Middle East

Trump’s Gaza Plan: Is Erdogan the Other Big Winner?

Marie de La Roche Saint-André 24/10 09:45 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan Gaza Donald Trump

Long sidelined by the United States on Gaza and in wider regional affairs, Turkey is staging a forceful comeback, driven both by the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Gaza agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump. Ankara has played a pivotal role as intermediary between Hamas and Washington, helping to persuade the ...

EU Takes Small Step Towards Using Russian Assets for Ukraine

This is Beirut 24/10 09:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

European Union Ukraine Donald Trump Russia Frozen Assets

EU leaders Thursday tasked the European Commission to move ahead with options for funding Ukraine for two more years, leaving the door open for a mammoth loan using frozen Russian assets. In broadly-worded conclusions adopted after marathon talks in Brussels, EU leaders stopped short of greenlighting plans for the 140-billion-euro ($162-billion) ...

InterviewsRebuilding Wrecked Syria Vital for Regional Stability

This is Beirut 24/10 09:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

United Nations Syria Refugees Return Reconstruction

After 14 years of destruction, Syria must be swiftly rebuilt to bring stability to the country and the wider region, a top UN official in the war-ravaged nation told AFP. Reconstruction is one of the most significant challenges facing Syria's new Islamist authorities after the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last December. "The ...

Trump Completes Demolition of White House East Wing

This is Beirut 24/10 05:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

United States Donald Trump White House

Demolition workers have finished tearing down the White House's entire East Wing to make way for US President Donald Trump's giant new $300 million ballroom, satellite pictures showed Thursday. The completion of the wrecking work came as the White House released a list of donors to the ballroom including Apple, Google and Meta. A gray ...

Putin says US Sanctions 'Serious' but won't Significantly Hit Economy

This is Beirut 23/10 19:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

USA Donald Trump Ukraine Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the latest US sanctions targeting two major oil firms were "serious", but not strong enough to significantly affect the economy. The United States on Wednesday hit Russia's two biggest oil producers -- Rosneft and Lukoil -- with sanctions, the first against Russia since US President Donald ...

Arab and Muslim Countries Condemn Israel's West Bank Annexation Bills

This is Beirut 23/10 19:00 - Reading : less than a minute

Nawaf Salam West Bank Saudi Arabia Turkey

More than a dozen Muslim and Arab states condemned on Thursday a pair of Israeli bills calling for the annexation of the occupied West Bank, in a joint statement reported by the Saudi state news agency. The 14 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey, as well as the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, said they ...

In Interview with Time, Trump Says Would Pull US Support if Israel Annexes West Bank

This is Beirut 23/10 17:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Donald Trump USA West Bank

President Donald Trump said Israel would lose its crucial backing from the United States if it annexes the West Bank, in a Time magazine interview published Thursday. Trump's comments, which Time said were made by telephone on October 15, were published as both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned against any ...

Syria Urges Banks to Provision Their Claims on Lebanon

Liliane Mokbel 23/10 17:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon Banks Damascus Syria economy

The Central Bank of Syria has given domestic banks a six-month deadline to fully provision their claims on the Lebanese banking sector, estimated at $1.6 billion, according to a circular cited by Reuters. The directive does not specify the exact nature of these claims – whether deposits, placements or financial investments – making their ...

Vance Rejects any West Bank Annexation as Rubio Heads to Israel

This is Beirut 23/10 16:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam West Bank Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu Rubio

US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that Israel would not move to annex West Bank, after Washington warned that such a step could jeopardise a fragile US-brokered truce in Gaza. Israeli lawmakers on Wednesday advanced two bills paving the way for West Bank annexation, days after President Donald Trump secured a ceasefire deal aimed at ending ...

King Charles, Pope Leo Pray Together in Historic First

This is Beirut 23/10 16:44 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

King Charles III Vatican Pope Leo XIV Anglican Catholic

King Charles III, the head of the Church of England, became the first British monarch Thursday to pray publicly with a pope in a Vatican service led by Leo XIV. The ceremony in the Sistine Chapel, broadcast live by the Vatican's official news service, came during a state visit by the 76-year-old monarch and his wife, Queen Camilla. It was the ...

VideosHistoric Vatican Prayer: King Charles III Meets Pope Leo XIV

This is Beirut 23/10 15:45 - Reading : less than a minute

King Charles III Vatican Pope Leon XIV Catholic UK

Charles III, accompanied by Queen Camilla, met Pope Leo XIV at the Apostolic Palace before the two joined in a 45-minute ecumenical prayer focused on nature, blending Catholic and Anglican chants – a historic step for Anglican-Catholic dialogue.

Op-edAssassination Casts Dark Cloud over Iraqi Elections

Seth J. Frantzman 23/10 15:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Iran Iraq Hezbollah Baghdad

In the early hours of October 15, an IED tore through a Chevy Tahoe in Baghdad’s northern outskirts, killing Safaa al-Mashhadani, a candidate in Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections. Three days later, gunmen opened fire on the office of another candidate, Muthanna al-Azzawi, 25 kilometers south of the Iraqi ...