Iran Offers New Proposal Amid Stalled U.S. Peace Talks

This is Beirut 01/05 17:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Iran USA Negotiations USIranWar Israel

According to Iranian state media reporting on Friday, Iran delivered a new proposal for peace talks with the U.S. via mediator Pakistan, with negotiations between the two sides frozen despite a weeks-long ceasefire. The text of the proposal was handed to Islamabad on Thursday evening, the IRNA news agency reported. The war, launched by the ...

US Vice President Vance in Israel to Shore up Gaza Deal

This is Beirut 2025-10-21 14:34 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam USA Benjamin Netanyahu JD Vance Gaza

    US Vice President JD Vance landed in Israel on Tuesday to shore up a fragile Gaza ceasefire deal, after President Donald Trump warned Hamas it would be wiped out if it breached the truce. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were already in Tel Aviv, where they met Israeli hostages released by Hamas ...

The Shamkhani Wedding Scandal: How a Leaked Wedding Became Iran’s Mirror of Moral Collapse

Salam El Zaatari 2025-10-23 11:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Iran wedding Islamic Republic of Iran

In mid-October 2025, a leaked video from a private wedding set Iran ablaze, digitally, politically and morally. It wasn’t just any celebration. The footage showed the daughter of Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, one of Iran’s most powerful men and a close confidant of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, parading in a strapless white gown at the ...

US Strikes on Alleged Drug Boats in Pacific Amid Rising Tensions with Colombia

This is Beirut 2025-10-23 09:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA Gustavo Petro Colombia Drones Drugs

President Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, traded angry threats Wednesday as the United States announced strikes on two alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Pacific Ocean that left five people dead. Trump branded Petro a "thug" and suggested he was a drug trafficker leading his country to ruin, prompting the leftist ...

Lebanon 2019: Behind a Programmed Revolution (2/2)

Natasha Metni Torbey 2025-10-22 12:30 - Reading : 11 minute(s)

Central Bank of Lebanon Free Patriotic Movement Amal Banks

Lebanon has an exceptionally dense civil society sector. Hundreds of local NGOs receive funding from international organizations such as the European Union, various United Nations agencies, private foundations like Ford, Rockefeller and Open Society, as well as contributions from the diaspora. Most of this funding is fully declared, independently ...

Trump Urged Ukraine to Give Up Land in 'Tense' Talks

This is Beirut 2025-10-21 19:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

United States Ukraine Donald Trump Donbas

US President Donald Trump pressured his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to give up the eastern Donbas region in exchange for peace during "tense" talks last Friday in Washington, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP. The source added that the talks with Trump were "not easy" and that diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war felt ...

Trump Says Middle East Allies Ready to 'Straighten out Hamas' If Asked

This is Beirut 2025-10-21 17:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Donald Trump United States Hamas Gaza

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that allied nations in the Middle East were prepared to send troops into Gaza, at his request, to confront Hamas if the group did not cease its alleged violations of his peace plan. The threat comes a day after Trump warned Hamas would be "eradicated" if the group did not meet expectations of the agreement, ...

The Lebanese Demand Peace with Israel

Hussain Abdul-Hussain 2025-10-21 15:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanon Hezbollah Peace

"Break the taboos; we demand peace," declared Marcel Ghanem, host of Lebanon’s premier talk show. "Demanding peace [with Israel] is not a crime," he emphasized, challenging entrenched narratives. Marwan Hamade, a seasoned Druze lawmaker, appeared on I24 News (French service) to discuss Gaza, signaling a willingness to defy Lebanon’s surreal ...

France's Former President Sarkozy Jailed, Proclaiming his Innocence

This is Beirut 2025-10-21 12:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Emmanuel Macron European Union Nicolas Sarkozy France

France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy became the first former head of an EU state to be jailed Tuesday, proclaiming his innocence as he entered a Paris prison. France's right-wing leader from 2007 to 2012 was found guilty last month of seeking to acquire funding from Moammar Kadhafi's Libya for the campaign that saw him elected. AFP ...

Trump Completes Demolition of White House East Wing

This is Beirut 2025-10-24 05:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

United States Donald Trump White House

Demolition workers have finished tearing down the White House's entire East Wing to make way for US President Donald Trump's giant new $300 million ballroom, satellite pictures showed Thursday. The completion of the wrecking work came as the White House released a list of donors to the ballroom including Apple, Google and Meta. A gray ...

