This is Beirut

Pop Memorabilia: Glittery Michael Jackson Sock Fetches $8,822 at French Auction

This is Beirut, 30/07 22:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Music Michael Jackson Auction Legend France Culture

A single glittery sock that late pop superstar Michael Jackson wore during a concert in France in the 1990s sold for more than $8,000 on Wednesday, a French auctioneer said. A technician found the used sock discarded near Jackson's dressing room after the concert in the southern city of Nimes in July 1997, auctioneer Aurore Illy told AFP. The ...

Overtaxed, Ryanair Pulls Out of Three French Cities

This is Beirut, 30/07 15:40 - Reading : less than a minute

Ryanair France Taxes Airline

Following a sharp rise in France’s airline ticket tax – from €2.63 to €7.40 – Ryanair is cancelling 25 routes this winter, including from Brive, Bergerac and Strasbourg. The airline warns that the tax hike threatens regional airports’ competitiveness, 750,000 seats, tourism and local jobs. Unless Paris reverses what Ryanair calls a ...

Germany, France, Britain Considering Sending FMs to Israel

This is Beirut, 29/07 16:17 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Gaza France Berlin Germany

Germany, France and Britain are considering sending their foreign ministers to Israel next week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday, as international pressure mounts over Gaza's dire humanitarian crisis. "We will probably ask the three foreign ministers of France, the United Kingdom and Germany to travel to Israel together ...

UNIFIL Mandate Shift Could Ignite Region: Will the US Push Back on Israeli Demands?

Philippe Abi-Akl, 29/07 08:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

United Nations Israel UNIFIL USA France

One month separates Lebanon from a critical juncture, one of the most sensitive in its modern history. At the end of August, the United Nations Security Council will decide whether to renew the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for another year. The decision could either reaffirm the mission’s role or mark its ...

US Dismisses UN Israel-Palestinian Conference as 'Publicity Stunt'

This is Beirut, 28/07 21:06 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

France Palestinian Statehood Two-State Solution Israel United Nations Saudi Arabia

The United States on Monday dismissed a French-Saudi-sponsored conference at the United Nations on promoting a two-state solution to the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis as a "stunt." The US State Department labeled the three-day event "unproductive and ill-timed," as well as a "publicity stunt" that would ...

Telegram's Durov Questioned in France over Alleged Illegal Content on App

This is Beirut, 28/07 18:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Telegram Pavel Durov France

Telegram founder Pavel Durov faced questioning by investigating magistrates in Paris on Monday about the platform's alleged complicity in criminal activity, sources close to the case said. Durov, 40, was sensationally detained in Paris in 2024 and is under formal investigation by French authorities over illegal content on his popular messaging ...

French Prosecutors Seek New Assad Arrest Warrant

This is Beirut, 28/07 14:50 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Syria Confict France

French prosecutors said Monday they have requested a new arrest warrant against Syria's former president Bashar al-Assad over a deadly 2013 chemical attacks after a previous one was cancelled. It is now up to investigating magistrates to decide whether to issue the new warrant. French investigators have since 2021 been looking into a suspected ...

US Criticizes French Release of Jailed Georges Abdallah

This is Beirut, 26/07 19:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

United States Georges Abdallah France

The United States on Saturday criticized the release from a French prison of pro-Palestinian Lebanese Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who spent more than 40 years behind bars for the killings of two diplomats, one of them American. Abdallah was detained in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for his involvement in the murders of US military ...

Macron Calls for Preventing Renewed Violence after Talks with Syria's al-Sharaa

This is Beirut, 26/07 18:40 - Reading : less than a minute

Emmanuel Macron Ahmad al-Sharaa France Syria

French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday it was “imperative to prevent a recurrence of violence” in Syria, calling for those responsible for recent unrest to be held accountable, following talks with Syria's interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa. “The recent violence in Syria highlights the extreme fragility of the transition. Civilian ...

Syria, France, and US Agree to Relaunch Kurdish Integration Talks in Paris

This is Beirut, 25/07 21:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria France Kurds Ahmad al-Sharaa

Syria, France, and the United States said they agreed Friday to convene "as soon as possible" talks in Paris to integrate the autonomous Kurdish administration into the Syrian state. The Kurds, who control large swathes of northeast Syria, are negotiating with the central government in Damascus on the integration of their civil and military ...

France Lifts Arrest Warrant Against Assad Over Immunity, but Probe Continues After His Fall

This is Beirut, 25/07 17:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Bashar al-Assad Syria France

France's highest court Friday annulled a French arrest warrant against Syria's ex-president Bashar al-Assad – issued before his ouster – over 2013 deadly chemical attacks. The Court of Cassation ruled there were no exceptions to presidential immunity, even for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. But its presiding judge, ...

George Abdallah in Beirut After 40 Years in French Jail

This is Beirut, 25/07 15:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon France Politics Justice

One of France's longest-held inmates, the pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, arrived in Beirut on Friday, having been released from prison after more than 40 years behind bars for the killings of two diplomats. At around 3:40 am (0140 GMT), a convoy of six vehicles with flashing lights left the Lannemezan prison in ...

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