STORY: Lebanese winemakers like Elias Maalouf are struggling to keep their businesses alive through war and extreme heat. Maalouf’s family has been making wine for six generations. Last year, Israeli air strikes kept him from picking most of the grapes. Now, Lebanon’s worst drought on record has slashed his harvest. Maalouf said the vineyard’s production…
Tom Barrack’s remarks to journalists trigger calls for an apology and media boycott. Published On 27 Aug 202527 Aug 2025 A top US diplomat has triggered outrage and calls for an apology in Lebanon after telling a group of local journalists to “act civilised”. Tom Barrack, the United States ambassador to Turkiye and the special…
Hong Kong has advised residents to avoid non-essential travel to Israel and Iran despite lowering the risk levels for visiting the two countries from black to red. A government spokesman said in a statement on Monday that a red outbound travel alert still “signifies a significant threat”. “The [Hong Kong] government advises Hong Kong residents…
Image for representation. India has been added to the United Kingdom’s “Deport Now, Appeal Later” scheme, which allows foreign criminals to be deported before their appeals are heard. The Home Office on Sunday said the list has expanded from eight to 23 countries in a bid to speed up removals and reduce migration. Those deported…
Knockback deals potential blow to US diplomat Thomas Barrack’s efforts to press on with ‘go-forward plan’ for Israel-Lebanon peace. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem appeared to dismiss a proposal that his group disarm, as presented by the United States to Lebanon’s leadership last month. Qassem argued on Friday that the Israeli army would expand in Lebanon…
With the Global Civilizations Dialogue Ministerial Meeting taking place in Beijing on July 10 and 11, CGTN published an article highlighting how China’s Global Civilization Initiative is offering a constructive platform for bridging differences, promoting people-to-people exchanges, and building a more inclusive, cooperative international community amid rising global uncertainties. BEIJING, July 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ —…
Syria-born Serene Debs used to watch foreign consulates in Hong Kong host year-round public events and sponsor artists to come to the city, and wished that her home region enjoyed the same level of visibility. Her solution? Founding her own cultural “embassy”, called Make Du Si, to represent Syria and its Arabic-speaking neighbours in the…
Jun 29, 2025 10:15 PM IST “President al-Sharaa has indicated that he doesn’t hate Israel… and that he wants peace on that border,” Tom Barrack said. With the Iran-Israel war opening up a new road for the Mideast, Syria and Lebanon need to reach peace agreements with Israel, the US special envoy to Syria said…
Israeli strikes killed three people in southern Lebanon on Saturday despite a ceasefire in force there, authorities said, with Iran-backed Hezbollah suggesting its patience for the “ongoing aggression” was wearing thin. Smoke billows from the Nabatieh district, following Israeli strikes, as seen from Marjayoun, in southern Lebanon on June 27, 2025. (File/REUTERS) The Lebanese health…
Jun 27, 2025 10:56 PM IST The retaliatory airstrikes asserted that such actions violate existing agreements between Israel and Lebanon, as said by the IDF. The IDF (Israel Defence Forces), on Friday morning, attacked, in an airstrike, a site used to manage the Hezbollah terrorist organisation’s fire and defence system in the Beaufort Ridge area…