End to US Government Shutdown in Sight as Stopgap Bill Advances to House

This is Beirut 2025-11-11 08:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

USA Democrats Donald Trump Shutdown

The longest-ever US government shutdown moved forward Monday toward an eventual resolution, after several Democratic senators broke ranks to join Republicans in a 60-40 vote passing a compromise deal -- sparking intra-party backlash. Since October 1, the first day of the shutdown, more than a million federal workers have been unpaid, while ...

US Envoy Kushner and Netanyahu Discuss Phase Two of Gaza Truce

This is Beirut 2025-11-10 20:02 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Benjamin Netanyahu USA Jared Kushner

US mediator Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks Monday on the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, as Washington intensified its efforts to ensure the fragile truce endures. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said Israel would enforce the ceasefire in Gaza as well as one in Lebanon with an "iron ...

Public Finances Recovering, but Stability Remains Fragile

Liliane Mokbel 2025-11-07 17:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon Central Bank of Lebanon EDL economy finance

The rebound in Lebanese state deposits at the central bank (BDL), estimated at nearly $800 million, marks a rare financial upswing amid the prolonged crisis that began in 2019. It is a welcome breath of fresh air, but still far from a genuine structural recovery of public finances. Above all, this renewed momentum reflects the early stages of a ...

Israel Identifies Remains as Officer Hadar Goldin's, Killed in 2014 Gaza War

This is Beirut 2025-11-09 19:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Hamas Gaza Israeli Hostages Hadar Goldin

Israel said the remains it received on Sunday from Hamas were those of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, an Israeli officer killed in the 2014 Gaza War. "After the identification process was completed... Israeli military representatives informed the family of the fallen hostage, Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, that their loved one has been returned to ...

Spanish Star Rosalía Unveils 'Lux', a Spiritual and Multilingual New Album

This is Beirut 2025-11-07 17:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Music Rosalía New Album Global Sounds Spain Culture

Spanish singer Rosalía released her anticipated fourth album, Lux, on Friday, a sweeping, spiritual work that marks a departure from her previous work. After the acclaim for her breakthrough album, El Mal Querer, which fused flamenco with R&B rhythms, and her genre-defying follow-up, Motomami, Rosalía offers an orchestral meditation on faith ...

UN Warns 'Intensified Hostilities' Ahead in Sudan Despite RSF Backing Truce Plan

This is Beirut 2025-11-07 18:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

United Nations Sudan Kordofan

The United Nations warned on Friday of "intensified hostilities" ahead in Sudan, despite paramilitary forces endorsing a truce proposal from mediators after more than two years of war with the regular army. "There is no sign of de-escalation," UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement. "Developments on the ground indicate clear ...

Lionel Messi: The Quiet Hero

Bélinda Ibrahim 2025-11-07 19:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lionel Messi Football Portrait Legend Argentina FC Barcelone

In a world highly obsessed with noise and spectacle, Messi stands as a rare exception. Far from flashes and bombastic declarations, he has built his legend through restraint and subtle gestures. On the pitch as in life, he speaks little, yet every action resonates more powerfully than words ever could. He embodies a rare kind of greatness that ...

America’s Longest Shutdown: A Nation in Uncertainty

Sana Richa Choucair 2025-11-07 21:35 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Democrats Donald Trump Los Angeles Republicans United States

As the United States enters its sixth week without an approved budget, the paralysis of the federal government has spread far beyond Washington’s corridors of power. Flights are canceled, public services remain closed, and federal employees go unpaid. The crisis is testing the resilience of the world’s largest economy and raising urgent ...

Cristiano Ronaldo: The Obsession with Perfection

Bélinda Ibrahim 2025-11-08 19:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Cristiano Ronaldo Football Real Madrid Portugal Portrait

In the world of football, Cristiano Ronaldo stands in a league of his own. He has reached the top not just through talent and hard work but by embodying the idea of the complete athlete, where every detail matters. With him, nothing is left to chance. The daily training, the sculpted body, and the carefully measured diet all reflect a mindset ...

Nine New Music Legends Join Rock Hall Ranks Today

This is Beirut 2025-11-09 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Rock Music Concert Awards Culture Art

Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, the White Stripes and Soundgarden were among this year's inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday, adding their names to the pantheon of music's most esteemed and beloved acts. New Yorker Lauper, who burst onto the pop scene with colorful punk looks and infectious tunes like Girls Just Want to Have Fun, True ...

