Pope Leo XIV: I am closer than ever to the Lebanese people

Pope Leo XIV affirmed that he is “closer than ever” to the Lebanese people, stressing that their protection is “a moral duty.”Addressing crowds in St. Peter’s Square after the Regina Caeli prayer, the Pope said he is “closer than ever, in these days of sorrow and fear, yet also of hope that cannot be overcome through God, to the beloved Lebanese people.” He added that “protecting civilians from the devastating effects of war is a moral obligation.”

12-04-2026 14:22

Pope Leo XIV: I am closer than ever to the Lebanese people

Pope Leo XIV affirmed that he is “closer than ever” to the Lebanese people, stressing that their protection is “a moral duty.”Addressing crowds in St. Peter’s Square after the Regina Caeli prayer, the Pope said he is “closer than ever, in these days of sorrow and fear, yet also of hope that cannot be overcome through God, to the beloved Lebanese people.” He added that “protecting civilians from the devastating effects of war is a moral obligation.”

12-04-2026 14:22

Iran will not bow down to US pressure in nuclear talks

Iran’s ⁠President ⁠Masoud Pezeshkian has pledged not to fold to pressure from the United States after his American counterpart, Donald Trump, said he was considering limited strikes to force a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme.Pezeshkian’s comments on Saturday came amid high tensions in the Gulf, with the US continuing to grow its military presence with the deployment of two aircraft carriers and dozens of jets.“We will not bow down in the face of any of these difficulties,” Pezeshkian said at a ceremony to honour members of the Iranian Paralympics team.“World powers are lining up with cowardice to force us to bow our heads. Just as you did not bow down in the face of difficulties, we will not bow down in the face of these problems,” he said.Iran and the US resumed indirect talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme in Oman earlier this month, and held a second round in Switzerland last week.Although Washington and Tehran described the talks in overall positive terms, they failed to achieve a breakthrough.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that a diplomatic solution appeared within “our reach” and that his country was planning to finalise a draft deal in “the next two to three days” to send to Washington.

22-02-2026 12:41

Abi Ramia heads Parliamentary delegation to France on official visit

Head of the French-Lebanese Parliamentary Friendship Committee, MP Simon Abi Ramia, departed the capital Beirut this morning at the head of a parliamentary delegation to the French city of Toulouse, upon an invitation by Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc.The delegation will take part in the inauguration of Lebanon’s Cedars Garden in Toulouse, a symbolic gesture reflecting the depth of the historic and cultural ties between the two countries.The visit program also includes meetings with members of the Lebanese diaspora, community organizations, and Lebanese nationals residing in Toulouse.As part of the visit, the MP and the delegation will tour the Airbus company to learn about its industrial and technological expertise.Later, the delegation will head to the French capital, Paris, where meetings with French political figures are scheduled to take place.

31-01-2026 12:53

Syrians greet extended army-SDF ceasefire with guarded optimism

Syrians in the northeast of the country have welcomed an extended ceasefire of 15 more days between the military and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a day after its announcement.Government troops have seized large swaths of northern and eastern territory in recent weeks from the SDF in a rapid turn of events that has consolidated President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s rule, as Syria seeks internal stability and secures the external lifeline of reintegration into the international fold and the economic revival that comes with it. The eruption of fighting has rocked a nation trying to recover from nearly 14 years of ruinous civil war.The truce extension has offered a respite amid mounting tensions as the government’s army closed in on the last SDF strongholds last week. Al-Sharaa abruptly announced the ceasefire on Saturday, giving the SDF until that night to lay down arms and come up with a plan to integrate with the army or to resume fighting.The extension gives the SDF more time for such a plan.Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi, reporting from Raqqa, said the ceasefire extension has been received positively in the region. “The news certainly lifted the mood of the residents here in Raqqa,” he said.He added that locals said they want long-term stability with schools, which “have not been operational in a meaningful manner in a decade”, reopening in the region.Basravi said the government aims to use the coming two weeks to “cement a long-term ceasefire and focus on reconstruction efforts”.Extension after truce expiredAn hour before midnight – hours after the four-day truce expired – the Defence Ministry announced that its forces would cease military operations for a further 15 days to support an ongoing US operation to transfer ISIL (ISIS) detainees from Syria to Iraq.Extension after truce expiredAn hour before midnight – hours after the four-day truce expired – the Defence Ministry announced that its forces would cease military operations for a further 15 days to support an ongoing US operation to transfer ISIL (ISIS) detainees from Syria to Iraq.“The extension of the ceasefire comes in support of the American operation to transfer Islamic State detainees from SDF prisons to Iraq,” the statement said.The SDF confirmed the extension, saying it was reached “through international mediation, while dialogue with Damascus continues”.“Our forces affirm their commitment to the agreement and their dedication to respecting it, which contributes to de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and the creation of the necessary conditions for stability,” it said in a statement.Al Jazeera’s Basravi said people have been celebrating not only the extended truce but also the release of minors from al-Aqtan prison, among other people, held imprisoned on unjust charges, according to locals.“So, the Syrian administration here is going through all of those case logs and looking for anyone who is underage or unjustly accused,” Basravi said. “They are separating dangerous detainees, particularly the ISIL ones, from everyone else.”The Kurdish authorities, who previously managed al-Aqtan prison, said in a statement on Saturday that a section of it hosted juveniles “who were involved in crimes” as well as “others, who had fallen victim to recruitment and exploitation by ISIS”.“Due to security circumstances, the Prisons Administration transferred these juveniles approximately three months ago from the juvenile detention centre to al-Aqtan Prison,” it said, adding that they received special treatment in accordance with international standards during their time there.

