This is Beirut 03/05 02:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Israel launched more than 20 air strikes inside Syria late Friday, a war monitor said, following up an attack near the presidential palace in Damascus which was condemned as a "dangerous escalation" by the country's Islamist rulers. The strikes came amid Israeli warnings to the Damascus government not to harm the Druze minority, ...
This is Beirut 02/05 22:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Damascus Benjamin Netanyahu Israel
Syria's Islamist rulers on Friday denounced an air strike near the presidential palace as a "dangerous escalation", as Israel called it a "clear message" not to harm the Druze minority. The dawn strike came hours after senior Druze clerics and armed factions reaffirmed their loyalty to Damascus and rejected any call for secession. They also ...
This is Beirut 02/05 22:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
A car drove into a crowd in the southern German city of Stuttgart Friday injuring eight people, emergency services said, but police said there was "no indication" it had been an attack. German security services have been on high alert following several deadly car-ramming attacks in recent months, including in the eastern city of Magdeburg and in ...
This is Beirut 02/05 21:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Damascus Israel United Kingdom
Four Druze fighters were killed on Friday in a drone strike targeting Syria’s southern province of Sweida, a stronghold of the Druze minority, according to a rights group, which did not specify who carried out the attack. “Four Druze fighters were killed on a farm in Kanaker in an explosion that coincided with the overflight of a drone,” ...
This is Beirut 02/05 20:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Germany's domestic intelligence service on Friday designated the rising far-right party AfD as an extremist group, handing authorities greater powers to monitor it and fuelling calls for it to be banned. The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) swiftly slammed the move as a "heavy blow" to democracy, just months after they won second ...
This is Beirut 02/05 20:45 - Reading : less than a minute
Walid Jumblatt Syria Ahmad Al-Sharaa Druze Jarmana Sahnaya
In a surprise visit to the Syrian capital on Friday, former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the People’s Palace. The private meeting marks a notable shift in regional political dynamics and comes amid rising tensions in southern Syria. Joumblatt left the palace without making any ...
This is Beirut 02/05 19:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Deadly sectarian violence in Syria this week between security forces and Druze fighters follows massacres of Alawites in March, with government forces and affiliated gunmen involved in both outbreaks. Many questions have been raised on the identity of fighters in the country's new security forces, and the interim government's ability to control ...
This is Beirut 02/05 19:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
The United Arab Emirates recorded unprecedented heat in April, with an average maximum temperature of 42.6 degrees Celsius over the past month — the highest in two decades for the oil-rich Gulf country. The previous highest average maximum temperature for an April was 42.2 degrees Celsius, recorded in 2017, according to a calculation based on ...
This is Beirut 02/05 18:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
US President Donald Trump unveiled the first budget blueprint of his second term Friday, with a big increase on defense and homeland security while radically slashing other areas of government. Trump's 2026 budget proposal eyes a 22 percent non-defense spending cut amounting to $163 billion -- doubling down on cost-cutting efforts under Elon ...
Bélinda Ibrahim 02/05 18:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
United Arab Emirates Louvre Abu Dhabi Louvre Abu Dhabi Culture
Just off the coast of Abu Dhabi, at the entrance to Saadiyat Island, a steel dome perforated with 7,850 geometric stars filters sunlight like a futuristic mashrabiya. Designed by Jean Nouvel, this architectural marvel shelters a museum unlike any other in the world: the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Born of an unprecedented partnership between France and the ...
This is Beirut 02/05 18:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Iran said Friday continued US sanctions on its trade partners will not alter its policy, after President Donald Trump threatened to impose penalties on countries or individuals dealing in Iranian oil. "The continuation of these illegal behaviours will not change Iran's logical, legitimate and international law-based positions," a ...
This is Beirut 02/05 13:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
TikTok was hit with a massive EU fine of 530 million euros ($600 million) Friday, accused of sending personal data of Europeans to China and failing to guarantee it was shielded from access by Chinese authorities. The Chinese-owned social media giant, which is also in the crosshairs of the United States, acknowledged during a probe that it has ...