World

SpotlightPeace Hopes Remain Remote as Turkey's Kurds Mark 'Newroz'

This is Beirut 21/03 17:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Three weeks after jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan urged his militants to disband, Turkey's Kurds were celebrating their Newroz New Year Friday with peace prospects still remote. The efforts to broker a solution to the decades-long Kurdish conflict have likely been complicated by the widespread unrest provoked by Wednesday's arrest of Istanbul ...

Head of Pro-Iran Armed Faction Arrested in Syria: SOHR

This is Beirut 21/03 16:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Iran Security forces Deir Ezzor

Security forces in Syria's eastern city of Deir Ezzor have arrested the head of an Iran-affiliated faction that fought alongside ousted president Bashar al-Assad's forces, a war monitor said Friday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces detained Moayad Abdul Samad al-Douaihy in Deir Ezzor on Thursday. The Britain-based ...

Turkey Braces for More Protests Over Istanbul Mayor's Arrest

This is Beirut 21/03 16:40 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Istanbul Erdogan Ekrem Imamoglu Protests

Turkey braced for a third day of protests on Friday as anger spread across the country over the arrest of Istanbul's popular Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in a graft and terror probe. Imamoglu, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, was arrested at dawn on Wednesday, just days before he was due to be named the candidate for the main ...

Germany Says Holding Russian 'Shadow Fleet' Tanker

This is Beirut 21/03 15:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Germany Russia

Germany said Friday it is holding an ageing oil tanker that it labelled part of Russia's sanctions-breaching "shadow fleet" after the vessel lost engine power in January. News weekly Der Spiegel said the German customs service had seized the vessel and its cargo, but officials declined to confirm this, saying "the customs measures have not yet ...

Israel Supreme Court Freezes PM Bid to Sack Intel Chief

This is Beirut 21/03 15:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Israel US Supreme Court Benny Gantz Benjamin Netanyahu Democrats

Israel's supreme court Friday froze a decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to sack the internal security agency chief, an unprecedented move that has deepened divisions in the country. The court's decision came after opposition parties and a non-governmental organisation filed separate appeals hours after the government ...

Israel Defense Minister Threatens to Annex Parts of Gaza

This is Beirut 21/03 13:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Palestine Hamas

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened Friday to annex parts of the Gaza Strip unless Hamas militants release the remaining Israeli hostages held in the war-battered Palestinian territory. "I ordered (the army) to seize more territory in Gaza... The more Hamas refuses to free the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be ...

Iran's Khamenei Says US Threats 'Will Get Them Nowhere'

This is Beirut 21/03 11:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

USA Donald Trump Tehran

Iran's supreme leader said on Friday that US threats against his country "will get them nowhere", after President Donald Trump warned of possible military action against the Islamic republic. "The Americans should know threats will get them nowhere when confronting Iran," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in his live annual televised speech marking ...

Sudan Army Says Retakes Presidential Palace From RSF

This is Beirut 21/03 09:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Sudan Khartoum

Sudan's army said it recaptured the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Friday after a fierce battle. "Our forces completely destroyed the enemy's fighters and equipment, and seized large quantities of equipment and weapons," army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said in a statement broadcast on state ...

PortraitRonen Bar: Ex-Shin Bet Chief Who Incurred Right-Wing Wrath

This is Beirut 21/03 09:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Israel Palestine

The days of Ronen Bar as Israel's Shin Bet chief were already numbered after Hamas's deadly attack on October 7, 2023, having hinted he would resign to take responsibility for failing to prevent it. But he was sacked on Friday before he could depart himself, after incurring the wrath of the country's right wing over his positions, including on ...

ExplainerLondon's Heathrow: Europe's Biggest Airport

This is Beirut 21/03 09:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Europe United Kingdom Airport

London's Heathrow Airport, which shuttered on Friday after a fire broke out at a substation serving the aviation hub, is Europe's busiest in terms of passengers. The sprawling facility west of London welcomed a record number of travellers last year, with the aviation sector having recovered from the turbulent Covid years. Almost 84 million ...

London's Heathrow Airport Closed After Fire Causes Major Power Cut

This is Beirut 21/03 09:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Airport London Europe

Britain's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest, was shut down early Friday for 24 hours after a major fire at an electricity substation cut power to the sprawling facility west of London, officials said. Airport authorities said they "expect significant disruption" over the coming days, with hundreds of flights and thousands of passengers ...

$Israel Expands Gaza Ground Operation as Missiles Intercepted, Herzog \$

Israel Expands Gaza Ground Operation as Missiles Intercepted, Herzog "Disturbed" by Renewed Fighting

This is Beirut 21/03 05:50 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Israel Gaza Palestine Hamas

Israel's military on Thursday expanded ground operations across Gaza, after it reported missiles intercepted from Yemen and Hamas militants said they fired rockets towards Tel Aviv. The rocket fire from Hamas was its first military response to the growing civilian death toll from Israel's resumption of aerial bombardment and ground ...