Middle East

Explainer'Gwada Negative:' A French Woman’s Unique Blood Group Challenges Medical Science

Bélinda Ibrahim 2025-06-25 18:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Blood Types France Ghadeloupe Ethnicity Gwada Negative

This global first concerns a 54-year-old French woman living in Paris. Her unique immunohematological profile, named “Gwada negative” in tribute to her Caribbean roots, has just been officially recognized as the 48th human blood group system by the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) under the scientific designation PIGZ. It all ...

Syria Arrests Assad-Era Air Force Officer Under EU, UK Sanctions

This is Beirut 2025-06-25 17:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Bashar al-Assad

Syria's interior ministry said Wednesday a former air force officer who is under British and EU sanctions had been detained, the latest such arrest announcement since longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad's ouster. Authorities in the Harasta area outside Damascus "arrested the criminal pilot Major General Meezar Sawan," the ministry said in a ...

Trump Says US Will Hold Talks with Iran 'Next Week'

This is Beirut 2025-06-25 17:37 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump Emmanuel Macron NATO Mark Rutte

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States would hold talks with Iran next week, with a possible agreement on the table about Tehran's nuclear program. "We're going to talk to them next week with Iran; we may sign an agreement, I don't know," said Trump. In a press conference delivered from the NATO ...

Israel Designates Iran Central Bank 'Terror Organization'

This is Beirut 2025-06-25 17:04 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Banks

Israel's defence minister on Wednesday designated Iran's central bank a "terror organization," saying the move was aimed at halting financing for Iran-backed militant groups the day after a ceasefire between the two foes took hold. Minister Israel Katz "signed a special order designating Iran's central bank, two ...

$Netanyahu Laments a \$

Netanyahu Laments a "Very Difficult Day" after Seven Israeli Soldiers Killed in Gaza

This is Beirut 2025-06-25 16:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Gaza Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday lamented a “very difficult day” following the deaths of seven Israeli soldiers in one of the deadliest incidents for Israel in over 20 months of war in Gaza. “This is a very difficult day for the people of Israel,” Netanyahu wrote on X. “Our heroic fighters fell ...

AnalysisUS-Iran: What Is Next?

David Hale 2025-06-25 15:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Iran United States USA Donald Trump

While most international media are focused on what will happen today or this week between America and Iran, the real story is much bigger—the complete turning of the tables on Iran. While the headlines focus on whether Trump's ceasefire will hold, too many commentators are losing sight of the fact that Iran is trying to surrender (without ...

VideosHow the US Carried Out Its Strikes on Iran

This is Beirut 2025-06-25 14:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Iran Trump nuclear sites

The United States took military action against Iran's nuclear program, on Saturday, June 21, and carried out strikes that caused “extremely severe damage” to three of Iran's nuclear facilities. Here’s what we know about how the “Midnight Hammer” operation unfolded. The #UnitedStates took military action against #Iran's ...

Armenia PM says Foiled 'Sinister' Coup Plot by Senior Cleric

This is Beirut 2025-06-25 13:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nikol Pashinyan Armenia Azerbaijan

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday said security forces had foiled a coup plot involving a senior cleric, amid his escalating standoff with the leadership of the powerful Apostolic Church. Pashinyan has been at loggerheads with senior clerics since 2020, when Catholicos Garegin II began calling for his resignation following ...

AnalysisTurkey Breathes Easier as Iran-Israel Truce Eases Fallout Risk

This is Beirut 2025-06-25 13:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Turkey Donald Trump Middle East Iran

As the fragile Iran-Israel truce took hold, there was no letup in Turkey's diplomatic efforts Wednesday to prevent any return to a conflict fraught with risk for Ankara's domestic and regional policies. Hours after US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met him for talks on the sidelines of a ...

Trump Insists Iran Nuclear Programme set Back 'Decades'

This is Beirut 2025-06-25 12:55 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Donald Trump USA Iran Nuclear

President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday that US strikes led to the “total obliteration” of Iran's nuclear capabilities and set the country's atomic program back “decades”, while Israel said it was still early to fully assess the damage. Over a 12-day conflict, Israel pounded Iranian nuclear and military sites ...

Syria Arrests General Linked to Infamous 'Checkpoint of Death'

This is Beirut 2025-06-25 12:45 - Reading : less than a minute

Syria General Haidar Checkpoint Arrest War Crimes

Syrian authorities announced on Tuesday the arrest of General Mowafaq Nadhir Haidar, former commander of the Syrian regime’s 3rd Armored Division, notorious for his role at the infamous Qatifa checkpoint, known by locals as the “Checkpoint of Death.” The checkpoint, located along the Damascus-Homs highway near the division's headquarters, ...

Hamas says Gaza Ceasefire Talks 'Intensified in Recent Hours'

This is Beirut 2025-06-25 12:40 - Reading : less than a minute

Nawaf Salam Ceasefire Hamas Palestine

A senior Hamas official told AFP Wednesday that talks for a Gaza ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group “intensified in recent hours” with mediator countries. “Our communications with the brother mediators in Egypt and Qatar have not stopped and have intensified in recent hours,” Taher al-Nunu said, ...