Trump and Artificial Intelligence: Reclaiming America’s Lead

Paul Guillot 2025-10-07 11:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump United States White House

In January 2025, barely back in the White House, Donald Trump set the tone: artificial intelligence would not be merely a technological challenge but a strategic instrument to secure American supremacy. The Executive Order 14179, Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence, marked a turning point. Regulatory constraints ...

'Northern Shield:' Deep Beneath the Border, a Hunt for the Tunnels of Death

Natasha Metni Torbey 2025-10-12 12:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah UNIFIL South Lebanon

A siren pierces the cold southern Lebanese night. Peacekeepers cross the Blue Line, weapons and detectors in hand. Beneath their feet, invisible and silent, tunnels snake for hundreds of meters, potential routes for stealth incursions or kidnappings. It’s December 2018. Israel is about to launch Operation “Northern Shield,” a systematic hunt ...

Latest Developments Since the Gaza Ceasefire

This is Beirut 2025-10-12 17:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Israel Hamas Gaza

A Gaza ceasefire was holding for a third day on Sunday, ahead of a proposed hostage-prisoner exchange and a summit aimed at charting a path to peace after two years of war. US President Donald Trump is among the leaders expected in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh on Monday for the Gaza peace summit co-hosted by his Egyptian ...

Latest Developments in the Gaza Ceasefire

This is Beirut 2025-10-13 10:55 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Palestine Ceasefire Donald Trump Emmanuel Macron European Union

Hamas handed over the first seven of 20 surviving Israeli hostages to Red Cross representatives in Gaza City, the Israeli army said, as part of a Gaza ceasefire deal. US President Donald Trump arrived in Israel for a trip which will also take him to Egypt, where he will co-host a Gaza peace summit with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah ...

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Begin Military Drills in Strait of Hormuz

This is Beirut 16/02 13:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran IRGC USA Gulf NuclearTalks

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Monday began a series of military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz, state media reported on the eve of talks with the United States. The war games, the duration of which was not specified, aim to prepare the Guards for "potential security and military threats" in the strait, state TV ...

IDF Releases List of Senior Iranian Officials Killed in Joint U.S.-Israeli Strikes

This is Beirut 28/02 23:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Iran IDF United States Strikes

The IDF published a list of Iranian officials killed in Saturday’s joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. “Hundreds of Israeli Air Force fighter jets, directed by precise IDF intelligence, struck hundreds of military targets belonging to the Iranian terror regime across Iran,” the release stated. The army listed the following ...

A New Epicenter Emerges in the Near East

Charles Chartouni 2025-11-17 13:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Middle East Donald Trump Gaza Syria Iran United States

The situation in the Near East is still groping its way towards a new equilibrium. So far, it seems that the destruction of the proxy networks mounted by Iran’s Islamic regime has not yet eclipsed pursuit of political revanche all along the geopolitical spectrum extending through Iraq, Syria, the Palestinian Territories, Gaza, and their ...

Indigenous Protest Blocks Entrance to UN Climate Summit

This is Beirut 2025-11-14 17:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

United Nations cop30 Amazon demonstration Indigenous Brazil

Dozens of Indigenous protesters, some holding babies, peacefully blocked the entrance to the UN climate summit in Brazil on Friday to demand a meeting with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and discuss their plight in the Amazon. The human barrier of around 60 men and women, most in traditional garb and headdresses, lasted about two hours and ...

Raids Continue in Southern Lebanon: One Injury in Toul

This is Beirut 2025-11-13 11:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanon Hezbollah South Lebanon Baalbeck Israël

One person was injured on Thursday afternoon when an Israeli drone targeted a car in the town of Toul, in the Nabatieh caza, the Public Health Ministry announced in a statement. The strike reportedly occurred at the roundabout near Ayoub Station and Sheikh Ragheb Harb Hospital, in the heart of the town, on a street typically congested at that hour ...

Spotify to Launch Music Videos in North America for Premium Members

This is Beirut 2025-11-13 17:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Music Spotify Streaming Videos USA Canada Culture

Audio streaming platform Spotify will be adding music videos "in the coming weeks" for paying subscribers in the United States and Canada, a spokesperson said Wednesday. The development marks a significant expansion by the Sweden-based audio platform into video, which until now has primarily been limited to video podcasts. The Spotify ...

