This is Beirut 2024-12-15 19:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed that the British government has had “diplomatic contact” with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Syrian rebel group that played a key role in toppling the Assad regime. While Lammy emphasized that HTS remains a proscribed terrorist organization, he noted that diplomatic contact is still possible. ...
This is Beirut 2024-12-15 17:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Algeria France Morocco Boualem Sansal
Algeria's foreign ministry has summoned the French ambassador to reprimand him for what it described as efforts to destabilize the country, several Algerian media outlets reported on Sunday. The ambassador, Stéphane Romatet, was "informed of the firm disapproval of the highest Algerian authorities in response to numerous French provocations and ...
This is Beirut 2024-12-15 16:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
International Court of Justice International Criminal Court Israel Palestine Ireland Diplomacy
Israel's Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday that it would be closing its embassy in Ireland, citing the Dublin government's "extreme anti-Israeli policies," further straining already tense relations between the two nations. Diplomatic ties between Ireland and Israel have deteriorated following a series of actions, including Ireland's ...
This is Beirut 2024-12-15 16:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Saudi Arabia Tehran USA Economic Sanctions Iran
Iran announced the closure of offices and schools in many provinces across the country on Sunday due to a cold snap and energy shortages, according to state media. Iran is an energy giant, with the world's second-largest reserves of natural gas, according to the US Energy Information Administration. However, the country has been forced to ration ...
This is Beirut 2024-12-15 16:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
"We need to see justice and accountability for crimes, and it must go through a credible justice system. We must ensure that no acts of revenge take place," Geir Pedersen said upon his arrival in Damascus. Assad fled Syria last weekend following an 11-day rebel offensive led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), marking the ...
Elie Ziadé 2024-12-15 15:30 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Turkey HTS Bashar al-Assad Syria
The fall of Bashar al-Assad took everyone by surprise, almost no one saw it coming. Yet, it was met with joy. Scenes of celebration across Syria, as well as in countries hosting millions of Syrian nationals and refugees, along with the shared joy of other populations — notably in Lebanon — reflect the harsh rule that the Assad dynasty had ...
This is Beirut 2024-12-15 12:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Turkey is ready to provide military support to Syria's new Islamist-led government set up by rebels who overthrew Bashar al-Assad if it requests it, Defense Minister Yasar Guler said on Sunday. He said the new leadership should be given "a chance" and that Turkey was "ready to provide the necessary support if the new ...
This is Beirut 2024-12-15 11:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
The citizens of Damascus largely celebrated the fall of Bashar al-Assad's hated regime with joy, after 13 long years of brutal civil war. But the city's drinking holes did have one concern. The rebel army that overthrew the former leader was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist group which some drinkers feared would forbid the sale of ...
This is Beirut 2024-12-15 11:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Damascus Israel United Nations
More than 60 Israeli strikes targeted military sites across Syria in the space of a few hours, almost a week after an armed coalition overthrew Bashar al-Assad and seized Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Saturday. The SOHR counted “61 strikes in less than five hours” on Saturday evening by Israel, which has ...
Fady Noun 2024-12-15 10:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Introduced by Vincent Gelot, L'Œuvre d'Orient's representative in Syria and Lebanon, the conference featured addresses by Archbishop Jacques Mourad, the Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Homs, Hama and Debek, Sister Jihane, a member of the Soeurs de Besançon (Sisters of Besançon) and director of Damascus' largest Christian school, and Salim Safir, ...
This is Beirut 2024-12-15 09:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Donald Trump Republicans Ukraine USA White House
US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named loyalist Devin Nunes, who heads his social media platform Truth Social, to serve as chairman of a White House intelligence advisory board. Nunes is a Republican ex-congressman from California who led the US House intelligence committee during the start of Trump's first presidential term. He has ...
This is Beirut 2024-12-14 22:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Spain Mango Retail Clothing Isak Andic
Isak Andic, the founder of Spanish clothing retailer Mango, one of Europe's largest fashion groups, with nearly 2,800 stores worldwide, died Saturday in an accident, the company said. While the company did not provide further details, Spanish media reports said the 71-year-old died after falling while hiking with several members of his family ...