This is Beirut, 2025-02-05 13:43 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Donald Trump United States Gaza Benjamin Netanyahu
President Donald Trump revealed an extraordinary plan Tuesday for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip, resettle Palestinians in other countries – seemingly whether they wanted to leave or not – and turn the territory into "the Riviera of the Middle East." Trump made the stunning proposal to audible gasps during a ...
This is Beirut, 2025-02-05 12:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Volodymyr Zelensky Donald Trump Ukraine USA Russia Vladimir Poutine
The Kremlin on Wednesday dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement that he was ready for direct talks with Russian counterpart Vladmir Putin to end fighting as "empty words". "So far this cannot be seen as anything but empty words," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, after Zelensky said in an interview that he ...
Paul Guillot, 2025-02-05 12:20 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Donald Trump Canada Mexico China Trade Tariffs
The Trump administration has disrupted the global economy with a series of dramatic announcements and last-minute negotiations, imposing new tariffs on key trading partners – Canada, Mexico and China. While Canada and Mexico secured temporary reprieves through emergency agreements, China remains entrenched in a fierce tariff standoff. Amid ...
This is Beirut, 2025-02-05 11:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Donald Trump USA White House Iran Nuclear weapons
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was planning to reinstate what he called the "maximum pressure" policy against Iran over allegations that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons. However, Trump also said he hoped the policy will "hardly have to be used." Trump made the comment as he signed a memorandum reimposing the tough policy of ...
This is Beirut, 2025-02-05 09:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Saudi Arabia Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu
Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it will not formalize ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state is established, after Israel's prime minister remarked that he thought normalisation with the Gulf kingdom was "going to happen". "Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its ...
Samar El-Kadi, 2025-02-05 08:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Donald Trump Washington USAID George Soros
Insubordination, waste of taxpayers’ money and promotion of agendas that run counter to US national interests are some of the reasons spelled out by US President Donald Trump’s administration for freezing foreign aid and targeting the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in particular. Trump, a long-term critic of overseas ...
This is Beirut, 2025-02-05 04:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Donald Trump United States US Secretary of State USA
President Donald Trump on Tuesday backed an offer by El Salvador to take in prisoners -- including US citizens -- despite clear legal problems with such an outsourcing under American law. "If we had the legal right to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "It's no different than our prison system, except ...
This is Beirut, 2025-02-04 23:09 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
United States Donald Trump UNHCR UNRWA UNESCO
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order withdrawing his country from a number of United Nations bodies, including its Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and setting up a broader review of US funding for the multilateral organization. The executive order said it withdrew Washington from UNHRC and the main UN relief agency for ...
Élie-Joe Kamel, 2025-02-04 14:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Lebanon Morgan Ortagus Donald Trump Israël Ceasefire
On January 3, 2025, US President Donald Trump appointed Morgan Ortagus as Deputy Special Envoy for Peace in the Middle East. Ortagus, who served as spokesperson for the US State Department during Trump’s first term (2017-2021), will be part of the team headed by Steve Witkoff, a close friend and trusted confidant of Trump. Morgan Ortagus, ...
This is Beirut, 2025-02-04 12:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
China has made good on its threats to retaliate in the escalating trade war with the United States, imposing tariffs on American imports of energy, cars and machinery parts. That came just minutes after a 10 percent tariff hike on Chinese goods, announced by US President Donald Trump on Saturday, came into effect. Here's the state of play in the ...
This is Beirut, 2025-02-04 09:35 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet President Donald Trump on Tuesday, as Israel and Hamas say they are ready for negotiations on a new phase in their fragile Gaza ceasefire. Netanyahu, the first foreign leader to visit the White House since Trump returned to power last month, will discuss the truce's future and efforts to ...
This is Beirut, 2025-02-04 09:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
US Treasury USA Donald Trump Washington
Elon Musk and his aides have taken control of the US Treasury Department's payments system, triggering a lawsuit charging he is illegally getting access to private data of millions of Americans. Musk, the world's richest person, is leading President Donald Trump's federal cost-cutting efforts under the so-called Department of Government ...