Blue Origin Launches NASA Mars Mission and Nails Booster Landing

This is Beirut 2025-11-14 09:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA NASA Blue Origin Mars

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin successfully launched its New Glenn rocket on Thursday with NASA twin spacecraft destined for Mars aboard and, in a breakthrough, nailed the landing of its booster. The launch was stalled for days over weather both on Earth and in space, but it was worth the wait: in the rocket's second-ever flight, Blue Origin managed to ...

Google Proposes Adtech Changes to Avoid Breakup After EU Fine

This is Beirut 2025-11-14 09:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

European Union USA Google Fine Advertising

Google on Friday announced changes to its advertising services to avert the risk of a breakup, two months after Brussels hit the US giant with a massive fine. The European Commission slapped a 2.95-billion-euro ($3.43 billion) antitrust fine on Google for favoring its own services in September, giving the company 60 days to resolve the issues ...

Four Athletes, One Flag: Lebanon at the Deaflympics in Tokyo

Makram Haddad 2025-11-14 13:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Deaflympics Tokyo Olympic Games

The suitcases are modest, the resources limited, but the symbol is immense. From Beirut Airport, a delegation of four deaf athletes has set out for Tokyo to take part in the Deaflympics. For the first time, Lebanon will march with its own flag at the opening ceremony of this global event reserved for deaf or hard-of-hearing athletes. This ...

Jeita Grotto: The Hidden Truth the State Refuses to See

Natasha Metni Torbey 2025-11-14 16:05 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Instead of properly closing a case that should never have existed, the report published on November 13 about the Jeita Grotto incident only deepens the concern, revealing a far more troubling reality. Institutional and scientific oversight is disturbingly lax. Procedures are improvised, responsibilities evaporate, decisions are made without a ...

Russian Strikes on Kyiv Apartment Blocks Kill Six

This is Beirut 2025-11-14 17:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Kyiv Ukraine USA Putin

Russia struck residential parts of Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Friday, Ukraine said, killing six people in a single apartment block in attacks President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced as "heinous" and aimed at civilians. Kyiv also said a Russian drone attack on a market in southern Ukraine hours later killed two more people. It was one of the ...

Sharaa in Washington: A Turning Point for Syria

Seth J. Frantzman 2025-11-12 16:00 - Reading : 8 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Syria Washington United States Donald Trump Ahmad al-Sharaa

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa visited the White House on Monday for a historic meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump that capped a year in which Damascus has rapidly come in from the cold and reintegrated into the international community. Sharaa has helped steer Syria through this complex path, beginning with pushing the Assad regime out of ...

Washington's New Ambassador, Michel Issa, Lands in Lebanon... Who is He?

This is Beirut 2025-11-14 20:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lebanon Donald Trump Banks United States Michel Issa Ambassador

The new United States ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, landed in Beirut on Friday to begin a particularly delicate mission. His arrival comes at a time when Washington is seeking to redefine the scope of its engagement in a country caught in a deep institutional crisis, latent tensions in the south, and growing international pressure over ...

Saudi Prince, Eyeing Defence Pledge, to Meet Trump After Long US Absence

This is Beirut 2025-11-15 12:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA Bahrain Gulf Hamas Israel Saudi Arabia

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will press for security guarantees while US President Donald Trump will urge him to normalise ties with Israel when the de facto Saudi ruler breaks a seven-year absence from Washington this week. Saudi Arabia is unlikely to agree to normalisation at this stage, with Prince Mohammed's priority set for firmer US ...

US Museums Reopen as Tourists Celebrate Washington’s Cultural Revival

This is Beirut 2025-11-15 14:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Museum Culture Art US Washington

Nick Adams couldn't help but smile as he showed his son the planes hanging in Washington's Air and Space Museum, which reopened Friday after a month closed due to the US government shutdown. "We had been planning this trip for a little while and were nervous with everything shut down, but were excited to see everything open up again," said the ...

Defense and Israel at the Heart of MBS’s Washington Visit

This is Beirut 2025-11-16 14:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Israel Washington Donald Trump Bahrain Saudi Arabia USA

The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), is expected in Washington on Tuesday November 18 for a meeting with United States President Donald Trump. The visit is seen as crucial for the US administration and is meant to revive and broaden the Abraham Accords while strengthening strategic and economic ties between Washington and ...