25-01-2026 12:50

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Train derailment in northeastern Ohio sparks massive fire

Evacuation and shelter-in-place orders remain in effect in a northeastern Ohio town after a train derailment sparked a massive fire and concerns about air quality.A Norfolk Southern train with more than 100 cars derailed in East Palestine, about 15 miles south of Youngstown, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.There were 20 cars with hazardous material in the train – 10 of which derailed. Of those 10, five were carrying vinyl chloride, the NTSB said Saturday night.“We have not confirmed vinyl chloride has been released other than from the pressure release devices,” the agency added.NTSB board member Michael Graham said in a news conference earlier Saturday there was still an “active fire scene,” and could not estimate when the flames would be put out.The cause of the derailment was not known Saturday.nvestigators say the train had image and data recorders onboard. It will take four to six weeks for the NTSB to have a preliminary report on the accident, Graham said.No injuries were reported.EPA: No harmful levels of compounds in airOne car released some of the vinyl chloride through a safety release valve, Graham said. State environmental officials say they have not detected any harmful levels of the chemical in the community.Exposure with vinyl chloride, a colorless gas, is associated with a higher risk of certain forms of cancer, according to the federal government’s National Cancer Institute.No harmful levels of compounds had been detected in the air as of Saturday evening, a spokesperson with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency told CNN in an email.“Ohio EPA will remain on site and air monitors will remain in place as long as necessary,” Ohio EPA spokesperson James Lee said in a statement. “Ohio EPA has established containment to help limit any damage to local streams and rivers from water runoff from the firefighting.”The agency will work with local officials and the railroad company to “identify the nature and extent” of any possible contamination and will work to ensure cleanup efforts to protect human health and the environment, Lee said.Evacuation order remains in effectOfficials issued a shelter-in-place order for the entire town of roughly 5,000 people, while an evacuation order was in effect within a mile of the train crossing at James Street as of early Saturday. Conaway said he did not know when those orders would be lifted.Two evacuation stations have opened to provide shelter to residents, and the Red Cross has been notified, Trent Conaway, the mayor of East Palestine said.Conaway on Saturday called for the “exercise of all necessary emergency authority for protection of lives and the property of the residents of the Village of East Palestine, Ohio.”The proclamation also called on citizens to comply with the emergency measures.Traci Spratt, the interim manager of the village of East Palestine, said late Saturday the one-mile radius evacuation order from the incident remained in place “until further notice,” and stressed, “We need everyone to stay away from the scene.”Spratt also said officials were conducting “continuous air monitoring and have found zero health risks.”“The village’s drinking water is safe to drink and is being continually monitored,” Spratt added.Photos from the scene showed a large, dense cloud of smoke engulfing flames atop the train. Firefighters from three states, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia responded, according to Conaway.Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Saturday he was briefed on the derailment and state authorities were “prepared to help our neighbors.”The Norfolk Southern train departed from Madison, Illinois, and was bound for Conway, Pennsylvania, when it derailed, according to the NTSB.Norfolk Southern Railway said in a statement its team members were at the scene and added it was “coordinating with federal, state and local agencies.”The company said it set up a family assistance center “to address the needs of the community and support those directly impacted.”“Additionally, we are supporting the efforts of the American Red Cross and their temporary community shelters through a $25,000 donation,” the company said.

