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 ...

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 ...

Canadians Pull Tariff Ad After Furious Trump Scraps Trade Talks

This is Beirut 2025-10-25 05:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Canada United States Donald Trump Tariff

The Canadian province of Ontario said on Friday it would pull an anti-tariff ad featuring former US president Ronald Reagan that prompted current leader Donald Trump to scrap trade talks. Trump announced on his Truth Social network on Thursday that he had "terminated" all negotiations with Canada over what he called the "fake" ...

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 ...

Trump Orders US to Start Nuclear Weapons Testing

This is Beirut 2025-10-30 10:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA Ukraine Putin

US President Donald Trump said Thursday he had ordered the Pentagon to start nuclear weapons testing on a level with China and Russia -- just minutes before opening a high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The move comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable, ...

The CCMC: A New International Coordination Hub for Gaza

Mario Chartouni 2025-10-28 15:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Hamas Unites States Donald Trump Gaza

The Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), based in Kiryat Gat, Israel, has become the most visible symbol of international involvement in Gaza’s postwar phase. Inaugurated in mid-October 2025, it was established by the United States as part of Washington’s peace plan to oversee humanitarian aid, reconstruction, and compliance with the ...

UN Calls for End to Sudan Siege After Mass Hospital Killings

This is Beirut 2025-10-30 09:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

United Nations United States Sudan El-Facher Darfur

UN chief Antonio Guterres called for an immediate end to military escalation in Sudan on Thursday after reports that more than 460 people were shot dead in a maternity hospital by paramilitary forces. Mohammad Hamdan Daglo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries, which recently seized the city of El-Fasher from army forces, has ...

Trump Hails Tariff, Rare Earth Deal with Xi

This is Beirut 2025-10-30 09:05 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Donald Trump United States Xi Jinping China

US President Donald Trump called the meeting Thursday with China's Xi Jinping a "great success", after the world's top two economies agreed a deal to trim fentanyl-related tariffs and keep supplies of critical rare earths flowing. There was no immediate comment from the Chinese government after what was the leaders' first ...

Hurricane Melissa Batters Jamaica, Touches Down in Cuba

This is Beirut 2025-10-29 20:12 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Jamaica Cuba Hurricane Melissa

Cubans waded through flooded houses Wednesday, and authorities in Haiti reported 20 dead as Hurricane Melissa blasted across the Caribbean after devastating swaths of Jamaica. The storm made landfall in Cuba overnight, with the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) describing it as "extremely dangerous" even as it started to ...

Key Issues up for Discussion at Trump-Xi Meet

This is Beirut 2025-10-29 15:35 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump China USA Xi Jinping

US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are set to meet Thursday for the first time since 2019. Washington and Beijing have been locked in a multipronged trade spat since Trump returned to the White House and are tussling for global sway. Here are the key issues the two leaders could discuss: Rare earths A strategic ...

Smart Cartilage: The New Frontier Against Arthritis?

Bélinda Ibrahim 2025-10-29 11:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Arthritis Science Cartilage Smart

This morning, in the calm corridors of a hospital, Myriam, 56, hesitates before putting her foot on the ground. Arthritis, with its constant flare-ups and stiffness, waits behind every movement. Around the world, hundreds of millions of people live in fear of a single misstep, caught between brief moments of relief and the anxiety of the next ...

Mali’s Fuel Crisis: A Nationwide Standstill

Christiane Tager 2025-10-29 10:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Banks International Monetary Fund

Since early September, queues at gas stations in Bamako have been endlessly growing. The jihadist group JNIM (Jamaʿat Nuṣrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin) has blocked fuel convoys from Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, destroying nearly 100 tanker trucks, according to the Associated Press (AP). As a landlocked country, Mali relies on imports for more ...

Berri Adjourns Parliamentary Session Over Lack of Quorum

This is Beirut 2025-10-28 12:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon Nabih Berry Parliament Strong Republic Kataëb

Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri on Tuesday adjourned a scheduled legislative session after failing to secure the required quorum, with only 63 of the 128 lawmakers in attendance. The plenary session had been set to resume discussion of draft laws and proposals carried over from the September 29, 2025, agenda. However, it was boycotted by ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Trump Says to Meet Lula 'Both in Brazil and the United States'

This is Beirut 2025-10-06 19:52 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Brazil United States Donald Trump Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

US President Donald Trump hailed a "very good" phone call with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday, after months of tensions, saying they would meet in both their countries. "We discussed many things, but it was mostly focused on the economy and trade," Trump said on his Truth Social network after ...

Israel, Hamas Due to Start Ceasefire Talks in Egypt

This is Beirut 2025-10-06 10:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Hamas Egypt Gaza Ceasefire

Delegations from Hamas, Israel and the United States are due to convene in Egypt for talks on Monday, with President Donald Trump urging negotiators to "move fast" to end the nearly two-year war in Gaza. Both Hamas and Israel have responded positively to Trump's proposal for an end to the fighting and the release of captives in Gaza in exchange ...

Pension Reform Stalled: 13 Decrees Blocking Lebanon’s Social Protection Law

Liliane Mokbel 2025-11-08 14:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Thirteen. That is the number of implementing decrees still pending to activate the pension and social protection law passed in 2023. Without them, the long-awaited reform remains on hold. The new system was meant to gradually replace the decades-old end-of-service indemnity scheme. So far, only one decree has been partially addressed, the one ...

New U.S. Sanctions Target Hezbollah Financial Intermediaries

This is Beirut 2025-11-07 09:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah United States Washington sanctions Iran

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on Thursday new sanctions against several individuals accused of transferring tens of millions of dollars from Iran to Hezbollah in 2025 through Lebanese money exchange houses. According to the Treasury, these networks exploit Lebanon’s largely cash-based and informal financial system to fund the ...

Trump’s New Doctrine: Transforming the War on Drugs into a Front Against Iran

Ian Talley 2025-11-10 23:55 - Reading : 24 minute(s)

Donald Trump United States Latin America Venezuela Drugs

The string of U.S. strikes against alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean is not just a fresh phase in the war on drugs; it is a new operational theater in the proxy war against Iran. The attacks—nearly a dozen over the last month—are the sharp tip of the Trump administration’s doctrine that treats Latin ...