This is Beirut - Middle East

Bolton: Disarming Hezbollah Is Key to Middle East Peace

This is Beirut, 01/09 11:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hezbollah Middle East UN Security Council Israel John Bolton

In an article to the Telegraph on Sunday, former US National Security Advisor John Bolton warned that Lebanon faces an existential choice: emerge from decades of war or again fall into civil conflict and terrorist domination. He argued that Israel’s strikes against Iran and its proxies following Hamas’s October 7 attack give Lebanon a chance ...

Hope and Hate: How Migrant Influx has Changed Germany

This is Beirut, 29/08 13:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

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Men sit outside shisha bars and women in hijabs push strollers past Middle Eastern restaurants and pastry shops in Berlin's Sonnenallee, a wide avenue which has become a symbol of how much Germany has changed in the last decade. Many came during the huge migrant influx of 2015, when a million people arrived in a matter of months -- mostly from ...

Hezbollah: The Voice of Its Master

Marc Saikali, 28/08 08:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Hezbollah Gulf Middle East Tehran Turkey Lebanon Iran

Hezbollah and its weapons, a never-ending tale. Same story, on repeat. Giving up the arsenal? Never. Without it, there is no arbitrary power, no rent to collect. And like any loyal client, Hezbollah clings to its dealer: Iran. Each time an Iranian leader takes the stage or embarks on a “diplomatic” tour, the pattern is predictable. Days ...

UN Declares Famine in Gaza, First Ever in Middle East

This is Beirut, 22/08 12:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

United Nations Middle East Palestine Hamas Israel Famine

The United Nations on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza, the first in the Middle East, with its experts saying 500,000 people were facing "catastrophic" hunger. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory "because of systematic obstruction by ...

Leon XIV to Visit Lebanon 'by December,' Pending Official Confirmation

Fady Noun, 22/08 10:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Pope Francis Hezbollah Middle East Lebanon Maronite

The announcement quickly sparked a media storm in both Lebanon and Italy: Pope Leo XIV is expected to visit Lebanon “by December.” According to Patriarch Rai, the trip would mark the Pope’s first journey outside Italy since his election. “We are waiting for the Vatican to announce the exact date of the visit,” he told ...

Iraq-Lebanon Dismantle Major Captagon Factory

This is Beirut, 19/08 10:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

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The Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced on Tuesday that, in coordination with Lebanese authorities, one of the largest Captagon factories in the Middle East has been dismantled. In a statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), the ministry said that “close security and intelligence cooperation between Iraq’s General Directorate of ...

Private Generators in Lebanon: The Toll of a Profitable, Highly Polluting Industry

Sana Richa Choucair, 14/08 20:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

EDL Middle East

On Wednesday, the Lebanese government announced a crackdown on one of the most visible symbols of the country’s failed public electricity sector: private generators. During a ministerial meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, operators were given a maximum of 45 days to comply with legal and environmental standards. After that ...

Arab and Muslim Nations Condemn Israel's Plan for Gaza City Takeover

This is Beirut, 09/08 13:23 - Reading : less than a minute

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Several Arab and Muslim countries on Saturday condemned as a "dangerous escalation" Israel's plan to take control of Gaza City. Some 20 countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, said the plan constituted "a flagrant violation of international law and an attempt to entrench the illegal occupation and impose a fait accompli... in ...

Can Hezbollah Still Claim Resistance With Its Arsenal Depleted?

Mario Chartouni, 05/08 14:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hezbollah Israel Middle East Syria Iran weapons

Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Naim Qassem, warned on July 30 that any withdrawal of the group’s forces from south of the Litani River would be “a gain for Israel,” insisting that the party’s weapons remained “a domestic Lebanese matter.” Speaking at a memorial ceremony marking the first anniversary of the death of senior Hezbollah ...

Saudi Aramco Profit Drops 22 Percent on Lower Prices

This is Beirut, 05/08 10:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

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Saudi Aramco's profit slid 22 percent in the second quarter to 85 billion riyals ($22.67 billion) as a slump in prices hit revenues, the oil giant said on Tuesday. Aramco, the world's biggest oil exporter and driver of the Saudi economy, has now seen profits decline for 10 straight quarters since record results in late 2022. "The decrease in ...

Welcome Back!

Johnny Kortbawi, 02/08 20:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hezbollah Israel Middle East Benjamin Netanyahu Washington ortagus

As soon as press leaks emerged suggesting that the Lebanese file was being taken away from US envoy Tom Barrack and handed back to former envoy Morgan Ortagus, a certain optimism resurfaced among the Lebanese. This might be explained by the fact that Ortagus is seen as more than just a US envoy; she has indeed become some kind of celebrity in ...

Eclipse of the Century: Encounter with Darkness on August 2, 2027

Bélinda Ibrahim, 02/08 11:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Middle East Africa Lebanon Solar Eclipse World

On August 2, 2027, a narrow band of totality will stretch from southern Spain to the southern Arabian Peninsula, offering a dramatic celestial display already dubbed “the eclipse of the century.” It is set to be one of the most spectacular astronomical events of the 21st century. The eclipse will begin over the Atlantic Ocean shortly after ...

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