Marc Saikali, 09:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Damascus Europe Israel Middle East Christians
A suicide bombing, this time inside a Damascus church during Sunday Mass. Twenty-five dead. The blast silenced prayer, shattered lives and shook a community already on the brink. Eastern Christianity is dying, not in the chaos of an open warfare, but through a long, silent agony, met with the world’s indifference. In a secularized Europe where ...
This is Beirut, 25/06 14:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
The World Bank announced on Wednesday it had approved $250 million to support Lebanon's post-war reconstruction and a $146 million grant to rehabilitate neighbouring Syria's electricity sector. Lebanon is reeling from last year's devastating war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, while Syria faces massive needs after Islamist-led forces ...
This is Beirut, 25/06 13:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Israel Turkey Donald Trump Middle East Iran
As the fragile Iran-Israel truce took hold, there was no letup in Turkey's diplomatic efforts Wednesday to prevent any return to a conflict fraught with risk for Ankara's domestic and regional policies. Hours after US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met him for talks on the sidelines of a ...
Marc Saikali, 24/06 16:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Middle East Donald Trump Hezbollah Israel Iran
With the announcement of a ceasefire, Donald Trump blew the final whistle. Twelve days were all it took to upend the geopolitical order of the region. Twelve days of war between Israel and Iran, following years of shadow conflict, thunderous ultimatums and unspoken red lines. Twelve days that reshaped the strategic balance in the Middle East and, ...
This is Beirut, 24/06 10:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Israel Ceasefire Donald Trump Middle East Oil Markets
Oil prices sank more than five percent Tuesday after Israel said it had agreed to US President Donald Trump's proposal for a bilateral ceasefire with Iran. Shares in Asia were buoyant, as fears of an energy market shock eased following 12 days of war between Israel and its arch-foe. London, Paris and Frankfurt also rose at the open. At around ...
Hussain Abdul-Hussain, 24/06 09:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Israel Iran United States Donald Trump Middle East
I have great admiration for Thomas Friedman and have long followed his writings. He was instrumental in shaping my support for democracy when he argued that two democracies would not go to war. He supported toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, as I did, and we both believe that the nation-state is, in some ways, a defunct concept. Today, ...
This is Beirut, 24/06 08:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Middle East Airlines (MEA) announced on Tuesday morning that several of its flights to and from Dubai and Doha were canceled the previous evening due to ongoing regional instability. In an official statement, the Lebanese national carrier explained that, given the current security situation, it was forced to cancel the following flights on the ...
This is Beirut, 23/06 22:44 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
United States Qatar Iran Israel Middle East Oil & Gas
Oil prices sank more than six percent Monday after Iran attacked a US military base in neighboring Qatar in retaliation for US weekend strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Near 1815 GMT, futures for West Texas Intermediate fell 7.22 percent to $68.51 a barrel, while Brent oil futures dropped 7.18 percent to $72.07 a barrel, its lowest level in ...
Elie Ziadé, 23/06 20:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Middle East US Secretary of State USA
“Two forces that are both complementary and in competition, a duality embedded in every aspect of Iranian political and social life, opposing Islamic ideology to republican equality.” (Bernard Hourcade) For only the second time since its founding in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in direct military confrontation. Traditionally ...
Charles Chartouni, 23/06 09:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Israel Iran United States War Middle East
The strategic dilemmas facing Israel at this point should be summarized as how to achieve the double and intertwining objectives of the Iranian nuclear weaponization containment and the downfall of the Islamist regime and its imperial outreach. The inner relationship between the two variables is unmistakable and begets the crucial question of how ...
This is Beirut, 22/06 22:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
United Nations USA UN Security Council Middle East
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned Sunday against yet "another cycle of destruction" and retaliation following the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, which he said marked a "perilous turn" in the region. "I have repeatedly condemned any military escalation in the Middle East," the ...
This is Beirut, 20/06 22:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Middle East Washington USA Europe
The USS Gerald R. Ford will depart for Europe next week, a Navy official said Friday, placing a third American aircraft carrier in closer proximity to the Middle East as Israel and Iran trade strikes. Israel launched an unprecedented air campaign against Iran last week, and US President Donald Trump has said he is weighing whether to join Israel ...