Middle East

Trump Considers Gutting US Diplomatic Footprint in Africa

This is Beirut 2025-04-20 17:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

United States Africa US State Department Donald Trump

The United States would drastically reduce its diplomatic footprint in Africa and eliminate State Department offices focused on climate change, democracy, and human rights, according to a White House order under consideration. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that The New York Times, which first reported the existence of the draft order, had ...

NASA's Oldest Active Astronaut Returns to Earth on 70th Birthday

This is Beirut 2025-04-20 15:21 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

NASA Kazakhstan Soyuz MS-26

Cake, gifts, and a low-key family celebration may be how many senior citizens picture their 70th birthday. But NASA's oldest serving astronaut, Don Pettit, became a septuagenarian while hurtling towards the Earth in a spacecraft to wrap up a seven-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). A Soyuz capsule carrying the American ...

Pope Briefly Meets US Vice President JD Vance

This is Beirut 2025-04-20 15:17 - Reading : less than a minute

Vatican Pope Francis JD Vance United States

Pope Francis had a brief private meeting with US Vice President JD Vance on Sunday, the Vatican said, on the last day of the Republican's visit to Rome. "The meeting, which lasted a few minutes, gave the opportunity to exchange greetings on Easter Sunday," wrote the Vatican in a brief statement, saying the encounter took place at the pope's ...

Iranian Press Trumpet Strength in Ongoing US Talks

This is Beirut 2025-04-20 15:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam USA Donald Trump Hezbollah Middle East

Iranian media portray Tehran as holding a strong position after Saturday's nuclear talks with the United States, ahead of further discussions in Oman in the coming days. "Iran's military might has forced America to negotiate," headlines the Kayhan newspaper, whose editorial line has long opposed any compromise or negotiations with the United ...

Gaza Rescuers Say Israeli Airstrikes Kill 25

This is Beirut 2025-04-20 15:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Gaza Hamas

Gaza's civil defense agency reported that Israeli air strikes since dawn on Sunday have killed at least 25 people across the Gaza Strip, including women and children. Israel resumed its aerial and ground assault on Gaza on March 18, reigniting fighting after a two-month ceasefire that had paused more than 15 months of war in the coastal ...

Pope Wishes 'Happy Easter' to Faithful in Appearance at St Peter's Square

This is Beirut 2025-04-20 13:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Vatican Pope Francis

Pope Francis appeared in front of thousands of Catholic faithful at St. Peter's Square on Sunday for Easter, despite the 88-year-old pontiff's frail health that has kept him from most Holy Week events. "Happy Easter," said the Argentine pontiff in a weak voice from his wheelchair at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, to the delight of tens of ...

InterviewsQatar’s Chief Negotiator Says ‘Frustrated’ by Pace of Gaza Talks

This is Beirut 2025-04-20 11:35 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Palestine Benjamin Netanyahu Washington Gulf Hamas

Qatar's chief negotiator voiced frustration over talks for a truce in Gaza in an interview with AFP, a month after Israel resumed its strikes on the Palestinian territory and another round of negotiations ended without a deal. "We're definitely frustrated by the slowness, sometimes, of the process in the negotiation. This is an urgent matter. ...

SpotlightAmerican and European Rivalry Serves China and Its Axis

Pierre Nahas 2025-04-20 11:30 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

USA China United States Europe

It is in no way simplistic to say that the 20th century has been the American century. Our modern world was and is still being shaped by innovations made in America. The nuclear bomb, the Apollo mission to the moon and the internet. Indeed, America can draw from a long list, but one overlooked American achievement is Europe. It would not be an ...

SpotlightAnalysts Warn US Could Be Handing Chip Market to China

This is Beirut 2025-04-20 10:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump United States USA

As the Trump administration attempts to choke off exports of strategically important computer chips to China, experts say the effort might well backfire, fueling innovation at Chinese firms that could help them seize the world semiconductor market. "What's actually happening is that the US government right now is handing China a big win as it ...

Another Round of Anti-Trump Protests Hits US Cities

This is Beirut 2025-04-20 05:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

United States Donald Trump Politics Protests

Thousands of protesters rallied Saturday in New York, Washington and other cities across the United States for a second major round of demonstrations against Donald Trump and his hard-line policies. In New York, people gathered outside the city's main library carrying signs targeting the US president with slogans like "No Kings in ...

Zelensky Says Ukraine Will Observe Putin’s Easter Truce but Claims Violations

This is Beirut 2025-04-20 03:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Ukraine Russia Volodymyr Zelensky Conflict Ceasefire

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday his forces would observe a surprise Easter truce announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin set to last until midnight on Sunday, even as air-raid sirens sounded in Kyiv. The truce would be the most significant pause in the fighting throughout the three-year conflict. But just hours after the ...

Netanyahu Vows to Bring Hostages Home Without Yielding to Hamas' Demands

This is Beirut 2025-04-19 23:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Palestine USA

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Saturday to bring home the remaining hostages in Gaza without yielding to Hamas' demands, insisting the military campaign in the Palestinian territory had reached a "critical stage". "I believe we can bring our hostages home without surrendering to Hamas's dictates," Netanyahu said, in his first ...