World leaders gather at the United Nations for their annual meeting Tuesday with an array of global crises that desperately need solutions, topped by the Syrian conflict, escalating attacks around the world by I extremists, and millions of people fleeing fighting and poverty. Whether the 135 heads of state and ... Read More »
Thousands of migrants on Monday fled one of Greece’s main camps on the island of Lesbos after apparently setting fire to the facility, police said. “Between 3,000 and 4,000 migrants have fled the camp of Moria” because of the fire, a police source told AFP, adding that strong winds were ... Read More »
Perhaps no issue on the global agenda is more susceptible to manipulation by grandstanding demagogues than refugees and migrants. “Us” versus “them” is a timeless if irresponsible unifier, used throughout history to obscure our common humanity by those with dangerously self-serving interests. The difference now is that more people are ... Read More »
Prime Minister Tammam Salam headed to New York Saturday morning to attend the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly. The state-run National News Agency said that Salam departed Beirut along with a senior delegation. Salam, who will be attending the high-level session next week, is expected to discuss ... Read More »
There are signs of growing tensions between the US and Russia over Syria – four days after a ceasefire came into effect in the country. Moscow warned it could resume air strikes on “moderate” rebel groups unless Washington did more to distance them from extremists. In turn, the US voiced ... Read More »
The camerawoman who was filmed kicking and trying to trip migrants near the border with Serbia in September 2015 has been indicted for breaching the peace, Hungarian prosecutors said Wednesday. Petra Laszlo, who later apologized for her actions while also trying to justify them, was fired by the right-wing N1TV ... Read More »
The whimpers from skeletally thin babies too weak to cry are a harbinger of worse things to come: A quarter of the children lucky enough to make it to this emergency feeding center are dying. They are the latest victims of Boko Haram’s Islamic insurgency. No one knows how many ... Read More »
Barack Obama met briefly with Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, their two governments said, days after the firebrand politician branded the US president a “son of a whore”. The encounter took place just before a dinner during a summit of regional leaders in Laos, officials indicated. “They met at ... Read More »
At least 38 people have been killed and more than 92,000 left homeless since June in disastrous floods in Niger, the United Nations said Wednesday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the deaths, up from a previous government toll of 14, followed torrential rains in August. ... Read More »
A day of national mourning has begun in Italy for the almost 300 people who died when a powerful earthquake hit mountainous central regions. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is due to attend state funerals for victims from Arquata, one of the worst-hit towns. A state of emergency has been declared ... Read More »
Lebanese Ministry of Information