China Hawk Takaichi Named Japan's First Woman PM

This is Beirut 2025-10-21 09:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Sanae Takaichi Japan China Prime Minister

Japan got its first woman prime minister on Tuesday after Sanae Takaichi, a China hawk and social conservative, forged an 11th-hour coalition deal. Japan's fifth premier in as many years will lead a minority government and has a bulging in-tray, not least a scheduled visit by US President Donald Trump next week. The lower house of parliament ...

Bolivia's President-Elect Says Will Resume Ties with US after Nearly Two Decades

This is Beirut 2025-10-20 21:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Bolivia United States Rodrigo Paz

Bolivia's new center-right president-elect said Monday he would seek to reinstate diplomatic ties with the United States that were broken off nearly two decades ago under leftist ex-leader Evo Morales. "In the specific case of the United States... that relationship will be resumed," economist-turned-senator Rodrigo Paz, 58, told reporters after ...

AWS Outage Disrupts Major Apps and Services Worldwide

This is Beirut 2025-10-20 12:21 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

USA Amazon Web Services Outage Internet

A widespread outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) has caused significant disruptions across many of the world’s most popular apps, websites, and online services from social media platforms like Snapchat to government websites such as the UK’s HMRC. The issue, which began around midnight Pacific time (10 a.m. Beirut Time) on Monday, ...

Morocco Pledges Social Reforms Amid Protests

This is Beirut 2025-10-20 09:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Morocco Gen Z Education Protest

The Moroccan government on Sunday announced a set of measures aimed at encouraging young people to engage in politics and pledging social reforms amid youth-led protests, state media reported. A draft finance bill for 2026 would improve social services, including public education and healthcare -- two key sectors which demonstrators have urged ...

Hezbollah and the “Reality Principle”

Michel Touma 2025-10-20 08:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Hezbollah Middle East United States

Major developments are unfolding rapidly in the Levant, placing the region before what increasingly seems like an urgent reality: Hezbollah’s leadership, and more broadly its Iranian backers, need to align their political conduct with the so-called “reality principle.” In psychoanalytic terms, the “reality principle” means facing facts ...

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Delicate Position of Iran’s Jews

Marie de La Roche Saint-André 2025-10-19 19:10 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Donald Trump Middle East Palestine Tehran

With around 10,000 members, Iran’s Jewish community is the second largest in the Middle East. Its presence is discreet but tangible in a nation marked by pronounced hostility toward Israel, most recently expressed during 12 days of open conflict last June. The Jewish presence in the lands of present-day Iran dates back to the eighth century ...

Brigitte Bardot Silences Death Rumors With Defiant Message

This is Beirut 2025-10-23 11:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

"I'm doing well," the French 91-year-old film icon Brigitte Bardot said on Wednesday evening, seeking to quell persistent speculation over her health on social media while criticizing "idiot" internet users. "I'm doing well," the ’60s star and outspoken animal rights activist posted on X. "I don't know which idiot started this 'fake news' story ...

Sheikh Naim’s Clash with the Formal Economy

Johnny Kortbawi 2025-10-24 15:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Banks Banque du Liban Hezbollah Naim Qassem Cash

One of Hezbollah’s most pressing challenges, beyond its ongoing military decline and Israel’s persistent targeting of its depots and stockpiles, is its financial crisis. The depletion of resources has left the group unable to engage with its population as it once did to sustain its alternative economy. A clear example is Sheikh Naim ...

Looksmaxxing: The Male Side of the Beauty Obsession

Sana Richa Choucair 2025-10-19 15:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Tik Tok look optimization beauty masculinity

On TikTok, forums and countless corners of the web, a growing trend grips young men: looksmaxxing, the drive to “maximize” one’s appearance. This isn’t just grooming or fitness, it’s conforming to rigid aesthetic ideals with extreme methods, turning bodies into commodities. What is the origin of this term? What vocabulary has it ...

Trump Says Increasing Tariffs on Canada by 10 Percent

This is Beirut 2025-10-26 05:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Canada United States Tariff Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was hiking tariffs on Canadian goods by an additional 10 percent, in the latest fallout over a Canadian anti-tariff ad that featured late US leader Ronald Reagan. The announcement came two days after Trump said he had terminated all trade talks with Canada over what he called the "fake" ad ...