UNIFIL: “We urge the Israeli army to halt any aggressive actions targeting our forces”

This is Beirut 2025-11-16 15:44 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

United Nations Lebanon Israel south strike

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) issued a statement saying that, this morning, an Israeli army Merkava tank opened fire on UNIFIL peacekeepers near a site that Israel has established inside Lebanese territory. According to the statement, heavy machine-gun fire struck near the peacekeepers, landing about five meters away, as ...

Foreign Minister Says 'No Undeclared Nuclear Enrichment Facility' in Iran

This is Beirut 2025-11-16 16:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Iran Iran Nuclear Program Uranium Enrichment Abbas Araghchi IAEA

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that the country had no undeclared uranium enrichment sites and that all of its facilities were monitored by the UN's nuclear watchdog. The assertion came after US media outlets, including the Washington Post and the New York Times, reported that Iran had accelerated construction at a secret ...

Carbon Capture Promoters Turn Up in Numbers at COP30

This is Beirut 2025-11-17 09:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Climate Cop30 UN Brazil Energy

Companies and groups backing carbon-capture technology, which critics slam as an excuse to keep burning fossil fuels, have deployed more than 500 participants to the COP30 climate talks, according to a list compiled by an NGO and shared exclusively with AFP. The list, assembled by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), names oil ...

Bombardments Continue in the South

This is Beirut 2025-11-12 20:20 - Reading : less than a minute

Nawaf Salam Lebanon south strike

The National News Agency in Marjeyoun reported that Israeli shelling continued on the outskirts of Mays al-Jabal on Monday evening, where more than five artillery shells hit the western outskirts of the city. The agency also noted that Israeli artillery targeted the Wadi al-Jamal area, located between the towns of Houla and Mays al-Jabal, as well ...

The Power Cartel: Inside, a State Run on Generators

Natasha Metni Torbey 2025-11-12 15:55 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon EDL electricity generators Mafia

Lebanon is trapped in an opaque, sprawling energy system that keeps the country locked in an outdated model. Massive fuel imports, a relentless reliance on private generators, a fragile or even nonexistent national sovereignty, and a perpetually postponed shift to renewable energy all feed chronic dependency and block meaningful reform. This ...

Iran Army Says Targeted U.S. Bases in Iraq, Gulf

This is Beirut 01/03 10:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Bahrain Gulf Kuwait Middle East Saudi Arabia

Fresh blasts were heard across Dubai, Doha and Manama on Sunday morning as Iran carried out strikes in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks that killed the supreme leader and other top officials. AFP reporters heard blasts in Dubai, Bahrain's capital Manama and Qatar -- where AFP correspondents saw thick black smoke rising on the clear ...

'Western Tech Dominance Fading' at Lisbon's Web Summit

This is Beirut 2025-11-11 09:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Europe USA Web Summit France Lisbon China

Global tech leaders will pack Lisbon's annual Web Summit from Tuesday to talk Artificial Intelligence, robots, and startups -- all under the shadow of tensions over cutting-edge tech and the natural resources needed to build it. Over four days, the "Davos for geeks" is set to welcome over 70,000 visitors including 2,500 startups and ...

Fire Contained Near Dubai's U.S. Consulate After Drone Attack

This is Beirut 03/03 22:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Gulf Kuwait Middle East USA

A drone attack caused a fire near the US consulate in Dubai on Tuesday, a government statement said, after the US embassy in Riyadh was hit by an Iranian strike. Nearby residents told AFP they heard a loud bang, and one person said she then saw a fire at the consulate. Dubai and other Gulf cities have been under bombardment since ...

Displacement Fuels Fears of Hezbollah Infiltration Across Lebanon

Ian Stettner 14/03 16:35 - Reading : 8 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah Achrafieh Internal Security Forces Israel

From Beirut’s suburbs to the Beqaa valley, to Druze strongholds in the eastern Chouf and Aley, and north across the Christian belt from the mountain resorts to the coast, fears are rising that Hezbollah operatives may be among the growing numbers of displaced Shia families. Israeli assassination strikes in historically-neutral parts of ...

Decapitation of Iranian Military and Intelligence Leadership: Timeline and Structure

Ralph Atrach 06/04 23:40 - Reading : 8 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah Israel Middle East Tehran

Since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran on February 28, a series of coordinated strikes by both countries has dramatically reshaped Iran’s military and political command structure. The U.S.-led Operation Epic Fury and Israel’s Operation Roaring Lion have systematically targeted senior Iranian officials, top advisors, ...