This Is Beirut 2024-06-14 15:52 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow would only halt its offensive on Ukraine if Kyiv effectively surrenders by pulling its troops out of the east and south and dropping its bid for NATO membership. Ukraine, NATO and the United States immediately rejected Putin's hardline conditions to halt the full-scale military offensive ...
This Is Beirut 2024-06-14 15:49 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Pope Francis called on Friday for a ban on "lethal autonomous weapons," when he addressed the G7 leaders' summit in Italy on the perils of artificial intelligence. "In light of the tragedy that is armed conflict, it is urgent to reconsider the development and use of devices like the so-called 'lethal autonomous weapons' and ultimately ban their ...
This Is Beirut 2024-06-14 15:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
At weddings, football matches and other special events, some Iraqi men like to fire salvos of celebratory gunfire into the sky, worrying little about where the bullets might fall. For some Iraqis, the tradition has been devastating, as have random bullets from sporadic gun battles in a society still awash with weapons after decades of war and ...
This Is Beirut 2024-06-14 10:34 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
More than a million Muslim pilgrims were in Mecca Friday for the start of a hajj pilgrimage held against the grim backdrop of the Gaza war and in exhausting summer heat. Crowds of robed worshipers will circle the Kaaba, the black cubic structure at Mecca's Grand Mosque, with many expressing sadness eight months into the Israel-Hamas war. "Our ...
This Is Beirut 2024-06-14 10:28 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Iran is further expanding its nuclear capacities, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday, one week after the agency's board of governors passed a resolution criticizing Tehran's lack of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. The IAEA informed its members that Tehran told the agency it was installing more cascades at the ...
Rami Rayess 2024-06-14 09:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Since the announcement of the European parliamentary election results, there has been a surge of political and non-political analyses to understand their anticipated impact on the "old" continent and their implications for the future European trajectory. These concerns were amplified by the swift and surprising move by French President Emmanuel ...
Ali A. Hamadé 2024-06-13 22:55 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Anyone who thought they had seen it all in France is completely wrong! Since the announcement of snap elections for June 30 and July 7, political developments and electoral surprises have continued to multiply. One of the most notable is the supposed alliance between Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) and The Republicans (LR), representing the ...
This Is Beirut 2024-06-13 22:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
The heads of six United Nations agencies and three international NGOs issued a joint call Thursday for the release of their staff detained by the Houthi. They said the detentions were unprecedented and insisted the targeting of aid and development workers in Yemen must stop. "We, the principals of the affected UN entities and international ...
This Is Beirut 2024-06-13 19:01 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
From misting systems to heat-reflective road coverings, Saudi officials are trying to aid hajj pilgrims in coping with heat, but scientists caution that climate change may outpace these efforts. The annual pilgrimage, one of the world's largest religious gatherings, coincides again this year with the hot Saudi summer, with officials predicting ...
This Is Beirut 2024-06-13 18:47 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
At least 10 Western passport holders are still being held in Iran, which has released French banking consultant Louis Arnaud after nearly two years in detention. Arnaud was arrested in September 2022 and accused of joining anti-government demonstrations. Rights groups say those being held were taken prisoner to be used by Iran as bargaining ...
This Is Beirut 2024-06-13 10:14 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
A staggering total of 120 million people are living forcibly displaced by war, violence and persecution, the UN said Thursday, branding the ever-increasing number a "terrible indictment on the state of the world". The United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR said forced displacement globally had once again smashed records, with conflicts in places ...
This Is Beirut 2024-06-13 09:17 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
G7 leaders were set to agree on a new $50-billion loan for Ukraine as they gathered Thursday for a summit in southern Italy, using the profits from frozen Russian assets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will join US President Joe Biden and leaders from Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan for the talks at the luxury Borgo ...