Arab World

SpotlightWashington Makes Military Aid Overtures to Sahel Juntas

This is Beirut 25/08 09:15 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Washington Donald Trump USA Ukraine United States

Under President Donald Trump the United States has reset relations with West Africa's military leaders on a mutual back-scratching basis, bartering help fighting jihadists for the Sahel region's mining riches, experts say. While Joe Biden was in office the US suspended most of the development and military aid it sent to Burkina Faso, Mali and ...

Row Breaks Out as US Diplomat Criticises France on Antisemitism

This is Beirut 25/08 09:10 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

USA Emmanuel Macron Benjamin Netanyahu Palestine Charles Kushner

France's foreign ministry said Sunday it would summon the US ambassador after he criticized the government for what he said was its insufficient action against antisemitism in a letter to President Emmanuel Macron. The letter from Charles Kushner, dated August 25 but leaked to the media on Sunday, echoed Israel's criticism of France days earlier, ...

AnalysisDiplomacy and Totalitarianism

Charles Chartouni 25/08 09:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanon Houthis Iran Hamas

Observing international life today conveys puzzling images and ambivalent feelings about its complexion. We have a difficult time categorizing events, making sense of political evolutions, and dealing with them. The collapse of the conventional political taxonomy with its binaries and ideological lenses invites us to rethink our intellectual ...

Israeli Strikes in Yemen's Capital Kill Six, Huthis say

This is Beirut 25/08 08:56 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Yemen Houthi Movement

Israeli strikes in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Sunday killed at least six people, according to the country's Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who have repeatedly launched missiles and drones at Israel throughout the Gaza war. AFP images showed a large fireball lighting up the skies over the rebel-held capital, leaving behind a column of thick, ...

EditorialWhen Rifts Shake the Mullahs’ Republic

Michel Touma 25/08 08:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Donald Trump Gulf Hamas Hezbollah

One of Donald Trump’s key campaign pledges was to bring peace and prosperity to the Middle East. In a region as volatile as the Levant, the path to any lasting peace runs through stability and security, which means dismantling factions that can only exist in a climate of perpetual conflict. These goals are nothing short of ambitious in a part of ...

Trump Clashes With Democrats as He Expands National Guard Plans

This is Beirut 25/08 05:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

United States Donald Trump Army Democrats

Donald Trump threatened to deploy National Guard troops Sunday to yet another Democratic stronghold, the Maryland city of Baltimore, as the US president seeks to expand his crackdown on crime and immigration. The Republican's latest online rant about an "out of control, crime-ridden" city comes as Democratic state leaders -- ...

Vance Cites 'Significant Concessions' by Russia on Ukraine

This is Beirut 24/08 19:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

United States Ukraine Russia Donald Trump JD Vance

US Vice President JD Vance rejected suggestions Moscow is slow-walking a potential peace deal in Ukraine, saying Russia has made "significant concessions" to Donald Trump over his demands for ending the war. In a prerecorded interview that aired Sunday, Vance insisted Trump, who met his Russian presidential counterpart Vladimir Putin ...

Israeli Bulldozers Uproot Hundreds of Trees in West Bank Village

This is Beirut 24/08 19:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam West Bank

Israeli bulldozers uprooted hundreds of trees in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir on Sunday in the presence of the Israeli military, according to AFP journalists who witnessed the scene. Most of the felled vegetation appeared to be olive trees, essential to the economy and culture of the West Bank, while olive groves have also long been a ...

Russia and Ukraine Exchange Prisoners and Civilians

This is Beirut 24/08 19:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Ukraine Russia POWs

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that has seen hundreds of prisoners of war released this year, the two sides said. Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July. They remain ...

Barrack and Ortagus Expected in Lebanon with Senator Lindsey Graham

This is Beirut 24/08 16:15 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanon Benjamin Netanyahu Washington

US special envoys Tom Barrack and Morgan Ortagus are set to arrive to Beirut on Monday, accompanied by Senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, according to Israeli media – i24 and the Jerusalem Post. The visit carries significant weight: “Graham serves as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, giving the trip both political and economic ...

Iran's Khamenei Says Will Not Bow Down to US

This is Beirut 24/08 15:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran United States Ali Khamenei

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Sunday called for a united national front to confront what he described as US efforts to subjugate the Islamic republic. The remarks, delivered at a mosque in the capital Tehran and published on Khamenei's official website, come two months after fighting halted between Iran and its sworn enemy ...

VideosNetanyahu Rival Offers Political Truce to Help Secure Gaza Hostage Deal

This is Beirut 24/08 15:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Benjamin Netanyahu Palestine Benny Gantz Hamas

Israeli former defense minister Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to forge a unity government along with members of the opposition in a bid to help release the hostages held in Gaza. Netanyahu's coalition government depends on support from far-right members who oppose ending the war and making any deal with ...