This is Beirut - Heritage

Danielle Spencer, the 'What’s Happening!!' Star, Dies After Battle with Breast Cancer

This is Beirut, 13:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Actress Heritage Culture Art Death Danielle Spencer

Danielle Spencer, best known for her role as the sassy pre-teen Dee Thomas on the groundbreaking sitcom What’s Happening!!, has died at the age of 60. Spencer passed away on August 11, 2025, at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, her former co-star Haywood Nelson confirmed. Nelson shared the news on Instagram, remembering her as “brilliant” ...

Heritage and Cool Comfort: Paris’ Underground Catacombs Treasure

This is Beirut, 10:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Paris Catacombs Heritage History Heat Wave Culture

The moment visitors step inside the Paris Catacombs, the hundred or so people who had been waiting outside in the shade of the trees put away their caps, sunglasses, and hand fans, swapping them for sweaters and jackets in hopes of escaping the oppressive summer heat. Those dressed too lightly wrap their arms around themselves for warmth. Beatriz ...

Kabyle Region: Where the Ground Shines White with Salt

Rayan Chami, 12/08 16:10 - Reading : less than a minute

Algeria Kabyle salt harvesting heritage

In Algeria’s Kabyle mountains, villagers keep a centuries-old salt harvesting tradition alive, passing their craft from one generation to the next.

Poetry and Song Keep Oman’s Ancient Language Alive

This is Beirut, 11/08 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Oman Culture Heritage Art

Against the backdrop of southern Oman’s lush mountains, men in traditional attire chant ancient poems in an ancient language, fighting to keep alive a spoken tradition used by just two percent of the population. Sitting under a tent, poet Khalid Ahmed al-Kathiri recites the verses, while men clad in robes and headdresses echo back his words in ...

Adidas Accused of Cultural Appropriation Over Oaxaca-Inspired Sandals

This is Beirut, 10/08 10:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Adidas Fashion Heritage Culture Art Mexico

US fashion designer Willy Chavarria said Saturday he regrets that sandals he created together with Adidas “appropriated” a traditional design from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Local authorities had complained that the Oaxaca Slip-On sandals were a “reinterpreted” model of huarache sandals, particularly one found uniquely in the ...

Fire Swiftly Contained at Cordoba’s Historic Mosque-Cathedral

This is Beirut, 09/08 12:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

UNESCO Architecture Culture Art History Heritage

A fire broke out in the historic mosque-turned-cathedral in Cordoba on Friday, but the monument was saved as firefighters quickly contained and then extinguished it, the Spanish city's mayor said. Widely shared videos had shown flames and smoke billowing from inside the major tourist attraction, visited by two million people per year. "The ...

Saint-Gilles of Tripoli

Amine Jules Iskandar, 09/08 11:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Tripoli History Heritage Culture

Christian rule over Tripoli came to an end with the death of Byzantine emperor Nicephorus II Phocas in 969. Some 130 years later, the Crusaders reached the city gates and found a fortified settlement where the Arabs had firmly consolidated their presence. Despite reinforcements from the Christian mountain regions, it took them a full decade to ...

Egypt to Open Grand Museum Near Pyramids of Giza on November 1

This is Beirut, 06/08 19:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Museum Opening Heritage Egypt Culture

Egypt said on Wednesday that its much-anticipated new $1-billion archaeological museum near the Pyramids of Giza will officially open on November 1 after several delays. Authorities hope that the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which boasts the treasures of Tutankhamun among its collection of more than 100,000 ancient Egyptian artifacts, will ...

Gabon Forest Cave Unlocks Secrets of Human Origins

This is Beirut, 06/08 14:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Heritage Archeology Culture Gabon Africa

In Gabon's sprawling forest, archaeologists dig for ancient clues that could unlock the secrets of how prehistoric humans lived and interacted within the changing landscape of Central Africa. Two billion years ago, the eastern Gabonese region of Lastourville was covered by a vast ocean. But that has long given way to dense forest and dolomite ...

Bob Wilson, Master of Light and Stage, Passed Away at 83

This is Beirut, 01/08 13:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Theater Heritage Bob Wilson Director Culture Art

It was a silent seven-hour production that first made France fall in love with Bob Wilson. Deafman Glance, born from a moment of trauma—Wilson witnessing a young deaf boy being beaten by a police officer—would become a landmark of modern theater. Wilson later adopted the boy. When the show premiered at the Nancy Festival in 1971, poet Louis ...

Musical Satirist Tom Lehrer, Droll Prophet of Doom, Dead at 97

This is Beirut, 28/07 09:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Tom Lehrer Satirist Music Culture Art Heritage

Tom Lehrer, the acclaimed humorist and pianist whose satirical songs made him one of America's favorite prophets of doom before he retreated to academia, has died, US media reported Sunday. He was 97. The singer-songwriter died Saturday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his friend David Herder said, according to The New York ...

The Fearless Genius Is Gone: Ziad Rahbani Carries Lebanon’s Memory Into the Beyond

Marie-Christine Tayah, 26/07 20:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Ziad Rahbani Music Heritage Fairuz Culture Lebanon

Born on January 1, 1956, in Lebanon, Ziad Rahbani embodied the rebellious, artistic and restless soul of his nation. Raised in a musical dynasty, he built his own identity note by note, word by word. At only 17, he composed Sa’alouni el-Nass, a politically charged and deeply emotional work that marked the beginning of a prolific, independent ...

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