Syrian Authorities Seize 11 Million Captagon Pills Smuggled from Lebanon

This is Beirut 2025-10-28 10:35 - Reading : less than a minute

Lebanon Syria captagon Homs

Anti-narcotics units in Syria’s Homs province intercepted a vehicle carrying roughly 11 million Captagon pills smuggled from Lebanese territory, the Syrian Interior Ministry announced Tuesday. The shipment was seized in the southern rural area of Homs. Security forces confiscated both the drugs and the vehicle used in the operation. According ...

No Electoral Reform in Sight as Parliament Faces Quorum Doubts

Élie-Joe Kamel 2025-10-27 18:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Free Patriotic Movement Lebanese Forces Amal Banks Central Bank of Lebanon

Uncertainty continues to surround the plenary session scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday. The session is set to resume the review of bills and draft laws that were on the agenda for the September 29 meeting. That session was postponed after MPs from several parliamentary blocs, including the Lebanese Forces (LF), Kataeb, the Progressive Socialist ...

Lebanon’s Prisons Buckle Under Inmate Surge

Natasha Metni Torbey 2025-10-27 18:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Stepping into Roumieh Prison in Matn, one might mistake it for a transit camp rather than a facility meant to enforce sentences. Built to hold 1,000 to 1,200 inmates, it now houses nearly 4,000 - more than triple its intended capacity. The national situation is equally grim. Human Rights Watch reports that Lebanon’s prison system officially has ...

Ten People Go on Trial Over Online Harassment of French First Lady

This is Beirut 2025-10-27 15:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Emmanuel Macron United States USA

Ten people went on trial in Paris Monday charged with sexist online harassment of Brigitte Macron, in the latest case linked to unsubstantiated gender claims thrown at the French first lady in France and beyond. The trial comes after she and President Emmanuel Macron filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States at the end of July, in ...

Top US, India Officials Discuss Ties as Trade Rift Drags on

This is Beirut 2025-10-27 08:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

USA US Secretary of State India Asean Diplomacy

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with India's foreign minister on Monday, as the two countries push trade talks and ease tensions over Washington's punishing tariffs. Few details were released, but Rubio's meeting with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is the highest-level contact since the United States imposed sanctions last week on Russian oil ...

Labubu and Pazuzu: The Sinister Tale of a Viral Doll

Bélinda Ibrahim 2025-10-26 19:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Labubu Pazuzu Doll Cuture Rumor

In recent months, social media has been buzzing with a peculiar rumor: the famous Labubu dolls, icons of Asian pop culture, may actually be modeled on Pazuzu, a demon from ancient Mesopotamia. Straddling the line between sensationalism and imagination, the rumor has sparked fascination and anxiety among fans, collectors and the wider public. But ...

Les Mains de Mamie Redefine Haute Couture

Bélinda Ibrahim 2025-10-25 19:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Les Mains de Mamie Fashion Culture Grandmas Haute Couture

At first glance, Catherine’s flat in Saint-Étienne looks like any other French retiree’s home. Balls of yarn are scattered on the armchair, patterns are scribbled on scraps of paper, an old measuring tape lies nearby, and the television murmurs in the background. But for the past three years, her hands have been knitting for more than just ...

Trump says all Canada Trade Talks 'Terminated' Over 'Fake' Ad

This is Beirut 2025-10-24 15:23 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump United States USA Canada

  US President Donald Trump on Friday doubled down on his decision to end trade talks with Canada over an anti-tariff advertising campaign, a sudden about-face soon after a cordial White House meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney. On his Truth Social network Thursday, Trump vented fury at what he called a "fake" ad ...

Criticism Will Motivate Yamal in Clasico, Says Barca Assistant

This is Beirut 2025-10-25 15:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Football Barça Real Madrid Liga

Barcelona star Lamine Yamal will be motivated by criticism ahead of the Clasico, said the club's assistant coach on Saturday. Teenage winger Yamal has been in the spotlight in the Spanish capital after joking that Real Madrid "steal" and "complain" during an appearance on a social media stream. Spanish champions Barca face Real Madrid on Sunday ...

Kill the Woman

Amine Jules Iskandar 2025-10-25 12:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Lebanon Women Culture Christians Church

At the root of society lies the family, and at the root of the family lies the woman. Society is built on this basic unit, the household, which provides security and solidarity, shapes values and transmits heritage. This nucleus of social cohesion, for all humanity, is precisely what liberal and globalist ideologies have been targeting. To turn ...