This is Beirut

Blue Origin Launches NASA Mars Mission and Nails Booster Landing

This is Beirut, 2025-11-14 09:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin successfully launched its New Glenn rocket on Thursday with NASA twin spacecraft destined for Mars aboard and, in a breakthrough, nailed the landing of its booster. The launch was stalled for days over weather both on Earth and in space, but it was worth the wait: in the rocket's second-ever flight, Blue Origin managed to ...

BBC Apologizes to Trump, but Rejects Defamation Claim

This is Beirut, 2025-11-14 09:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA White House BBC Panorama

The BBC said Thursday that its chairman had sent a letter to US President Donald Trump apologizing for a misleading edit of one of his speeches but rejected that it was grounds for a defamation lawsuit. The comments came after Britain's embattled public broadcaster said earlier that it was investigating a possible second instance in which a Trump ...

US Announces New Military Operation in Latin America

This is Beirut, 2025-11-14 09:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA Venezuela Drug Narco Southern Spear

US War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Thursday a military operation to "remove narco-terrorists," amid growing concerns that a US naval buildup in Latin American waters could presage land strikes and a wider conflict. "Today, I'm announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR," Hegseth posted on X. "This mission defends our Homeland, removes ...

Spotify to Launch Music Videos in North America for Premium Members

This is Beirut, 2025-11-13 17:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Music Spotify Streaming Videos USA Canada Culture

Audio streaming platform Spotify will be adding music videos "in the coming weeks" for paying subscribers in the United States and Canada, a spokesperson said Wednesday. The development marks a significant expansion by the Sweden-based audio platform into video, which until now has primarily been limited to video podcasts. The Spotify ...

Syria to Help US Fight Iran-Backed Armed Groups, Envoy Says

This is Beirut, 2025-11-13 11:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

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Syria will play an active role in assisting the United States in fighting armed groups including Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Hamas and Hezbollah, US special envoy Tom Barrack said on Thursday. Islamist interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, himself a former jihadist, became the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since his country's ...

Trump Signs Bill to End Record-Breaking US Shutdown

This is Beirut, 2025-11-13 09:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA Politics Budget Shutdown

President Donald Trump signed a bill Wednesday to end the longest government shutdown in US history -- 43 days that paralyzed Washington and left hundreds of thousands of workers unpaid while Republicans and Democrats played a high-stakes blame game. The Republican-led House of Representatives voted largely along party lines to approve a ...

House Vote on Ending US Government Shutdown

This is Beirut, 2025-11-12 22:09 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

USA Donald Trump Republicans Democrat shutdown

Congress looked set Wednesday to end the longest government shutdown in US history, 43 days that paralyzed Washington and left hundreds of thousands of workers unpaid while Donald Trump's Republicans and Democrats played a high-stakes blame game. The House of Representatives was expected to rubber-stamp a contentious Senate-passed funding ...

'We're Already Living in Science Fiction': The Neurotech Revolution

This is Beirut, 2025-11-12 09:35 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

USA Health Beurotechnology Ethics

From translating thoughts into words to allowing paralyzed people to walk, the field of neuro technology has been quietly surging ahead, raising hopes of medical breakthroughs -- and profound ethical concerns. Some observers even think that neuro tech could end up being as revolutionary as the far more hyped rise of artificial intelligence ...

House Vote Likely Wednesday on Ending US Government Shutdown

This is Beirut, 2025-11-12 09:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

USA Democrats Donald Trump Republicans New York

The effort to end the longest-ever US government shutdown heads Wednesday toward a final vote, as President Donald Trump declared victory in the political face-off and rival Democrats tore themselves apart over the deal. The House of Representatives appeared likely to vote Wednesday on a spending bill to solve the six-week standoff, after eight ...

Arrival of US Aircraft Carrier Fuels Venezuelan Fears of Attack

This is Beirut, 2025-11-12 09:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

USA Donald Trump United Kingdom Venezuela

A US aircraft carrier strike group arrived in Latin America Tuesday, escalating a military buildup Venezuela has warned could trigger a full-blown conflict, as it announced its own "massive" deployment. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, entered an area under control of the US Naval Forces Southern Command, which ...

Tehran Fights for Its Political Survival in Iraq

Paul Guillot, 2025-11-11 19:11 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Tehran Hamas Hezbollah USA Iraq

Officially, the elections are hailed as a step forward for a country still scarred by two decades of war and instability. In reality, the vote unfolds under the persistent shadow of Iran, determined to preserve a political system it has largely shaped since Saddam Hussein’s fall in 2003. Outgoing Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani owes his ...

Iraqis Vote in General Election at a Crucial Regional Moment

This is Beirut, 2025-11-11 12:40 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

USA Iraq Iran Vote

Iraqis began voting for a new parliament on Tuesday at a pivotal time for the country and the wider region, in an election that both Iran and the United States will be closely watching. Iraq, which has long been a fertile land for proxy wars, has only recently regained a sense of stability, as it tries to move past decades of war since the US-led ...

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