This is Beirut 2025-12-30 13:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
The Iranian foreign ministry designated the Royal Canadian Navy a terrorist organisation on Tuesday in what it said was retaliation for Canada's 2024 blacklisting of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. In a statement, the ministry said that the move was in reaction to Ottawa declaring the Guards, the ideological arm of Iran's military, a terror group ...
This is Beirut 2025-12-30 13:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Syrian authorities imposed an overnight curfew in the port city of Latakia on Tuesday after attacks in predominantly Alawite neighbourhoods a day prior. The interior ministry announced a "curfew in Latakia city, effective from 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, until 6:00 am (0300 GMT) on Wednesday, December 31, 2025". Individuals ...
This is Beirut 2025-12-30 12:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Damascus Turkey PKK Abdullah Öcalan Kurdes
Jailed Turkish Kurd leader Abdullah Ocalan said Tuesday that it was "crucial" for Turkey's government to broker a peace deal between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Damascus government. Clashes between Syrian forces and the SDF have cast doubt over a deal to integrate the group's fighters into the army, which was due to ...
This is Beirut 2025-12-30 11:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Trump Hezbollah Netanyahu Lebanon USIsrael
U.S. President Donald Trump signaled a tougher stance toward Hezbollah following talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday in Florida, warning that the group is “behaving badly” and stressing that efforts to disarm it remain a central focus of U.S. policy toward Lebanon. Speaking after the meeting at his ...
This is Beirut 2025-12-30 11:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Trump Netanyahu MiddleEast Gaza Iran Lebanon Syria Turkey
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held wide-ranging talks in Florida on Monday, addressing key regional crises including Gaza, Iran, Syria, and broader Middle East stability, as both leaders signaled continued strategic alignment despite ongoing regional tensions. The meeting, held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago ...
This is Beirut 2025-12-30 10:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Banks Israel Tehran United Nations USA
Iran's president urged his government to listen to the "legitimate demands" of protesters, state media reported Tuesday, after demonstrations by shopkeepers in Tehran over economic hardship. Shopkeepers in the capital shut their stores on Monday, after Iran's embattled currency hit new lows on the unofficial market. Photos from ...
Hussain Abdul-Hussain 2025-12-30 10:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Lebanon Israel United Arab Emirates Baalbeck Bahrain
An unconditional peace treaty with Israel, inspired by the Abraham Accords' success, could reduce Lebanon’s security risks, unlock billions in foreign investments, revive trade, agriculture, and services, and create jobs—offering economic salvation while preserving Lebanon’s support of Palestinians. Normalization could boost Lebanon’s ...
This is Beirut 2025-12-30 10:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
United Arab Emirates Gulf Houthi Saudi Arabia Yemen
The leader of Yemen's presidential council declared a state of emergency and cancelled a security pact with the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday after Abu Dhabi-backed separatists seized swathes of territory. "The Joint Defence Agreement with the United Arab Emirates is hereby cancelled," a statement said, while a separate decree announced a ...
This is Beirut 2025-12-29 17:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Lebanon Nawaf Salam Joseph Aoun USA Natural Gas
Lebanon said Monday it plans to purchase natural gas from Egypt, seeking to reduce its reliance on fuel oil for its ageing power plants in a country hamstrung by regular electricity cuts. The electricity sector has cost Lebanon more than $40 billion since the end of its 1975-1990 civil war, and successive governments have failed to reduce losses, ...
This is Beirut 2025-12-29 16:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
United Nations Sudan Conflict Aid
Traumatised civilians left in Sudan's El-Fasher after its capture by paramilitary forces are living without water or sanitation in a city haunted by famine, UN aid coordinator Denise Brown told AFP on Monday. El-Fasher fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in October after more than 500 days of siege, and last Friday a small UN ...
This is Beirut 2025-12-29 14:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Tehran Economy Currency Sanctions protests
Some shopkeepers in Tehran closed their stores on Monday in protest against economic hardships and sharp swings in Iran's embattled currency, Iranian media reported, following similar demonstrations a day earlier. State news agency IRNA said some shopkeepers and traders at Tehran's bazaar "have closed or partially closed their stores," adding ...
Salam El Zaatari 2025-12-29 13:15 - Reading : 8 minute(s)
Lebanon Hezbollah Lebanese Army Washington
Any serious discussion about de-radicalizing Hezbollah supporters must begin by discarding comforting illusions about the organization. It is not a fringe extremist group operating on the margins of Lebanese society but a heavily armed political-military organization embedded in parliament, municipalities, unions, border economies, and a regional ...