Lebanon

InvestigationAugust 4, 2020: Key Developments in the Grechushkin Case

Natasha Metni Torbey 2025-10-23 17:40 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Port explosion Justice Bulgaria Igor Grechushkin Tarek Bitar

There are renewed signs of progress in the investigation into the Beirut port explosion of August 4, 2020. Two judicial tracks are taking shape: that of investigating judge Tarek Bitar, still mired in the legal actions brought against him, and that of Igor Grechushkin, the presumed owner of the Rhosus, currently detained in Bulgaria. Meanwhile, ...

Violent Airstrikes Rock Beqaa and Hermel

This is Beirut 2025-10-23 13:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Hezbollah Airstrikes

A series of Israeli airstrikes shook the Beqaa and Hermel regions on Thursday. Loud explosions were heard in the areas of Janta, Shmistar and the heights of Hermel. The Israeli army announced that it carried out a series of airstrikes against Hezbollah positions in the Beqaa and northern Lebanon. According to a statement from the Israeli army, ...

PoliticsCyprus Border Deal Reaffirms Mikati’s 2011 Decision

Bassam Abou Zeid 2025-10-23 13:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam United Nations Cyprus Najib Mikati

The Cabinet is set to approve the Lebanon-Cyprus maritime border agreement, despite claims that Lebanon forfeited around 5,000 square kilometers along the median line of the two countries’ exclusive economic zones. Lebanese negotiators assert that these claims have no basis in international law, and studies indicate that disputing them would ...

Grade Tampering Scandal at the Lebanese University: Investigation Underway

This is Beirut 2025-10-23 11:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Lebanese University education scandal

The investigation into the grade-tampering scandal at the Faculty of Law of the Lebanese University has reached a turning point. Earlier this month, the public institution was rocked by revelations that exam scores had been falsified in favor of several Kuwaiti students. According to information reported by the local TV channel MTV, and on the ...

EditorialFlights Over a Nest of Fools!

Marc Saikali 2025-10-23 08:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Hamas Hezbollah Middle East Palestine

More than half of Ici Beyrouth and This is Beirut’s audience lives between France, North America and Africa. Those of you reading from these far-off lands are lucky enough not to be, like us, lulled from dawn to dusk by the relentless hum of drones. Yes, they are back. And this time, they are flying even lower. Beirutis have gone all out, ...

Honoring a Historic Visit: Lebanon Commemorates Pope Leo XIV with a Stamp

Christiane Tager 2025-10-22 21:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV

Ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Lebanon, scheduled for November 30 to December 2, 2025, the Ministry of Telecommunications has confirmed to This is Beirut that the country will issue a special stamp commemorating the pontifical visit. According to Ministry sources, this official release has been entrusted to LibanPost, which will oversee its ...

LAF Arrests Four in Raids Targeting Drug Traffickers

This is Beirut 2025-10-22 16:05 - Reading : less than a minute

Lebanon Baalbeck Lebanese Army Syria captagon drugs

The Lebanese Army (LAF) announced on Wednesday that it had arrested four individuals in separate raids as part of its ongoing efforts to maintain security and combat drug trafficking. In its statement, the LAF said the operations were carried out with support from Intelligence Directorate patrols. According to the statement, an army unit, also ...

Senate Panel Probes Hezbollah Links to Latin American Drug Trade

This is Beirut 2025-10-22 14:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Donald Trump Hezbollah Middle East Venezuela drugs trafficking

The US Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control convened a hearing on Tuesday to examine suspected connections between Hezbollah and Latin American drug trafficking networks, as lawmakers warned of the group’s expanding footprint in the Western Hemisphere. Chaired by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), the bipartisan session focused on ...

InvestigationLebanon 2019: Behind a Programmed Revolution (2/2)

Natasha Metni Torbey 2025-10-22 12:30 - Reading : 11 minute(s)

Central Bank of Lebanon Free Patriotic Movement Amal Banks

Lebanon has an exceptionally dense civil society sector. Hundreds of local NGOs receive funding from international organizations such as the European Union, various United Nations agencies, private foundations like Ford, Rockefeller and Open Society, as well as contributions from the diaspora. Most of this funding is fully declared, independently ...

Hezbollah’s Rapid Rebuilding Outpaces Lebanon’s Disarmament Efforts

This is Beirut 2025-10-22 11:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanon Hezbollah Lebanese Army The Jerusalem Post

Hezbollah’s accelerated rebuilding efforts risk provoking an Israeli response if Lebanon does not act swiftly, according to Western intelligence sources cited by The Jerusalem Post. In a report published Tuesday, the Israeli daily highlighted the group’s ongoing efforts to rearm and reconstruct, even as the Lebanese government has officially ...

Q&AHealing Without Forgetting: Rony Mecattaf Connects with His Readers

Bélinda Ibrahim 2025-10-21 19:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Rony Mecattaf Book 4 August 2020 Beirut Explosion Culture

La blessure qui guérit, published a few months ago by Éditions Erick Bonnier, is already drawing attention. In this book, Rony Mecattaf, psychotherapist and a leading figure in Lebanon’s intellectual scene, recounts how the violence of the Beirut port explosion, which left him permanently scarred, became a path toward ...

Numbers & FiguresConsumer Price Index Up 0.6% in September

This is Beirut 2025-10-21 18:00 - Reading : less than a minute

South Lebanon Economy

Lebanon’s Consumer Price Index rose 0.6% in September 2025, compared with August 2025, according to official data. Year-on-year inflation reached 15.06%. At the governorate level, monthly increases varied significantly: Mount Lebanon, +0.90%; Beqaa, +0.69%; Nabatieh, +0.64%; Beirut, +0.27%; South Lebanon, +0.22%; and North Lebanon, ...