On His Final Trip, Blinken And the Europeans Try to Avoid a New Syrian Turmoil

This is Beirut 10/01 04:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Antony Blinken US Secretary of State Syria

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his European counterparts insisted in Rome on Thursday on the need to stabilise Syria a month after Islamist rebels overthrew the country's leader, Bashar al-Assad, amid clashes with Turkey. Mr Blinken dined in Rome on Thursday evening with his British, French, German and Italian counterparts, on the last ...

Iran Reports Swiss National Accused of Spying Committed Suicide in Prison

This is Beirut 09/01 18:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Iran Human Rights Switzerland

Iran's judiciary said a Swiss national accused of spying was found dead in prison in the eastern city of Semnan on Thursday, adding that he had taken his own life. "This morning, a Swiss citizen committed suicide in Semnan prison," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said, adding that he had been "arrested by security agencies for espionage and ...

Qatar in Talks to Fund Syria Public Wage Hikes

This is Beirut 09/01 16:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus Turkey United States USA Washington

Qatar is weighing a plan to provide Syria's new rulers with funds to increase public sector salaries, a diplomatic source said Thursday, as the interim government in Damascus seeks to rebuild state institutions. "Discussions are taking place, but an agreement is yet to be concluded," the source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because ...

Danish PM to Meet Party Leaders on Trump's Greenland Comments

This is Beirut 09/01 15:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA Greenland Denmark

Denmark's prime minister has called party leaders to a meeting on Thursday, a government source said, over US President-elect Donald Trump's ambitions to take control of Greenland. Trump, who takes office on January 20, set off new alarm bells on Tuesday when he refused to rule out military intervention over the Panama Canal and Greenland, both ...

Blinken Seeks to Avert Syria Turmoil with Europeans on Final Trip

This is Beirut 09/01 15:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Antony Blinken Donald Trump Emmanuel Macron Pope Francis

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading on Thursday to Rome for talks with European counterparts on bringing stability to Syria in the face of flare-ups with Turkey, capping what is likely his final trip. Blinken had been expected to remain in Italy through the weekend to join President Joe Biden but the outgoing US leader scrapped his ...

Kallas: EU Ready to Lead Ukraine Support 'if US Not willing'

This is Beirut 09/01 13:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

European Union Ukraine USA Donald Trump

The EU's foreign policy chief on Thursday said that she hopes the United States will keep supporting Ukraine after president-elect Donald Trump takes office and that if not, the EU was ready to take the lead. "I'm really sure that all the other members, and hopefully also the United States, are ready to continue with the support to Ukraine," Kaja ...

37 Killed in North Syria Clashes Between pro-Turkey, Kurdish forces

This is Beirut 09/01 10:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Turkey Antony Blinken Damascus

Battles between Turkish-backed groups, supported by air strikes, and Kurdish-led forces killed 37 people on Thursday in Syria's northern Manbij region, a war monitor said. The latest reported fighting comes despite the United States saying Wednesday that it was working to address Turkey's concerns in Syria to dissuade the NATO ally from ...

Gaza Rescuers Say Children Among 12 Killed in Israeli Strikes

This is Beirut 09/01 09:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Palestine Antony Blinken Donald Trump Hamas

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli forces pounded the Palestinian territory on Thursday, killing at least 12 people including three girls, 15 months into the war. The latest strikes came as Qatar, Egypt, and the United States mediate negotiations in Doha between Israel and Hamas militants for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza and secure ...

Deadly Los Angeles Wildfires Threaten Hollywood

This is Beirut 09/01 09:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Los Angeles USA

Wildfires threatened to engulf parts of Hollywood on Wednesday as a growing number of blazes raged across Los Angeles, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and claiming at least five lives. Fast-moving flames fanned by powerful winds have levelled 1,500 structures, many of them multi-million dollar homes in a rolling tragedy ...

Syria Kurds Reject Any 'Division' Threatening National Unity

This is Beirut 08/01 23:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Syrian Democratic Forces Syria

US-backed Kurdish forces who control an autonomous region in northeastern Syria said Wednesday they had told the new Damascus authorities they did not want to break away from the rest of the country. "We agree that we are for the unity and integrity of Syrian territory and reject any division projects that threaten the country's ...

Israel Army Briefly Detains French Reporter in Golan Buffer Zone

This is Beirut 08/01 21:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Israel Israel Army Syria

A French journalist was briefly detained by Israeli troops on Wednesday in the buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights until Israel entered it last month, the army said. Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told a press briefing that the journalist "came too close to the soldiers, was questioned and ...

VideosSyria: A Powerful Armed Group Demands Military Autonomy

Paul Guillot 08/01 19:25 - Reading : less than a minute

In southern Syria, the “Southern Operations Room” rejects the disbandment of armed groups imposed by the new authorities. With thousands of fighters and heavy weaponry, the group insists on maintaining its military autonomy within the Ministry of Defense.