“Glamorize”: When Crime Becomes a Show

Sana Richa Choucair 2025-11-09 15:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Since the spectacular Louvre heist on October 19, the internet has been ablaze. On social media, heist videos multiply, memes turn stolen jewels into fashion accessories, and the alleged thieves of France’s Crown Treasure have become fictional characters. The case reveals a broader cultural phenomenon: the glamorization of crime, where ...

Jazz Correia: The Gilded Cage

Bélinda Ibrahim 2025-11-09 19:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Jazz Correia JLC Family Instagram

In JLC Family, Jazz’s home becomes the set of a real-life series. Her children take part in the performance, and her relationship unfolds in front of the camera, episode by episode. What viewers see is carefully edited and designed for Snapchat, Instagram, or YouTube. Gradually, the line between reality and fiction fades. Emotions become raw ...

The Decision Over War and Peace: A Call to Order

Michel Touma 2025-11-10 08:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Amal Hezbollah Tehran

It is a world turned completely upside down. That seems to be the guiding principle of the radical wing of Tehran’s clerical regime, which persistently seeks to project onto Lebanon its own highly idiosyncratic—and at times surreal—vision of political action. Following the directives of its regional mentor, the local pro-Iranian group shows ...

Syria: From Pariah State to a Guest in Washington

Mario Chartouni 2025-11-10 19:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Washington Donald Trump Damascus Hamas Hezbollah Syria

This Monday, Donald Trump is hosting Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House. It is a historic moment: never before has a Syrian president been officially received in Washington since the country gained independence in 1946. The event symbolizes the end of half a century of hostility between the two capitals. For a long time, Syria was one of the most ...

The AI Revolution Has a Power Problem

This is Beirut 2025-11-10 09:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Google Microsoft Amazon AI Meta

In the race for AI dominance, American tech giants have the money and the chips, but their ambitions have hit a new obstacle: electric power. "The biggest issue we are now having is not a compute glut, but it's the power and...the ability to get the builds done fast enough close to power," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged on a recent ...

Glen Powell Reinvents Action Stardom In 'The Running Man'

This is Beirut 2025-11-10 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Cinema Film Culture Art Hollywood The Running Man

It is often said Hollywood doesn't produce movie stars anymore. So when someone with a square jaw and loads of charisma like Glen Powell is cast in Arnold Schwarzenegger's role for a reboot of The Running Man, people get excited. But Powell, an unfailingly courteous Texan who quit the Los Angeles life and moved home to Austin as his fame grew, is ...

US Senators Take Major Step Toward Ending Record Shutdown

This is Beirut 2025-11-10 10:35 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

USA Democrats Donald Trump Republicans New York

The US Senate took a major step Sunday toward ending the longest government shutdown in American history when it cleared the way for a formal debate on a motion to resume funding to federal agencies. The Republican-led chamber approved a procedural vote by 60 votes to 40, putting a hard limit on how much longer senators can discuss the ...

Belly Dancing: A Quiet Act of Freedom in Riyadh

This is Beirut 2025-11-10 11:50 - Reading : less than a minute

Saudi Arabia Belly Dancing Private

Riyadh: In a women-only gym, the beat of drums fills the air. Barefoot and with scarves tied around their hips, Saudi women practice belly dancing away from prying eyes. Once taboo, the dance has become a way for them to reclaim their bodies, boost their confidence, and assert their strength. In a transforming Saudi Arabia, they dance for ...

Gaza's Health Ministry says 15 Palestinian Bodies Received Under Truce Exchange Deal

This is Beirut 2025-11-10 13:00 - Reading : less than a minute

Nawaf Salam Hamas Palestine USA

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said it had received on Monday the bodies of 15 Palestinian prisoners under the US-brokered ceasefire exchange deal. "The ministry of health announces the receipt of 15 bodies of martyrs released today by the Israeli occupation through the Red Cross, bringing the total number of bodies received to 315" under ...

BBC Expected to Apologize Over Trump Row After Chief Resignation

This is Beirut 2025-11-10 13:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump Tim Davie BBC Resignation Documentary

The BBC was on Monday expected to apologize for editing a speech that suggested Donald Trump had directly instigated an attack on the US Capitol, resulting in the dramatic resignations of the broadcaster's top brass. Director general Tim Davie and the BBC News CEO Deborah Turness stepped down on Sunday after accusations that a documentary by ...