05-02-2023 12:36

List of all the missing Lebanese in Turkey due to the earthquake

You will find attached below a list of the names of the lost Lebanese people in Turkey due to the earthquake.

09-02-2023 14:02

Rahi: Our country is collapsing and our people are migrating

Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Beshara Boutros Rahi affirmed in his Sunday Mass sermon, at the Patriarchal Church in Bkerke, that “The Lebanese state is collapsing, and the people are migrating to a country that respects people, and all this is due to the misrule of a corrupt, destructive and failed political group without an iota of moral and patriotic conscience." 

30-04-2023 12:23

Behind EU lawmakers' challenge to rein in ChatGPT and generative AI

As recently as February, generative AI did not feature prominently in EU lawmakers' plans for regulating artificial intelligence technologies such as ChatGPT.The bloc's 108-page proposal for the AI Act, published two years earlier, included only one mention of the word "chatbot." References to AI-generated content largely referred to deepfakes: images or audio designed to impersonate human beings.By mid-April, however, members of European Parliament (MEPs) were racing to update those rules to catch up with an explosion of interest in generative AI, which has provoked awe and anxiety since OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT six months ago.That scramble culminated on Thursday with a new draft of the legislation which identified copyright protection as a core piece of the effort to keep AI in check.Interviews with four lawmakers and two other sources close to discussions reveal for the first time how over just 11 days this small group of politicians hammered out what could become landmark legislation, reshaping the regulatory landscape for OpenAI and its competitors.The draft bill is not final and lawyers say it will likely take years to come into force.The speed of their work, though, is also a rare example of consensus in Brussels, which is often criticised for the slow pace of decision-making.LAST-MINUTE CHANGESSince launching in November, ChatGPT has become the fastest growing app in history, and sparked a flurry of activity from Big Tech competitors and investment in generative AI startups like Anthropic and Midjourney.The runaway popularity of such applications led EU industry chief Thierry Breton and others to call for regulation of ChatGPT-like services.An organisation backed by Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and Twitter, took it up a notch by issuing a letter warning of existential risk from AI and calling for stricter regulations.On April 17, the dozen MEPs involved in drafting the legislation signed an open letter agreeing with some parts of Musk's letter and urged world leaders to hold a summit to find ways to control the development of advanced AI.That same day, however, two of them - Dragos Tudorache and Brando Benifei - proposed changes that would force companies with generative AI systems to disclose any copyrighted material used to train their models, according to four sources present at the meetings, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions.That tough new proposal received cross-party support, the sources said.One proposal by conservative MEP Axel Voss - forcing companies to request permission from rights holders before using the data - was rejected as too restrictive and something that could hobble the emerging industry.After thrashing out the details over the next week, the EU outlined proposed laws that could force an uncomfortable level of transparency on a notoriously secretive industry."I must admit that I was positively surprised on how we converged rather easily on what should be in the text on these models," Tudorache told Reuters on Friday."It shows there is a strong consensus, and a shared understanding on how to regulate at this point in time."The committee will vote on the deal on May 11 and if successful, it will advance to the next stage of negotiation, the trilogue, where EU member states will debate the contents with the European Commission and Parliament."We are waiting to see if the deal holds until then," one source familiar with the matter said.BIG BROTHER VS. THE TERMINATORUntil recently, MEPs were still unconvinced that generative AI deserved any special consideration.In February, Tudorache told Reuters that generative AI was "not going to be covered" in-depth. "That's another discussion I don't think we are going to deal with in this text," he said.Citing data security risks over warnings of human-like intelligence, he said: "I am more afraid of Big Brother than I am of the Terminator."But Tudorache and his colleagues now agree on the need for laws specifically targeting the use of generative AI.Under new proposals targeting "foundation models," companies like OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), would have to disclose any copyrighted material - books, photographs, videos and more - used to train their systems.Claims of copyright infringement have rankled AI firms in recent months with Getty Images suing Stable Diffusion for using copyrighted photos to train its systems. OpenAI has also faced criticism for refusing to share details of the dataset used to train its software."There have been calls from outside and inside the Parliament for a ban or classifying ChatGPT as high-risk," said MEP Svenja Hahn. "The final compromise is innovation-friendly as it does not classify these models as 'high risk,' but sets requirements for transparency and quality."

29-04-2023 13:47

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