This is Beirut 2025-07-24 22:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Syria United States
Damascus's top diplomat Asaad al-Shaibani is set to meet an Israeli minister on Thursday in Paris to discuss recent sectarian violence in Syria's south that had drawn in Israel's military, a senior diplomat told AFP. The US-brokered talks would be the first ministerial meeting between the new Syrian authorities and Israel. The two ...
This is Beirut 2025-07-24 22:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Emmanuel Macron United Nations Palestine France
French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday his country would formally recognise a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September, the most powerful European nation to announce such a move. At least 142 countries now recognise or plan to recognise Palestinian statehood, according to an AFP tally -- though Israel and the United States ...
This is Beirut 2025-07-24 21:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Palestine Hamas USA Washington
The United States joined Israel on Thursday in pulling its negotiators from Gaza ceasefire talks, with special envoy Steve Witkoff blaming Hamas for failing to reach a deal and saying Washington would "consider alternative options". France meanwhile announced it would formally recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in ...
This is Beirut 2025-07-24 21:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
A Syrian government source said Thursday that it rejected allowing the Kurds — who control vast territories in the north and east of the country — to keep their weapons, as a new round of negotiations on their integration into the Syrian state was scheduled, according to state media. The Kurds are engaged in negotiations with central ...
This is Beirut 2025-07-24 20:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Donald Trump European Union Tehran
Iran on Thursday reaffirmed its right to enrich uranium, saying it was "unshakable", on the eve of key talks with European powers threatening to reimpose nuclear sanctions. Friday's meeting, set to take place in Istanbul, will be the first since Israel's mid-June attack targeting key nuclear and military sites in the Islamic republic sparked a ...
This is Beirut 2025-07-24 20:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
A series of explosions killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 100 at a weapons depot in northwestern Syria on Thursday, a monitor said. "Multiple blasts at a weapons and ammunition warehouse belonging to the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 100 in Maaret Misrin, in northern Idlib province," ...
This is Beirut 2025-07-24 19:45 - Reading : less than a minute
Nawaf Salam West Bank Palestine
The Palestinian Authority said Thursday that two Palestinian teenagers were killed by the Israeli army overnight near Bethlehem, in the southern occupied West Bank, while the army said it had killed “terrorists.” "The General Authority for Civil Affairs informed the Ministry of Health of the martyrdom of young Ahmad Ali Asaad Ashira al-Salah ...
This is Beirut 2025-07-24 17:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam United Nations Palestine Hamas United States
The United Nations said Thursday it does not know how many aid consignments are currently in Gaza awaiting distribution, as it has not been authorized by Israel to be present at the crossing points. The Israeli military denied on Wednesday that it was blocking humanitarian aid and claimed that 950 trucks were in Gaza waiting for international ...
This is Beirut 2025-07-24 16:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Saudi Arabia Damascus United Nations
Saudi Arabia on Thursday signed major investment and partnership deals with Syria, valued at $6.4 billion, to help rebuild the war-ravaged country's infrastructure, telecommunications and other major sectors. Saudi Arabia has been a major backer of the new Syrian government, which seized power after an Islamist-led offensive toppled longtime ...
This is Beirut 2025-07-24 16:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Syria Economy Sanctions Reconstruction
A Reuters investigation uncovered a covert campaign to restructure Syria’s shattered economy, led by the new president’s brother, Hazem al-Sharaa, and an Australian of Lebanese descent, Abraham Succarieh, who is under international sanctions for alleged terrorism financing. Operating through an unannounced “shadow committee,” the pair has ...
This is Beirut 2025-07-24 15:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Nigeria Bandits United Nations
Nigerian troops killed at least 95 members of an armed criminal gang in a shootout and airstrikes earlier this week, according to a situation report shared with the UN and seen by AFP on Thursday. Armed gangs known as "bandits" have taken root across Nigeria's rural hinterlands amid poverty and government neglect. They raid, loot, burn villages, ...
Natasha Metni Torbey 2025-07-24 13:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Damascus Druze Minority
Since July 13, deadly clashes in Syria’s southern province of Sweida have left more than 1,300 people dead, including at least 630 local residents, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The violence erupted after the abduction of a merchant from the Druze community, triggering a wave of bloodshed that underscores the region’s ...