World

StoryFrom Darkness to Light: The Hidden Story Behind ‘The Sound of Silence’

Bélinda Ibrahim 07/02 18:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Music Story Culture Song Simon & Garfunkel

In the early 1960s, Paul Simon, then an unknown young musician, composed his songs in an offbeat place—his parents’ bathroom. Captivated by the acoustics of the small space, he refined the chords and lyrics of what would become one of the most iconic songs of the 20th century. At that time, Simon and his childhood friend Art Garfunkel formed ...

Putin Hails Russia's Strong 2024 Economic Growth

This is Beirut 07/02 14:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Ukraine Vladimir Putin

Russia reported strong economic growth for 2024 on Friday, as record spending on the military offensive against Ukraine outweighed the impact of Western sanctions. Moscow's massive ramp-up in military spending on soldiers and weapons has helped it defy predictions of a deep recession following the launch of its military campaign in February ...

SpotlightTrump's Gaza Plan Derails Saudi-Israel Ties: Analysts

This is Beirut 07/02 12:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump Israel Benjamin Netanyahu Gaza Saudi Arabia

US President Donald Trump's plan to take over Gaza will imperil attempts to forge landmark ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel and fuel anti-American sentiment in the oil-rich kingdom, analysts said. Trump's proposal to redevelop Gaza and oust the more than two million Palestinians living in the territory prompted a global backlash and enraged ...

Judge Pauses Musk's Plan for Mass Cull of U.S. Government Workers

This is Beirut 07/02 10:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

USA Donald Trump White House

A judge on Thursday suspended a scheme masterminded by billionaire Elon Musk to slash the size of the U.S. government by encouraging federal workers to quit through a mass buyout. The federal judge in Massachusetts issued a temporary injunction on the plan's deadline — midnight Thursday — given by Musk for the country's more than two million ...

Iran Condemns New US Sanctions as 'Illegal' and 'Unjustified'

This is Beirut 07/02 09:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

USA US Sanctions Donald Trump Tehran

Iran on Friday condemned as "illegal" and "unjustified" new financial sanctions by the United States that target a network accused of shipping hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian crude oil to China. "The decision of the new US government to exert pressure on the Iranian nation by preventing Iran's legal trade with its economic ...

UN Rights Council Considers Probe into Abuses in Eastern DRC

This is Beirut 07/02 09:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Goma UN DRC

The UN Human Rights Council will decide on Friday whether to launch an international investigation into alleged violations and abuses committed as deadly clashes have gripped eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC requested the urgent meeting of the UN’s top rights body to discuss the escalating fighting by the Rwanda-backed M23 ...

Rubio to Visit Israel, Arab States in Mid-February

This is Beirut 07/02 09:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Marco Rubio UAE Qatar KSA

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will pay his first visit to the Middle East this month, a senior State Department official said Thursday, in the wake of President Donald Trump's remarks on relocating Gaza's population. Rubio will attend the Munich Security Conference and then visit Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia from ...

Trump Sanctions ICC for its Probes Against Israel and the US

This is Beirut 07/02 05:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump International criminal court United States Israel

US President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on the International Criminal Court Thursday for "illegitimate and baseless" investigations targeting America and its ally Israel, the White House said. Trump signed an executive order saying the court in The Hague had "abused its power" by issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime ...

$Syrian Whistleblower \$

Syrian Whistleblower "Caesar" Reveals Identity

This is Beirut 06/02 23:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Syria Caesar Bashar al-Assad

A Syrian whistleblower, who smuggled tens of thousands of pictures depicting torture under Bashar al-Assad, on Thursday revealed his identity for the first time, two months after the longtime ruler was toppled. "I am First Lieutenant Farid al-Madhan, the (former) head of the forensic evidence department at the military police in Damascus, known ...

UAE to Invest Up to 50 Billion Euros in France AI Data Center

This is Beirut 06/02 23:15 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

France UAE Artificial intelligence Data center

The United Arab Emirates are to build an artificial intelligence “campus” in France, including a giant data center with a computing capacity of up to one gigawatt, “representing investments in the order of magnitude of 30 to 50 billion euros," the French presidency announced on Thursday. These investments are part of an AI partnership ...

Trump Administration Imposes First Sanctions on Iranian Oil Shipments to China

This is Beirut 06/02 18:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Donald Trump Tehran United States US Treasury USA

The US Treasury announced financial sanctions on Thursday, the first under the new administration of Donald Trump, that target an "international network" accused of shipping Iranian oil to China to fund Tehran's military activities. The sanctions target the network for "facilitating the shipment of millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil worth ...

VideosIraq’s Famed ‘Hunchback’ of Mosul Rebuilt Brick by Brick

This is Beirut 06/02 17:05 - Reading : less than a minute

United Nations Mosul Iraq UNESCO

The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Audrey Azoulay, hailed the completion of the agency’s restoration work in Iraq’s Mosul during a visit to the country’s second-largest city, after the destruction inflicted by the Islamic State group. “What we have done here with the ...