Mamdani: Debunking the Fallacies of an Islamist Demagogue

Charles Chartouni 2025-11-10 17:25 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

New York United States Donald Trump

The New York elections attest to the ubiquitousness of domestic political events in a globalized era and more specifically in New York City, which recapitulates the promises, illusions, and contradictions of the global era. The overlapping variables of the urban order and its economic, social, cultural, and religious factors coalesce to define the ...

Bulatov, Pillar of Russian Contemporary Art Scene, Dies at 92

This is Beirut 2025-11-10 17:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Painter Erik Bulatov Obituary Contemporary Art Russia Culture

Erik Bulatov, a pillar of Russia's contemporary art scene known for works mocking Soviet propaganda, has died in Paris at the age of 92, the Russian Academy of Fine Arts told AFP Monday. Bulatov was best known as one of the creators of the Sots Art movement that made use of Soviet slogans and shot him to fame in the final years of the USSR. "One ...

Sabah: The Timeless Voice Lighting Up Lebanon’s Soul

Marie-Christine Tayah 2025-11-10 18:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon Sabah Music Culture Art Heritage

Sabah, born Jeanette Georges Feghali in 1925 in the hilltop village of Bdadoun near Wadi Chahrour—the mysterious “Valley of the Blackbird”—was destined for artistry. Poetry ran in her family; her uncle, Anis Feghali, earned the nickname Shahrour El Wadi for his mastery of the traditional Arabic poetic form, zajal. Jeanette inherited this ...

Southern Lebanon’s Olive Trees: Peace Left to Fallow

Katia Kahil 2025-11-02 11:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

South Lebanon Lebanese Army United Nations USA

After a spiral of violence that devastated villages and farmland, the scars of war remain visible in Deir Mimas, Khiam, Houla, Blida, and Mays al-Jabal. More than 60,000 olive trees have been destroyed. “This year, we lost everything,” says Rose from Deir Mimas. “The trees are no longer pruned, the olives wither on the branches, and no one ...

Laura Massaad: Sensuality as a Path to Self-Love

Yara Germany 2025-11-01 15:00 - Reading : less than a minute

Sensuality Dance Taboo Femininity Woman

What if sensuality were a way to reconnect with yourself? Laura Massaad helps women reclaim their bodies, set themselves free, and learn to love who they are. For her, dance is a form of healing. Beyond taboos, discover the story of a woman and her studio… an ode to femininity.

Khamenei Tells Trump to 'Keep Dreaming' Over Claims of Destroying Iran Nuclear Sites

This is Beirut 2025-10-20 15:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Donald Trump Middle East Tehran USA Ali Khamenei

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday rebuffed claims by US President Donald Trump that the Islamic republic's nuclear sites had been destroyed by US strikes in June. In a statement on his official website, Khamenei told Trump to "keep dreaming" over the comments on the sites' destruction and questioned the US president's right ...

Iran Army Chief Warns U.S., Israel Against Attack, Says Forces on High Alert

This is Beirut 31/01 13:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Iran UnitedStates Trump Isreal

Iranian army chief Amir Hatami on Saturday warned the United States and Israel against an attack, saying his country's forces were on high alert following Washington's heavy military deployments in the Gulf. He also insisted the Islamic republic's nuclear expertise could not be eliminated, after Trump said he expected Tehran to seek a deal to ...

Cloudflare Resolves Outage That Disrupted Parts of the Internet

This is Beirut 2025-11-18 18:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Cloudflare Technology Cloud

Services from Cloudflare, a software company that supports thousands of websites, including X, Spotify, and OpenAI, on Tuesday reported a crash in one of its software systems, according to a report in the New York Times. Cloudflare, which provides tools to secure and manage internet traffic for websites, reported earlier in the day that it was ...

Tehran Shopkeepers Shut Stores Over Economic Hardship, Currency Volatility

This is Beirut 2025-12-29 14:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Tehran Economy Currency Sanctions protests

Some shopkeepers in Tehran closed their stores on Monday in protest against economic hardships and sharp swings in Iran's embattled currency, Iranian media reported, following similar demonstrations a day earlier. State news agency IRNA said some shopkeepers and traders at Tehran's bazaar "have closed or partially closed their stores," adding ...

Israel Strikes Southern, Eastern Lebanon

This is Beirut 06/01 09:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon Hamas Hezbollah Israel Lebanese Army Litani South Lebanon

The Israeli military said Monday it launched strikes on military infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah and Hamas in the Sidon district, north of the Litani River.   Following the attack, rescue and ambulance teams rushed to the scene. Members of the Popular Rescue Regiment affiliated with the Maarouf Saad Foundation evacuated a wounded ...