Middle East

Trump Demands NATO Halts Russia Oil Purchases Before US Sanctions

This is Beirut 2025-09-13 15:44 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was ready to sanction Moscow, but on the condition that all NATO allies agree to completely halt purchases of Russian oil and implement their own sanctions. He also suggested members of the transatlantic alliance consider slapping tariffs of 50 percent to 100 percent on China as a way to help end ...

Iraq Signs $1bn Investment Deals with World Bank's IFC

This is Beirut 2025-09-13 15:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Iraq IFC World Bank

Iraq signed on Saturday investment deals worth $1 billion in its energy, agriculture and finance sectors with the World Bank's private sector arm, as the country seeks to build on its economic recovery following years of unrest. At a ceremony marking two decades of the International Finance Corporation's presence in Iraq, Prime Minister Mohammed ...

Arab, Muslim Leaders to Meet in Qatar to Denounce Israeli Attack

This is Beirut 2025-09-13 13:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Qatar Hamas

Qatar said Saturday it will host a summit of Arab and Muslim leaders to denounce Israel's attack on Hamas officials in Doha and to show solidarity with the Gulf state. Monday's meeting would consider "a draft resolution on the Israeli attack on the State of Qatar" to be drafted Sunday at a ministerial meeting, said foreign ...

Turkey: New Crackdown on Opposition in Istanbul

This is Beirut 2025-09-13 12:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Turkey

An Istanbul prosecutor on Saturday ordered the arrest of 48 members of the Bayrampasa municipality, an opposition-run district of the city, including the mayor, on charges of “corruption,” the state news agency Anadolu reported. Mayor Hasan Mutlu, a member of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP, social democratic), and ...

US, Saudi, UAE, Egypt Call for Sudan Truce, Transition to Civilian Rule

This is Beirut 2025-09-13 05:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Sudan Egypt Saudi Arabia United States

The United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt called on Friday for a three-month humanitarian truce in Sudan, to be followed by a permanent ceasefire and a nine-month transition towards civilian rule. In a joint statement issued by the US State Department, the four countries said the transition should "meet the ...

Trump Will Host Qatar’s Leader as Rubio Heads to Israel

This is Beirut 2025-09-12 22:52 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Marco Rubio United States Qatar

US President Donald Trump will meet Qatar's prime minister on Friday after an Israeli strike on Hamas in the key US partner, the White House said. Trump and his special envoy Steve Witkoff "will be having dinner" with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, it said in a brief statement. The announcement came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...

Trump to Deploy National Guard Troops to Memphis in Latest Crime Crackdown

This is Beirut 2025-09-12 20:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Donald Trump Memphis Tennessee National Guard

US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would deploy National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee, in the latest stage of his crime crackdown that critics say is authoritarian. The Republican president has sent military forces into Los Angeles and Washington and pledged to expand orders to other cities, including Chicago and New York. Some ...

Kremlin Says Ukraine Peace Talks on Pause as Zelensky Warns of Putin’s Aims

This is Beirut 2025-09-12 19:21 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Vladimir Putin Russia Ukraine Donald Trump

Moscow said Friday that peace talks with Kyiv were on "pause" as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin still had plans to try to capture the whole of Ukraine. US President Donald Trump warned meanwhile that he was fast running out of patience with Putin, who has shown no intention of ...

Al-Sharaa Says Syria in Talks with Israel on Security Deal

This is Beirut 2025-09-12 19:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Syria CENTCOM Brad Cooper

President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Friday that Syria was negotiating with Israel to reach a security agreement that would see Israel leave areas it occupied after the December overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. As the Islamist-led forces toppled Assad on December 8, Israel deployed troops to the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights ...

UN Revives Two-State Solution by Excluding Hamas, “Which Must be Disarmed”

This is Beirut 2025-09-12 18:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam United Nations Hamas Two-state solution

The UN General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly adopted the “New York Declaration,” aimed at reviving the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, but explicitly excluding Hamas, which “must hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority.” The resolution, presented by France and Saudi Arabia, was ...

Tyler Robinson Named as Suspect in Charlie Kirk Assassination, Arrested after Manhunt

This is Beirut 2025-09-12 17:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA Charlie Kirk

US authorities said Friday they had captured the man accused of killing prominent right-wing activist Charlie Kirk after a family member helped to turn him in after a frantic manhunt. "We got him," Utah Governor Spencer Cox told a press conference. Cox identified the suspect as Tyler Robinson and said the arrest was made after one of Robinson's ...

UAE Summons Israel Envoy to Condemn 'Cowardly' Qatar Attack

This is Beirut 2025-09-12 15:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam United Arab Emirates Benjamin Netanyahu Gulf Qatar Hamas

The United Arab Emirates said it summoned Israel's deputy ambassador in Abu Dhabi on Friday, in a formal rebuke of his country's attack targeting Hamas leaders in Gulf neighbour Qatar. The UAE, along with Bahrain, was the first Gulf country to normalize ties with Israel in 2020 and has been a frequent critic of its military actions in Gaza. It ...