SpotlightDying as a Subject: The True Stakes of Palliative Care and Assisted Dying

David Sahyoun 11/06 18:00 - Reading : 7 minute(s)

Psychoanalysis Palliative Care Death Assisted Dying France

In France, the debate over palliative care and assisted dying challenges the very foundations of how we relate to life and death, to pain and, more profoundly, to the dignity of the human subject. What does it truly mean to die? Is it simply the end of life, or the loss of one’s voice, one’s place within social bonds and the capacity for ...

SpotlightLife Emits a Light That Death Extinguishes

Bélinda Ibrahim 11/06 16:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Light Body Death Life Living Beings

Until a few decades ago, this phenomenon remained virtually unknown. All living organisms, from plants to mammals, continuously emit a faint, invisible light, far too subtle for the human eye to detect. This emission, referred to as ultra-weak bioluminescence or oxidative chemiluminescence, ceases abruptly upon death. Long overlooked, this optical ...

Hypertension Hits Younger Ages: A Disease That No Longer Waits for Adulthood

Maroun Chahine 10/06 20:15 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

High blood pressure is no longer just an adult problem. Young people are increasingly being diagnosed with hypertension – and the causes vary. According to Dr. Zeina Kadri, a professor of cardiology and Head of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Hôtel-Dieu de France, “In adults, hypertension often develops from around age 35, usually ...

ChatGPT Suffers Major Outage, Service Disrupted for Hours

This is Beirut 10/06 16:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

ChatGPT OpenAI Artificial Intelligence

Thousands of ChatGPT users nationwide faced difficulties accessing the app on Tuesday morning and turned to social media for answers. OpenAI confirmed the platform was experiencing issues and, after six hours of investigation, stated, “We have identified the root cause of the elevated errors and latency.” OpenAI acknowledged the issue, citing ...

Apple Plays it Safe on AI Despite Wall Street Pressure

This is Beirut 10/06 09:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Apple AI WWDC

Apple on Monday remained on its cautious path to embracing generative AI even as rivals race ahead with the technology and Wall Street expresses doubts over its strategy. The pressure was on Apple not to disappoint at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) a year after the iPhone juggernaut made a promise it failed to keep -- to ...

SpotlightWhen AI Defies Orders… and Won’t Shut Down

Bélinda Ibrahim 09/06 17:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Artficial Intelligence AI OpenAI Anthropic Defiance

In a recent study reported by the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI’s experimental AI model O3 altered its own script to prevent automatic shutdown within a simulated environment. Even more troubling, when explicitly commanded to shut down, the AI refused to comply in 79% of cases. This controlled test aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of safeguards ...

ExplainerHow Can Your Phone Be Compromised in Seconds?

Chelsea Al Arif 09/06 14:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Unit 81 Israel Spy Hacking Pegasus

A recent investigative video aired by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority offers a look at just how easily a phone can be hacked, revealing the capacities of Unit 81, Israel’s military tech unit. In a controlled demonstration, a cybersecurity expert shows how quickly and discreetly a phone can be taken over: camera, microphone and location, all ...

Don't Let Deep sea Become 'Wild West', Guterres tells World Leaders

This is Beirut 09/06 12:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump Emmanuel Macron United Nations Oceans Nice

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday the world could not let the deepest oceans "become the wild west", at the start in France of a global summit on the seas. World leaders are attending the UN Ocean Conference in Nice as nations tussle over contentious rules on mining the seabed for critical minerals and the terms of ...

InterviewsMan Who Let Snakes Bite Him 200 Times Spurs New Antivenom Hope

This is Beirut 08/06 09:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

USA

Tim Friede was feeling particularly down on the day after the September 11 attacks, so he went to his basement and let two of the world's deadliest snakes bite him. Four days later, he woke up from a coma. "I know what it feels like to die from snakebite," Friede told AFP via video call from his home in the small US town of Two Rivers, ...

SpotlightDoping on the Loose, Health Under Threat

Karl Hajj Moussa 06/06 13:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

On May 26, 2025, the president of the Lebanese Order of Pharmacists, Joe Salloum, called on the authorities to “put an end to the unchecked sale of performance-enhancing stimulants in gyms and on social media.” In gyms and across social media, doping stimulants are being openly sold under the guise of dietary supplements. These ...

Pharmaceutical Counterfeiting: Lebanon Sick from Its Own Medicines

Makram Haddad 06/06 11:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Medicines Lebanon Mounjaro Pharmaceutical Counterfeiting

It heals; it soothes; it saves. Or at least, that’s what we think. Because not all medicines sold in Lebanon are what they claim to be. Many products escape control: copies without active ingredients, or made from toxic substances disguised in a reassuring appearance. A Medicine Almost Like Any Other The World Health Organization’s ...

ExplainerScreen Addiction: Understanding the Message Behind the Symptom

David Sahyoun 04/06 18:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Psychoanalysis Addictions Therapy Culture

The underlying logic of “mindset therapy” is the reinforcement of the self. It urges individuals to push their limits, reinvent themselves, “raise their vibration” – as if the essence of psychic life were a relentless pursuit of performance. But for Freud and Lacan, desire is never aligned or resolved. It remains blocked, unstable, ...