This is Beirut, 16/08 21:30 - Reading : less than a minute
Syrian state media said a car bomb exploded in Damascus on Saturday evening without causing casualties. "An explosion was heard in the Mazzeh area," state news agency SANA said, referring to an upscale area of Damascus also home to embassies and United Nations offices. State television said the blast was caused by "an explosive device planted ...
This is Beirut, 16/08 21:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Washington UN Security Council Hezbollah United Nations United States
Al-Jadeed TV revealed on Saturday differences between the United States and France over the renewal of the mandate of the UNIFIL force operating in southern Lebanon. Washington wants a one-year renewal, which would be the last, while Paris wants a renewal without specifying a duration. Political sources told the channel that meetings held in ...
This is Beirut, 15/08 20:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
United Nations Hamas Israel Gaza humanitarian aid
The UN human rights office said Friday that at least 1,760 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May, a jump of several hundred since its last published figure at the beginning of August. "Since 27 May, and as of 13 August, we have recorded that at least 1,760 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid; 994 in the ...
This is Beirut, 14/08 22:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
West Bank Benjamin Netanyahu United Nations Israel Palestine
Israel's finance minister on Thursday backed plans to build 3,400 homes in a particularly contentious area of the occupied West Bank, calling for the territory's annexation in response to several countries' plans to recognize a Palestinian state. In response, the United Nations chief warned that building Israeli homes in the area ...
This is Beirut, 14/08 18:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Turkey United Nations Syria Refugees
More than 410,00 Syrians who fled to Turkey during the rule of Bashar al-Assad have returned home since he was overthrown in December, the government announced Thursday. Turkey's interior ministry said 411,649 Syrians had so far returned, the rate picking up in recent weeks, with the immigration service recording 140,000 returns since ...
This is Beirut, 14/08 11:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Damascus United Nations Alawites War
A UN commission investigating sectarian bloodshed in Syria's Alawite heartland documented systematic violence at the hands of government forces and allied groups, warning Thursday that some of the acts could constitute war crimes. The violence in March unfolded along Syria's predominantly Alawite Mediterranean coast, where security personnel ...
This is Beirut, 14/08 10:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
At least 40 people have died in Sudan's Darfur region in the country's worst cholera outbreak in years, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Thursday. The medical charity said the vast western region, which has been a major battleground over more than two years of fighting between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, had ...
This is Beirut, 13/08 12:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Israel Palestine Hamas United Nations
The Israeli military said Wednesday it had approved the "framework" for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, days after the security cabinet called for the seizure of Gaza City. Armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir "approved the main framework for the IDF's operational plan in the Gaza Strip," a statement released by the army ...
This is Beirut, 13/08 11:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
United Nations UN Security Council E3 Iran Berlin
Britain, France and Germany have told the United Nations they are ready to reimpose UN-mandated sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program if no diplomatic solution is found by the end of August, according to a joint letter obtained by AFP. The letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council says the three European ...
This is Beirut, 13/08 09:50 - Reading : 8 minute(s)
United Nations Russia Zhdanov Mariupol
Sun-seekers crowded onto the beach in Mariupol in Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine -- a devastated city which Moscow wants to turn into an improbable seaside resort. "Take a dip in the Sea of Azov!" said 52-year-old local Ivan, who like other beach goers lapped up the good weather and mild waters of a coastline that is now entirely ...
Élie-Joe Kamel, 12/08 18:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Benjamin Netanyahu Palestine Hamas Israel United Nations
As the war in Gaza enters its 22nd month, political and on the ground uncertainties continue to grow. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent statements highlight this growing strategic confusion. He says he wants to “take control of Gaza,” while specifying that Israel has “no intention of governing” the territory. This ...
Moncef Ait-Kaci, 12/08 18:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
UN Security Council Damascus Internal Security Forces United Nations
In Sweida, the worst escalation in years erupted on July 12 after reciprocal kidnappings between Druze groups and Bedouin tribes spiraled into rapidly escalating armed clashes. The Syrian Army intervened but, according to the UN and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the fighting left more than 1,400 dead, mostly Druze civilians, and ...