Middle East

UN Humanitarian Chief Says Israel Should Immediately Open Gaza Crossings to Aid

This is Beirut 2025-10-15 21:01 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam United Nations Tom Fletcher Gaza

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher urged Israel on Wednesday to immediately open all crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid, as called for in a US-backed ceasefire plan. "It should happen now. We want it to happen immediately as part of this agreement," Fletcher told AFP in an interview in Cairo, ahead of a planned trip to the Gaza ...

SpotlightDisarming Hamas: How Could Gaza Be Demilitarized?

Natasha Metni Torbey 2025-10-15 20:00 - Reading : 7 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Hamas Palestine Donald Trump Turkey

The peace plan co-signed on Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh by US President Donald Trump and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey raises a crucial question: How would Hamas be disarmed? The Trump plan lays out a stark reality: Gaza must be demilitarized. To achieve this, a stabilization force will need to be created. On paper, the plan seems ...

Gaza: Senior US Military Official Urges Hamas to “Stop Firing on Palestinian Civilians”

This is Beirut 2025-10-15 19:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

United States CENTCOM Gaza Hamas

A senior US official for the Middle East (CENTCOM) called on Wednesday for Hamas to “stop firing on Palestinian civilians” following the release by the Palestinian Islamist movement of a video showing summary executions of alleged “collaborators.” “We strongly urge Hamas to cease targeting innocent Palestinian ...

US Treasury Chief: Beijing's Rare Earths Move is 'China vs the World'

This is Beirut 2025-10-15 19:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

US Treasury Department Scott Bessent United States China Trade Rare Earths

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent slammed Beijing's rare earth export curbs Wednesday as "China versus the world," vowing that Washington and its allies would "neither be commanded nor controlled." "This should be a clear sign to our allies that we must work together, and work together we will," Bessent told reporters at a press ...

Syrian Leader Seeks Reset in Russia Relations in Putin Meeting

This is Beirut 2025-10-15 18:33 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Syria Bashar al-Assad Ahmad al-Sharaa

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Wednesday he wanted to "redefine" relations with Moscow as Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted him in their first meeting since key Kremlin ally Bashar al-Assad was ousted last year. In front of the television cameras, Putin greeted Sharaa warmly at the Kremlin, but behind closed doors the ...

Israel Returns 45 Palestinian Bodies to Gaza

This is Beirut 2025-10-15 17:30 - Reading : less than a minute

Nawaf Salam Gaza Hamas

Israel returned the bodies of 45 Palestinians on Wednesday, bringing the total number handed over to 90, Gaza's health ministry said. Under a ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned. On Monday, Hamas gave up three Israeli bodies and one ...

Pakistan and Afghanistan Agree to 48-Hour Ceasefire

This is Beirut 2025-10-15 16:40 - Reading : less than a minute

Pakistan Afghanistan

Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire on Wednesday, the foreign ministry in Islamabad said, after dozens of troops and civilians were killed earlier in a fresh round of border skirmishes. "The Pakistani government and the Afghan Taliban regime, at the Taliban's request... have decided to implement a temporary ceasefire starting ...

VideosAbu Dhabi 2025: A Call to Save Nature

This is Beirut 2025-10-15 15:30 - Reading : less than a minute

Abu Dhabi Nature

Experts, policymakers and activists gather to debate, innovate and honor those working every day to preserve our planet. Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri reminds us that the world has changed, and so must our actions for a sustainable future.

Extradition Treaties and the Assad Case

Mario Chartouni 2025-10-15 14:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Syria Russia Ahmad al-Sharaa Vladimir Putin Bachar el-Assad extradition

This Wednesday, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is visiting Moscow to meet Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. According to Reuters, he may request the extradition of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been taking refuge in Russia since fleeing Damascus in December 2024. Behind this politically charged episode lies a longstanding and ...

SpotlightAustralian Moths Use Stars as Compass

Bélinda Ibrahim 2025-10-15 14:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Bogong Moth Science Stars

Each spring, in the silence of Australian night, billions of Bogong moths take flight on an extraordinary journey. They travel hundreds of kilometers from their native lands in southeastern Australia to the icy caves of Australian Alps, where they cluster by thousands to spend summer in a protective torpor known as aestivation. In autumn, they ...

Iraqi Parliamentary Candidate Killed Near Baghdad

This is Beirut 2025-10-15 12:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Iraq Baghdad Safaa al-Mashhadani elections

An Iraqi parliamentary candidate was killed and three of his bodyguards wounded when a bomb exploded near his car north of Baghdad, a security source said. The incident is the first killing of a candidate ahead of Iraq's parliamentary elections, scheduled for November 11. "A bomb exploded under the vehicle of Safaa al-Mashhadani, a current ...

Drone Attack Strikes Sudan Capital

This is Beirut 2025-10-15 12:16 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Sudan Khartoum Drones

A series of drone attacks targeted the Sudanese capital Khartoum for multiple hours on Wednesday, eyewitnesses and an army source told AFP. A military official said the army had shot down "most of the drones", which targeted two army bases in the capital's northwest. Sudan's army has been at war since April 2023 with ...