This is Beirut - United States

Geagea Calls on Government to Lead Talks on Hezbollah’s Disarmament

This is Beirut, 06/07 20:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon United States Tom Barrack Israel Hezbollah Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea

The leader of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, has called on the government to take the lead in responding to a US roadmap aimed at helping Lebanon gradually resolve its border issue with Israel—which maintains a military presence at five points—and to tackle the issue of illegal weapons within its territory. In a statement released ...

US Tariffs to Take Effect August 1 Without Trade Deals, Says Treasury Secretary

This is Beirut, 06/07 18:10 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Scott Bessent Donald Trump Tariffs United States

US tariffs will kick in on August 1 if trading partners from Taiwan to the European Union do not strike deals with Washington, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday. The rates will "boomerang back" to the sometimes very high levels that President Donald Trump had announced on April 2, before he suspended the levies to allow for ...

Switzerland Reopens its Embassy in Tehran

This is Beirut, 06/07 13:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Iran Switzeland United States Embassy

Switzerland said on Sunday it was reopening its embassy in Tehran, which was closed last month amid an air war with Israel, and will resume representing US interests in the country. As of Sunday, the embassy is "again open, having temporarily been closed on June 20 owing to the instability of the situation in the country," the Swiss ...

Texas Flood Kills 50, Dozens of Children Still Missing After River Camp Disaster

This is Beirut, 06/07 13:13 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Texas Flood United States

Rescuers searched through the night early Sunday for 27 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in Texas after torrential rains caused devastating floods that killed at least 50 people in the US state. Multiple flash flood warnings remained in place across central Texas after water surged through communities, with the Guadalupe River rising by ...

Elon Musk Says He Has Created a New US Political Party

This is Beirut, 06/07 05:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

United States Elon Musk Donald Trump Politics

Elon Musk, an ex-ally of US President Donald Trump, said Saturday he had launched a new political party in the United States to challenge what the tech billionaire described as the country's "one-party system." The world's richest person -- and Trump's biggest political donor in the 2024 election -- had a bitter falling out ...

Trump Signs His "Beautiful Bill" for US Independence Day

This is Beirut, 05/07 05:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump United States Politics

US President Donald Trump signed his flagship tax and spending bill into law Friday, capping a grandiose White House Independence Day ceremony featuring a stealth bomber fly-by. "America is winning, winning, winning like never before," Trump said before signing the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" while flanked by Republican ...

Lebanon Risks Missing the Train

Pierre Nahas, 04/07 12:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Israel United States Joseph Aoun Hezbollah

There was a time when the idea of Syria normalizing ties with Israel would’ve been laughed out of every Arab capital. Not anymore. Damascus is reportedly engaged in serious discussions to join the Abraham Accords. Once-controversial deals, the Accords now seem like the Middle East’s new baseline. That Syria, of all countries, is entertaining ...

Reuters: Hezbollah Weighs Partial Disarmament Amid Mounting Pressures

This is Beirut, 04/07 11:50 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Hezbollah Israel Lebanese Army United States

According to a detailed Reuters report published on July 4, Hezbollah has begun internal discussions over potentially scaling back its military role without fully disarming, a significant strategic reconsideration in the aftermath of its devastating war with Israel. Citing three sources familiar with the ongoing, unfinalized deliberations, the ...

Trump to sign 'big, beautiful' bill on US Independence Day

This is Beirut, 04/07 10:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump United States Politics

US President Donald Trump will sign his flagship tax and spending bill Friday in a pomp-laden Independence Day ceremony featuring fireworks and a flypast by the type of stealth bomber that bombed Iran. Trump pushed Republican lawmakers to get his unpopular "One Big Beautiful Bill" through a reluctant Congress in time for him to sign it ...

The Story Behind July 4: America’s Path to Independence

Rayan Chami, 04/07 10:15 - Reading : less than a minute

United States July 4th Independence

Every July 4, the United States marks its independence with fireworks, parades and celebrations. But beyond the festivities lies a pivotal moment in history, when 13 colonies defied an empire and declared the birth of a free nation.

What is the State of Play with Trump's Tariffs?

This is Beirut, 04/07 08:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump United States China Canada Tariffs

With sweeping tariffs on friend and foe, US President Donald Trump has roiled financial markets and sparked a surge in economic uncertainty -- and tensions are mounting days before a fresh volley of higher duties are due to kick in. Here is a rundown of what Trump has implemented in his second presidency, with levies on dozens of economies set to ...

US Sanctions Seven al-Qard al-Hassan Officials and Iranian Oil Smuggling Network

This is Beirut, 03/07 20:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hezbollah United States

The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday against seven individuals linked to al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH), Hezbollah’s illicit financial institution, the US Treasury Department announced in a statement. Sanctions also targeted a commercial network involved in smuggling Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi. The seven individuals sanctioned for ...

United States