UK Ends Sanctions on Syria Defense, Interior Ministries

This is Beirut 2025-04-24 14:40 - Reading : less than a minute

syria conflict sanction Britain

The UK government announced on Thursday it was lifting sanctions that were imposed on Syria's interior and defense ministries during the rule of the now-deposed Bashar al-Assad. "The following entries have been removed from the Consolidated List and are no longer subject to an asset freeze -- Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense," the Office ...

Catholics Flock to St. Peter's Basilica to Pay Their Final Respects to the Pope

This Is Beirut 2025-04-24 14:10 - Reading : less than a minute

Pope Francis

Thousands of Catholic faithful have been flocking since Wednesday to St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican to pay their respects before the body of Pope Francis.

UK Hosts Global Energy Summit as Renewables Face Growing Criticism

This is Beirut 2025-04-24 13:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Energy security IEA Renewable energy Fossil fuels

An international summit on the future of energy security opens in London on Thursday, amidst major disagreements over the role of renewables in satisfying the world's thirst for energy. The two-day International Energy Agency (IEA) meeting takes place amid global economic turmoil sparked by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. It also comes at a ...

Zelensky Cuts Short South Africa Trip After Deadly Attack on Kyiv

This is Beirut 2025-04-24 12:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Volodymyr Zelensky Ukraine USA South Africa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cancelled part of his trip to South Africa on Thursday after Russia fired a barrage of missiles and drones at Kyiv, killing at least eight people and trapping others under rubble. Ukraine has been battered with aerial attacks throughout Russia's three-year invasion, but deadly strikes on Kyiv, which is ...

Ivory Coast Opposition Supporters to Protest Against Leader's Ouster from Poll

This is Beirut 2025-04-24 10:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

politics opposition Ivory Coast Tidjane Thiam

Supporters of Ivory Coast's main opposition party are set to demonstrate outside courts on Thursday to protest the removal of their candidate from an upcoming presidential election. An Abidjan court on Tuesday struck Tidjane Thiam off the electoral list -- a decision that cannot be appealed and rules him out of standing in the October 25 ...

InvestigationYemen's Huthis Seek Propaganda Boost from Deadly US Strikes

This is Beirut 2025-04-24 10:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Houthi yemen conflict USA

As America's escalated bombing campaign and economic sanctions hit Yemen hard, the Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Washington's crosshairs are trying to mine the situation for propaganda and recruitment, analysts said. On Monday, four days after 80 people were killed in US strikes on a fuel port, the Huthis released a slick promotional video showing ...

ExplainerIndia and Pakistan: A History of Division and War

This is Beirut 2025-04-24 09:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

india kashmir pakistan unrest

Nuclear-armed arch-rivals India and Pakistan have long accused each other of backing forces to destabilise them, especially in the contested Himalayan region of Kashmir that each controls parts of. New Delhi regularly blames Islamabad for backing gunmen in Kashmir, who have fought an insurgency against Indian forces since 1989. Islamabad denies ...

Huge Crowds Expected for Second Day of Pope Lying in State

This is Beirut 2025-04-24 09:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Pope Francis crows coffin Vatican

Huge crowds were expected on Thursday for a glimpse of Pope Francis's body on the second day of public tributes, afer St Peter's Basilica stayed open almost all night to accomodate the crowds. Close to 20,000 people filtered past the Catholic leader's red-lined wooden coffin in the first eight hours of the lying in state on Wednesday. Instead of ...

Donald Trump Seeks "Fair Deal" With China but Pathway Unclear

This is Beirut 2025-04-24 05:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

United States China Donald Trump Economy Markets

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday played up prospects of a "fair deal" on trade with China, but his top officials offered few details of how Washington might de-escalate its damaging tariff war with Beijing. Trump told reporters his country would have a "fair deal with China," adding that "everything's ...

Netanyahu Slams Iran, Hamas as Israel Commemorates the Holocaust

This is Beirut 2025-04-23 22:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Donald Trump Middle East

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking Wednesday at an annual Holocaust commemoration, said Iran was an existential threat and warned that "the fate of all humanity" was at stake if it acquired nuclear arms. Netanyahu was speaking at the start of Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which commemorates the murder of six million Jews ...

Russia Allows Taliban to Have Moscow Ambassador

This is Beirut 2025-04-23 21:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Taliban Russia Afghanistan Diplomacy

Russia said Wednesday it will allow the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan to have an ambassador in Moscow, in a symbolic move days after it lifted a "terrorist" designation for the militant group. Moscow has taken steps to normalize relations with the Islamist Taliban administration since the group seized power in Afghanistan in 2021 ...

India Takes Diplomatic Measures Against Pakistan After Kashmir Attack

This is Beirut 2025-04-23 19:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

India unveiled a raft of punitive diplomatic measures against archrival Pakistan on Wednesday, accusing Islamabad of supporting "cross-border terrorism" after a deadly attack on civilians in Kashmir. These measures include the suspension of a key water-sharing treaty, the shutting of the main land border crossing between the neighbors, and a raft ...