Middle East

SpotlightDefense and Israel at the Heart of MBS’s Washington Visit

This is Beirut 2025-11-16 14:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Israel Washington Donald Trump Bahrain Saudi Arabia USA

The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), is expected in Washington on Tuesday November 18 for a meeting with United States President Donald Trump. The visit is seen as crucial for the US administration and is meant to revive and broaden the Abraham Accords while strengthening strategic and economic ties between Washington and ...

Iran Begins Cloud Seeding Operations as Severe Drought Bites

This is Beirut 2025-11-16 13:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran Cloud Seeding Drought Water

Iranian authorities have launched cloud seeding operations to induce rainfall as the country faces its worst drought in decades, state media reported. "Today, a cloud seeding flight was conducted in the Urmia Lake basin for the first time in the current water year," which begins in September, the official IRNA news agency said late ...

Palestinian Killed by Israeli Army in West Bank Operation

This is Beirut 2025-11-16 13:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Israel Army West Bank

The Israeli military said Sunday it had killed one person overnight during an operation in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, with the Palestinian health ministry reporting a teenager had been shot dead. "Overnight (Sunday), Israeli army reserve soldiers... conducted an operational activity in the area of Nablus during which a terrorist ...

M23, DR Congo Ink Fresh Roadmap to Peace in Doha

This is Beirut 2025-11-15 17:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Democratic Republic of Congo Rwanda M23 Qatar

The Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 militia signed a new framework for peace on Saturday at a ceremony in Qatar aimed at ending the fighting that has devastated eastern DRC. Qatar, along with the United States and the African Union, has been engaged in months of back-and-forth talks aimed at ending the conflict in DRC's ...

UN Security Council to Vote Monday on Trump Gaza Plan

This is Beirut 2025-11-15 14:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

United Nations UN Security Council Gaza Donald Trump Israel

The UN Security Council will vote Monday on a resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan, diplomats said. Last week the Americans officially launched negotiations within the 15-member Security Council on a text that would follow up on a ceasefire in the two-year war between Israel and Hamas and endorse Trump's plan. A draft ...

Iran Guards confirm they seized oil tanker in Gulf

This is Beirut 2025-11-15 13:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Strait of Hormuz

Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed on Saturday that they had seized an oil tanker in the Gulf off the country's coast, a day after security companies determined they were likely responsible. "Yesterday morning at 7:30, after a judicial authority ordered the seizure of the cargo of an oil tanker with the trade name Talara and the flag of the ...

Iran Judiciary Calls for Tougher Stance on 'Social Anomalies'

This is Beirut 2025-11-15 13:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran Iranian Judiciary

Iranian judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei has called for stricter methods to tackle "social anomalies," local media reported, pointing in particular to more relaxed attitudes towards wearing the mandatory hijab. Under rules imposed after the 1979 Islamic revolution, all women in Iran must cover their hair in public with a hijab, or ...

SpotlightSaudi Prince, Eyeing Defence Pledge, to Meet Trump After Long US Absence

This is Beirut 2025-11-15 12:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA Bahrain Gulf Hamas Israel Saudi Arabia

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will press for security guarantees while US President Donald Trump will urge him to normalise ties with Israel when the de facto Saudi ruler breaks a seven-year absence from Washington this week. Saudi Arabia is unlikely to agree to normalisation at this stage, with Prince Mohammed's priority set for firmer US ...

Iran Is Suffocating, and the Authorities Finally Say It

This is Beirut 2025-11-14 20:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Tehran Iran inflation drought poverty economy

Iran is facing a crisis its leaders can no longer downplay. During his address to parliament, Pezeshkian confronted the issues affecting daily life across the country. He spoke of inflation without blaming external factors and acknowledged what citizens are already feeling in their kitchens, at their taps, and in their wallets. Prices are ...

PortraitWashington's New Ambassador, Michel Issa, Lands in Lebanon... Who is He?

This is Beirut 2025-11-14 20:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lebanon Donald Trump Banks United States Michel Issa Ambassador

The new United States ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, landed in Beirut on Friday to begin a particularly delicate mission. His arrival comes at a time when Washington is seeking to redefine the scope of its engagement in a country caught in a deep institutional crisis, latent tensions in the south, and growing international pressure over ...

US and Several Arab States Urge 'Swift Adoption' of UN Gaza Resolution

This is Beirut 2025-11-14 19:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

United Nations USA Israel Gaza Israel-Hamas accord ceasefire Donald Trump

The United States and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, called Friday for the UN Security Council to quickly adopt a US resolution endorsing Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza. "The United States, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, ...

Iran Likely Seized Oil Tanker off UAE Coast

This is Beirut 2025-11-14 17:48 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Oil

Iran is likely behind the seizure of an oil tanker that suddenly changed course towards the country's waters on Friday, two maritime security companies said, stoking concern of a return to Iranian seizures after a recent lull. The ship, which had left Ajman in the United Arab Emirates destined for Singapore, was heading for Iranian ...