This is Beirut 22:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protesters had "legitimate demands", state media reported, days after thousands took to the streets to denounce violence against the country's Alawite minority. The demonstrations earlier this week in several cities along Syria's coast -- the heartland of the country's Alawites -- were the ...
This is Beirut 20:50 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Jordan on Thursday asked Russia to stop recruiting its citizens for its armed forces after two of them were killed fighting for Moscow. In a statement, the foreign ministry called the recruitment "a violation of Jordanian law and international law" that "exposes citizens to serious danger". Spokesman for the ministry Fuad al-Majali called on ...
This is Beirut 20:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Iran Basij milicia Paramilitary Force
The Basij is an Iranian paramilitary force created in 1980, shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It was initially conceived as a popular volunteer force tasked with defending the Revolution and the nascent regime. Rapidly integrated into the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Basij played a major role during the Iran-Iraq War ...
This is Beirut 19:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Hamas Palestine Israel Turkey Qatar
Negotiations are under way to ensure safe passage for dozens of Hamas fighters holed up in tunnels in southern Gaza, multiple sources close to the talks told AFP on Thursday. Israeli media has reported that for weeks, between 100 and 200 Hamas militants have remained trapped in a network of tunnels under the city of Rafah, in an area of the Gaza ...
This is Beirut 18:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Pope Leo XIV began a four-day visit to Turkey on Thursday, urging Ankara to embrace its role as a mediator in a world gripped by conflict, he said after talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Mr President, may Turkey be a source of stability and rapprochement between peoples, in service of a just and lasting peace," he said in the capital as ...
This is Beirut 09:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
A drone strike on Wednesday targeted an Emirate-owned gas complex in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, disrupting the gas supply to the region's power plants, local authorities said. "At 11:30 pm (2030 GMT), a drone attacked the Khor Mor gas field facility, cutting off all gas supplies to power plants," the regional natural resources and ...
This is Beirut 09:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Israel Iran Australia IRGC Canberra Tehran Sydney
Australia on Thursday officially designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a state sponsor of terrorism, following the release of an intelligence assessment linking the group to attacks targeting Jewish communities throughout the country. The assessment by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) ...
This is Beirut 09:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Pope Leo XIV arrived in Turkey on Thursday for a four-day visit, where he will hold talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and meet Christian leaders on the first overseas trip of his papacy. The trip, which includes a second leg to Lebanon, begins in the Turkish capital, Ankara, where the first American pope landed shortly after ...
This is Beirut 26/11 21:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Israel's military on Wednesday launched a new operation against Palestinian armed groups in the occupied West Bank, where a local governor told AFP that Israeli forces had raided several towns. The Israeli military, police and internal security service said in a joint statement that they had begun "a broad counter-terrorism operation" in the ...
This is Beirut 26/11 21:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
United Arab Emirates Yemen Energy
The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday it would invest $1 billion in the electricity infrastructure of government-held Yemen, which has been devastated by civil war. On a visit to Aden, where the internationally recognized government is based, Emirati ambassador Mohammed Hamad al-Zaabi announced his country had "allocated $1 billion to build ...
This is Beirut 26/11 20:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Benjamin Netanyahu Israel Hamas Gaza
Tensions are rising in Israel between the political leadership and the military over investigations into October 7, 2023, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused of shirking responsibility for the authorities’ failure to anticipate and prevent the deadliest attack in the country’s history. Weekly protests, reflecting public anger, ...
This is Beirut 26/11 14:35 - Reading : less than a minute
An explosion of unknown origin shook the town of Kafr Takharim in western Idlib on Wednesday, injuring several civilians, according to local sources. A correspondent on the ground reported that the blast—likely linked to an ammunition depot containing rockets—sent a large plume of smoke into the air and caused significant damage in an ...