This is Beirut - middle east

Most World Heritage Sites at Risk of Drought or Flooding: UN

This is Beirut, 12:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Middle East United States Water UNESCO Drought

Almost three quarters of the globe's cultural and natural heritage sites are threatened by too little or too much water, the UN's cultural agency said on Tuesday. As a result of rising temperatures, extreme weather events including hurricanes, droughts, floods and heatwaves have become more frequent and intense, scientists warn. Seventy-three ...

Unemployment: Lebanon Ranks 11th in MENA Region

This is Beirut, 27/06 17:40 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Kuwait Middle East Lebanon Qatar Unemployment

According to the latest World Bank data, Lebanon ranks 11th among MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries in terms of unemployment, with an estimated rate of 11.5% in 2024. This figure reflects the ongoing impact of Lebanon’s compounded economic, political, and social crises since 2019. Topping the regional chart is Palestine, with a ...

Eastern Christians: The Last Keepers of a Legacy

Marc Saikali, 26/06 09:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Damascus Europe Israel Middle East Christians

A suicide bombing, this time inside a Damascus church during Sunday Mass. Twenty-five dead. The blast silenced prayer, shattered lives and shook a community already on the brink. Eastern Christianity is dying, not in the chaos of an open warfare, but through a long, silent agony, met with the world’s indifference. In a secularized Europe where ...

World Bank Announces Lebanon, Syria Reconstruction Projects

This is Beirut, 25/06 14:05 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Hezbollah Israel Middle East

The World Bank announced on Wednesday it had approved $250 million to support Lebanon's post-war reconstruction and a $146 million grant to rehabilitate neighbouring Syria's electricity sector. Lebanon is reeling from last year's devastating war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, while Syria faces massive needs after Islamist-led forces ...

Turkey Breathes Easier as Iran-Israel Truce Eases Fallout Risk

This is Beirut, 25/06 13:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Israel Turkey Donald Trump Middle East Iran

As the fragile Iran-Israel truce took hold, there was no letup in Turkey's diplomatic efforts Wednesday to prevent any return to a conflict fraught with risk for Ankara's domestic and regional policies. Hours after US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met him for talks on the sidelines of a ...

The 12 Days That Redefined the Middle East

Marc Saikali, 24/06 16:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Middle East Donald Trump Hezbollah Israel Iran

With the announcement of a ceasefire, Donald Trump blew the final whistle. Twelve days were all it took to upend the geopolitical order of the region. Twelve days of war between Israel and Iran, following years of shadow conflict, thunderous ultimatums and unspoken red lines. Twelve days that reshaped the strategic balance in the Middle East and, ...

Oil Prices Drop as Israel Agrees to Ceasefire Proposal

This is Beirut, 24/06 10:40 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Israel Ceasefire Donald Trump Middle East Oil Markets

Oil prices sank more than five percent Tuesday after Israel said it had agreed to US President Donald Trump's proposal for a bilateral ceasefire with Iran. Shares in Asia were buoyant, as fears of an energy market shock eased following 12 days of war between Israel and its arch-foe. London, Paris and Frankfurt also rose at the open. At around ...

Debating Tom Friedman on ‘Global Struggle’

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, 24/06 09:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Israel Iran United States Donald Trump Middle East

I have great admiration for Thomas Friedman and have long followed his writings. He was instrumental in shaping my support for democracy when he argued that two democracies would not go to war. He supported toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, as I did, and we both believe that the nation-state is, in some ways, a defunct concept. Today, ...

MEA Reschedules Flights to Dubai and Doha Due to Regional Tensions

This is Beirut, 24/06 08:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Middle East Doha Dubai Flight

Middle East Airlines (MEA) announced on Tuesday morning that several of its flights to and from Dubai and Doha were canceled the previous evening due to ongoing regional instability. In an official statement, the Lebanese national carrier explained that, given the current security situation, it was forced to cancel the following flights on the ...

Oil Prices Fall More than 7% after Iran Attacks US Military Base

This is Beirut, 23/06 22:44 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

United States Qatar Iran Israel Middle East Oil & Gas

Oil prices sank more than six percent Monday after Iran attacked a US military base in neighboring Qatar in retaliation for US weekend strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Near 1815 GMT, futures for West Texas Intermediate fell 7.22 percent to $68.51 a barrel, while Brent oil futures dropped 7.18 percent to $72.07 a barrel, its lowest level in ...

Could the Artesh Take the Helm After Khamenei?

Elie Ziadé, 23/06 20:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Middle East US Secretary of State USA

“Two forces that are both complementary and in competition, a duality embedded in every aspect of Iranian political and social life, opposing Islamic ideology to republican equality.” (Bernard Hourcade) For only the second time since its founding in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in direct military confrontation. Traditionally ...

Strategic Forecasts

Charles Chartouni, 23/06 09:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Israel Iran United States War Middle East

The strategic dilemmas facing Israel at this point should be summarized as how to achieve the double and intertwining objectives of the Iranian nuclear weaponization containment and the downfall of the Islamist regime and its imperial outreach. The inner relationship between the two variables is unmistakable and begets the crucial question of how ...

middle east