This is Beirut - US Congress

March 14: 20 Years Later, Revisiting a Defining Moment

Sana Richa Choucair, 14/03 15:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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On March 14, 2005, a human tidal wave flooded Martyrs' Square. Lebanese people of all faiths gathered around a single cause: rising up against the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, one month after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. It was a first in the history of independent Lebanon. Today, the 20th commemoration has a new ...

Asian Stocks, Bitcoin Down as Trade Uncertainty Roils Markets

This is Beirut, 07/03 08:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Asian stocks tumbled at the open Friday following a tough day on Wall Street as uncertainty over US President Donald Trump's trade policies roiled markets and traders awaited key US jobs data. Bitcoin plunged 5.7 percent after Trump signed an executive order to establish a "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" without planning any public purchases of the ...

China Eyes 5 Percent Growth Despite Trade War

This is Beirut, 05/03 09:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

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China on Wednesday set an annual growth target of around five percent, vowing to make domestic demand its main economic driver as an escalating trade war with the United States hit Beijing's exports. Beijing also announced a rare hike in fiscal funding, allowing its budget deficit to reach four percent this year as it battles stuttering ...

Musk Freezes the National Endowment for Democracy's Funding, Causing a Crisis

This is Beirut, 13/02 18:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

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Elon Musk is targeting the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), an organization funded by the U.S. Congress since 1983 to support democracy abroad. He accuses the organization of corruption and calls for its dissolution. Since these statements, the NED has been unable to access its U.S. Treasury funds, putting many beneficiary organizations at ...

Trump Power Play Triggers Showdown with Courts, Congress

This is Beirut, 06/02 11:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump US Congress

With his dizzying moves to slash spending, abolish government departments and lay off much the federal workforce, Donald Trump has upended the US constitutional order in an unprecedented assertion of executive might. Critics complain that Congress has been slow to react in the face of a full frontal assault on the Founders' vision of the ...

Elon Musk brands USAID as 'criminal organization' in growing row

This is Beirut, 02/02 21:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Elon Musk attacked the US Agency for International Development on Sunday, calling it a "criminal organization" after Donald Trump moved to freeze the bulk of Washington's foreign assistance for three months. The Trump administration has since issued waivers for food and other humanitarian aid. But aid workers say uncertainty reigns -- and that ...

Trump, Sure Of His Strength, Promises An American ‘Golden Age'

This is Beirut, 21/01 04:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

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‘The golden age of America has begun": Donald Trump, at the height of his political powers, gave his second term in office a nationalistic and vengeful tone on Monday. ‘God saved me so that I could make America great again’, declared the 45th (2017-2021) and now 47th President of the United States, in reference to an ...

The Trump Team Takes Shape: Part 1 – Nominations Requiring Senate Confirmation

Sana Richa Choucair, 20/01 11:30 - Reading : 17 minute(s)

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President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in on Monday, January 20, officially signaling his return to power. In the lead-up to the inauguration, Senate confirmation hearings have begun, giving the public a chance to watch committees evaluate Trump’s nominees and their suitability for their designated roles. But how does the confirmation ...

Trump Promises a ‘Record’ Number Of Presidential Decrees On His First Day In Office

This is Beirut, 19/01 03:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Donald Trump promised on Saturday that he would sign a ‘record’ number of presidential decrees immediately after being sworn in on Monday in Washington, where he is expected to arrive this Saturday evening. In a telephone interview with NBC News, the soon-to-be 47th President of the United States said that he did not have a precise figure in ...

TikTok Faces Possible Ban in the US After January 19

Michael al-Andary, 14/01 13:10 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

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A regulation that might ban TikTok in the United States unless it finds an American buyer by January 19 has been upheld by a federal court. The ruling requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to either sell its US business or shut down in the country. Therefore, the well-known application which is currently used by 170 million Americans, ...

Search for Bodies as LA Firefighters Brace for More Wind

This is Beirut, 14/01 10:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

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Search teams with dogs fanned out looking for victims in Los Angeles on Monday, as firefighters girded for hurricane-force winds that could spark new blazes. With the disaster in America's second biggest city in its seventh day, 24 people are known to have died -- a toll expected to rise -- and more than 90,000 people remain displaced. But the ...

US Special prosecutor Jack Smith ends his investigation into Trump

This is Beirut, 12/01 12:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed to investigate Donald Trump for his alleged effort to overturn results of the 2020 election, has left the US Department of Justice, prosecutors said Saturday in a court filing. "The Special Counsel completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and separated from the ...