’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced on X.  The attack hit a car with three missiles and killed one person.  This strike follows a series of attacks along the Lebanon-Israel border ...

Iran Protests: 35 Dead, Over 1,200 Arrested

About 35 people have been killed since the start of the protests against the regime in Iran, including four children, and law enforcement authorities in the country have arrested more than 1,200 protesters, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. The protests in the country are showing no signs of stopping, and they have spread to ...

Monitoring Mechanism Meets in Ras Naqoura

The Mechanism for Monitoring the Cessation of Hostilities convened on Wednesday in Ras Naqoura, with participation limited to the committee’s core military members. The meeting brought together representatives of the Lebanese Army (LAF) and the Israeli Army, alongside American and French officers and the commander of the United Nations Interim ...