World

SpaceX Fails to Catch its Starship Megarocket, as Donald Trump watches on

This is Beirut 2024-11-20 05:20 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

SpaceX flew its latest test flight of its Starship megarocket on Tuesday, with President-elect Donald Trump joining Elon Musk to witness the spectacle firsthand in the latest sign of their ever closer ties. But the Republican leader was deprived of the chance to see the descending first stage caught in the launch tower's "chopstick" arms, an ...

Trump Names China Hawk Howard Lutnick Commerce Secretary

This is Beirut 2024-11-19 21:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

United States Donald Trump Howard Lutnick US Secretary of Commerce

President-elect Donald Trump nominated Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of his transition team, as his commerce secretary on Tuesday -- a choice set to bring a tougher stance on China from the incoming administration. Lutnick will also lead the country's tariff and trade agenda, with "additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United ...

Israel Offering $5 Million Reward for Each Gaza Hostage Freed

This is Beirut 2024-11-19 21:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Benjamin Netanyahu Gaza Israeli Hostages

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel was offering a reward of $5 million to anybody who brings out a hostage held in Gaza. "Anybody who brings out a hostage will find with us a secure way for them and their family to leave" Gaza, Netanyahu said in a video filmed inside the Palestinian territory, according to his ...

Iran to Stop Increasing Enriched Uranium Stockpile

This is Beirut 2024-11-19 18:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran Nuclear Iran IAEA Masoud Pezeshkian Josep Borrell

Tehran has taken steps to halt the expansion of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, according to a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seen by AFP on Tuesday. Tensions between Iran and the agency have repeatedly flared since a 2015 deal curbing Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanction relief ...

Russia Declares Ukraine's ATACMS Strikes Signal 'New Phase' in Conflict

This is Beirut 2024-11-19 17:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Russia Ukraine ATACMS

Russia said on Tuesday that Ukraine's use of long-range ATACMS missiles against its territory marked a "new phase of the Western war" against Moscow, and vowed to react "accordingly." Ukraine used the missiles to target a military facility in Russia's Bryansk border region overnight, Moscow said, just days after Washington gave the green light ...

China's Xi Urges 'Strategic' Ties in Talks with Germany's Scholz

This is Beirut 2024-11-19 16:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Xi Jinping Olaf Scholz China Germany G20

Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for Beijing and Berlin to develop ties with a "strategic" and "long-term" perspective on Tuesday as he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Rio de Janeiro, state media reported. "China and Germany are both major countries with significant influence," Xi told Scholz on the sidelines of the G20 summit, ...

France's Macron Meets China's Xi on G20 Sidelines

This is Beirut 2024-11-19 16:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

G20 France Emmanuel Macron Xi Jinping China

French President Emmanuel Macron met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Tuesday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rio, as observed by AFP journalists. On the first day of the summit on Monday, Macron spoke of a "very fractured" world order and accused the two largest economies on the planet, the United States and China, of "not ...

Zelensky Says 2025 Will Determine Who Wins Ukraine War

This is Beirut 2024-11-19 14:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Kyiv Ukraine USA Vladimir Putin Volodymyr Zelensky Washington

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that 2025 will be decisive in determining the outcome of the war, in an address to parliament marking the 1,000th day of the Russian invasion. Zelensky, presenting a "resilience plan" for Ukraine at this critical juncture in the conflict, spoke after Washington granted Kyiv long-awaited approval ...

US Impose Sanctions on West Bank Settlement Organization

This is Beirut 2024-11-19 11:50 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

US Treasury Washington West Bank

On Tuesday, the US Treasury Department, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), announced sanctions against Amana, an organization involved in the development of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Amana's subsidiary, Binyanei Bar Amana Ltd (BBA), which specializes in the construction and sale of housing in the occupied ...

Canada Foils Iranian Plot to Assassinate Former Minister

This is Beirut 2024-11-19 10:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Hamas New York Tehran Canada

Canadian authorities recently foiled an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Irwin Cotler, a former justice minister who has been a strong critic of Tehran, Cotler's organization said Monday. The 84-year-old was justice minister and attorney general from 2003 to 2006. He retired from politics in 2015 but has remained active with many associations ...

US Seeks for Google to Sell Chrome Browser

This is Beirut 2024-11-19 09:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

US Supreme Court USA Google

The US will urge a judge to make Google-parent company Alphabet sell its widely used Chrome browser in a major antitrust crackdown on the internet giant, according to a media report Monday. Antitrust officials with the US Department of Justice declined to comment on a Bloomberg report that they will ask for a sell-off of Chrome and a shake-up of ...

New European and British Sanctions on Iran Over Support for Russia

This is Beirut 2024-11-19 09:37 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

European Union Ukraine Sanctions Iran Russia United Kingdom

Iran's foreign ministry Tuesday slammed as unjustified the new sanctions by the European Union and Britain against Tehran over its support for Russia's war on Ukraine. "While the president of Ukraine has admitted that no Iranian ballistic missiles have been exported to Russia, the measures of the European Union and United Kingdom in ...