Arab World

Op-edThe Shamkhani Wedding Scandal: How a Leaked Wedding Became Iran’s Mirror of Moral Collapse

Salam El Zaatari 23/10 11:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

In mid-October 2025, a leaked video from a private wedding set Iran ablaze, digitally, politically and morally. It wasn’t just any celebration. The footage showed the daughter of Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, one of Iran’s most powerful men and a close confidant of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, parading in a strapless white gown at the ...

Online Search a Battleground for AI Titans

This is Beirut 23/10 09:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

AI Technology Google OpenAI Atlas

Tech firms battling for supremacy in artificial intelligence are out to transform how people search the web, challenging the dominance of the Chrome browser at the heart of Google's empire. Chatbots that started out as AI-powered assistants have gradually merged with web browsers and can independently scour the internet for detailed answers to ...

Drone Attacks in Khartoum for Third Consecutive Day

This is Beirut 23/10 09:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Khartoum Sudan United Nations Clashes Drones

Drones targeted the army-held Sudanese capital and its airport on Thursday, witnesses told AFP, marking the third consecutive day of such strikes. "At 4:00 am (0200 GMT) I heard the sound of two drones passing above us," one witness said, adding that the drones were headed towards military facilities. Another witness, meanwhile, said he saw the ...

US Strikes on Alleged Drug Boats in Pacific Amid Rising Tensions with Colombia

This is Beirut 23/10 09:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Donald Trump USA Gustavo Petro Colombia Drones Drugs

President Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, traded angry threats Wednesday as the United States announced strikes on two alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Pacific Ocean that left five people dead. Trump branded Petro a "thug" and suggested he was a drug trafficker leading his country to ruin, prompting the leftist ...

Rubio Says Israel Annexation Moves in West Bank ‘Threatening’ Peace Deal

This is Beirut 23/10 05:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Palestine Gaza United States

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday warned Israel against annexing the West Bank, saying steps taken by parliament and settler violence threatened a Gaza peace deal. Israeli lawmakers voted Wednesday to advance two bills on annexing the occupied West Bank, barely a week after President Donald Trump pushed through a deal aimed at ending ...

Trump Slaps ‘Tremendous’ Sanctions on Russian Oil for Ukraine War

This is Beirut 22/10 23:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

European Union USA Volodymyr Zelensky Donald Trump Europe

US President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies on Wednesday, complaining that his talks with Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war "don't go anywhere." The European Union also unveiled a fresh wave of sanctions to pressure Russia to end its relentless, three-and-a-half-year invasion of its ...

EU Unlocks €4 BN in Aid for Egypt at First Joint Summit

This is Beirut 22/10 22:45 - Reading : less than a minute

EU Egypt Diplomacy Aid

The EU and Egypt held their first joint summit on Wednesday, inking several loan deals including one worth another four billion euros ($4.6 billion) in European aid for Cairo. "We will sign a number of agreements that will open even more business opportunities in Egypt," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said as she welcomed ...

NATO Chief Brushes Off Concerns of Trump-Zelensky Rift

This is Beirut 22/10 21:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Volodymyr Zelensky Kyiv Ukraine NATO

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday downplayed concerns about tensions between Donald Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, while reiterating his belief that "only" the US president could achieve peace between Moscow and Kyiv. Rutte, visiting Washington just days after Trump hosted Zelensky for tense talks, met with lawmakers on ...

Syria Arrests Major Officer in Charge of Notorious Assad-Era Prison

This is Beirut 22/10 20:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus

Syrian authorities said on Wednesday they had arrested a former military official accused of executing detainees at the infamous Saydnaya prison during the rule of former president Bashar al-Assad. In a statement, the interior ministry said the Damascus province's counter-terrorism branch arrested Major General Akram Salloum al-Abdullah. It said ...

Drone Attacks Target Khartoum Airport for Second Day

This is Beirut 22/10 19:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Target Sudan

Paramilitary drone attacks targeted Khartoum International Airport for a second consecutive day on Wednesday, a Sudanese military source told AFP, as authorities attempted to reopen the facility for domestic flights for the first time in over two years. The airport has been closed since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the Sudanese ...

United States: Joel Rayburn Officially Becomes Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs

This is Beirut 22/10 18:35 - Reading : less than a minute

United States Donald Trump Joel Rayburn

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved on Wednesday the nomination of Joel Rayburn as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Rayburn had been nominated for the position in February by Donald Trump, but the appointment required Senate confirmation. Joel Rayburn is a former U.S. Army colonel, diplomat, and recognized ...

Hamas: A Beheaded Organization Still Standing

Paul Guillot 22/10 18:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Hamas Palestine UN Security Council USA

Is the terrorist group Hamas still capable of inflicting damage on the state of Israel? An investigation by American outlet NBC suggests that it is. Despite being severely weakened after two years of open war, the Islamist movement is believed to still have around 20,000 fighters, hundreds of rockets – including some with long-range ...