Middle East

Israel Announces Recovery of 2,500 Items from Syria Linked to Executed Spy Eli Cohen

This is Beirut 18/05 19:07 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Eli Cohen Syria Israël Mossad

Israel announced on Sunday that it had retrieved the official Syrian archive on famed spy Eli Cohen -- a cache of 2,500 documents, photographs and personal effects linked to the Mossad agent executed in Damascus in 1965. "In a complex covert operation by the Mossad, in cooperation with a strategic partner service, the official Syrian archive ...

Saudi Airline Resumes First Hajj Flights with Iran Since 2015

This is Beirut 18/05 18:58 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Saudi Arabia Iran Hajj

A Saudi airline has resumed flights for Iranian hajj pilgrims to the kingdom for the first time in a decade, the latest sign of the warming ties between the countries. "Flynas resumed Iranian pilgrim flights from Imam Khomeini (airport) in Tehran on Saturday," a Saudi civil aviation authority official told AFP, speaking on condition of ...

Zelensky and Vance Discussed Upcoming Trump-Putin Call in Rome

This is Beirut 18/05 17:27 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

JD Vance Volodymyr Zelensky Donald Trump Vladimir Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the upcoming telephone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a brief meeting with US Vice President JD Vance in Rome on Sunday, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP. Zelensky and Vance discussed "the situation on the front, preparations for the ...

Italy's Meloni, US VP Vance and EU Chief to Meet on Sunday

This is Beirut 18/05 16:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Giorgia Meloni JD Vance Urusla von der Leyen Italy European Commission United States

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will host a three-way meeting with US Vice President JD Vance and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later on Sunday, her office announced. The 3:30 pm (1330 GMT) meeting "will focus on relations between the European Union and the United States, as well as on the main issues on the ...

First US Pope Leo XIV Warns against Exploitation at Inaugural Mass

This is Beirut 18/05 15:09 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Pope Leo XIV Vatican

Pope Leo XIV set the tone for his papacy Sunday with a call to stop exploiting nature and marginalizing the poor, before an audience including JD Vance and tens of thousands of pilgrims. Ten days after Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost became the first US head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, he celebrated his inaugural mass in St. Peter's ...

Iran and Azerbaijan Hold Joint Military Drill

This is Beirut 18/05 14:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Azerbaijan Iran Defense

Iran and Azerbaijan have launched a joint special forces exercise, state media in the Islamic republic said Sunday, weeks after Iran's president visited the neighboring country. The "Aras-2025" exercise, running through May 21, involves Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Azerbaijani troops, the IRNA news agency ...

Severe Tornadoes Kill More Than 25 in South-Central Us

This is Beirut 18/05 05:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

United States Climate Tornadoes

Severe storms that swept through the US states of Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia left more than 25 people dead, laying waste to local communities and cutting off electricity to nearly 200,000, authorities said Saturday. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on X at least 18 people had died in the storms Friday night, while local officials in ...

Morocco to Reopen Embassy in Syria

This is Beirut 17/05 19:55 - Reading : less than a minute

Morocco Syria

Morocco said Saturday it will reopen its embassy in Damascus, closed since 2012, signaling renewed support for Syria after the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. The decision was announced in a letter from King Mohammed VI to Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, read by the Moroccan foreign minister at an Arab League summit in ...

Trump says will speak to Putin to end Ukraine 'bloodbath'

This is Beirut 17/05 19:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump Vladimir Putin Volodymyr Zelensky

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he would speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the "bloodbath" in Ukraine, a day after the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years. Trump, who has been pressing Russia to agree a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, said he would speak with ...

When AI Learns Without Us: Absolute Zero Reasoner, the Machine That Thinks on Its Own

By Moncef Ait-Kaci 17/05 18:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

AI Artificial Intelligence Absolute Zero Reasoner China

What if an artificial intelligence no longer needed us to learn? No more relying on our data, our corrections, our examples? That’s the bold challenge taken on by a group of Chinese researchers with the development of Absolute Zero Reasoner (AZR). This system does not rely on any human database. It learns in complete autonomy, generating its ...

SpotlightRed Carpet Micro-Dramas: Cannes’ Unspoken Language

Bélinda Ibrahim 17/05 18:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Festival Cinema France Cannes 2025

Yet, there are the gowns. The flashbulbs. The practiced smiles and impeccable poses. But that’s only the surface. Beneath the glamour lies a quiet choreography, a visual language made of gestures and body language, whispered like a secret to those who know how to watch. Each appearance on the Croisette is a delicate balance between instinct and ...

Turkey Discovers New Natural Gas Reserve in Black Sea

This is Beirut 17/05 17:30 - Reading : less than a minute

Turkey Black Sea Recep Tayyip Erdogan Gas

Turkey has discovered a new natural gas reserve in the Black Sea that will meet its residential energy needs for more than three years, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. "We have discovered 75 billion cubic meters (2,650 cubic feet) of new natural gas. With this amount, we will meet the needs of our homes alone for about 3.5 ...