By An-Nahar – Ghadir Hamadi — Beirut: By the time December is around the corner, Lebanese abroad are dreaming of visiting the homeland for the holidays and arriving by the planeload. In recent days many of the flights are overbooked and Beirut’s streets, bars, malls, and restaurants are all packed with revelers. Why? The reasonable answer is […]

by cruxnow.com BEIRUT, Lebanon – Catholic patriarchs of the Middle East – with hope, despite uncertainty in the region – called for peace, security, prayer and solidarity at Christmastime. From Baghdad, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako expressed hope for a “new phase” for his country, that the recent triumph over the Islamic State and the termination […]

BEIRUT- Lebanese politicians on Thursday criticized Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil over a television interview in which he was shown saying that Lebanon did not have an ideological problem with Israel and was not against it having security. The comments, made to al-Mayadin television channel during a long interview on Tuesday, had just started attracting attention. […]

by Tom Metcalf, Jack Witzig – Bloomberg – The richest people on earth became $1 trillion richer in 2017, more than four times last year’s gain, as stock markets shrugged off economic, social and political divisions to reach record highs. The 23 percent increase on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 500 richest people, […]

aawsat.com –  Beirut – Asharq Al-Awsat Contacts and meetings resumed between the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the Lebanese Forces (LF) party in an attempt to revive already tense relations between the two largest Christian forces in Lebanon. Ties became strained after the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri in November, a position backed by the LF. […]

by dw.com/ – In a bid to tackle water shortages, Lebanon is planning to build a dam close to two major seismic fault lines. Locals say environmental damage and the risk of earthquakes will outweigh the dam’s benefits. In a country notorious for its environmental scandals — including the two-year garbage crisis — the Bisri Valley, […]

  by OLIVIA CUTHBERT -Arab News –  LONDON: Women may be gaining ground legally, but older generations say that over time, their liberties have been chipped away. Pictures of Levantine women in the sixties and seventies hint at fewer restrictions — their coiffured hair, short sleeves and mini skirts portraying modes of dress that would be unthinkable […]

Article represents only author opinion by dailysabah.com Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman threatened Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he will be ousted if he does not cooperate with the kingdom and urged him to back the U.S. peace plan, the Middle East Eye (MEE) reported Saturday, citing Palestinian officials. According to the report, the […]

by reuters –MAYSAM BEHRAVESH – Shortly after Saad Hariri unexpectedly announced his resignation as Lebanon’s prime minister in a speech from Saudi Arabia last month, French President Emmanuel Macron made a surprise trip to Riyadh. Regional tensions were escalating, with Lebanese leaders accusing the Saudis of holding Hariri hostage and Riyadh accusing Lebanon of declaring war […]

By Daniel Marans – HuffPost – Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his short-lived resignation in early November under heavy duress from the Saudi Arabian government, according to a New York Times report based on the accounts of Lebanese, Western and regional officials, as well as other figures close to Hariri. Veteran Middle East watchers immediately […]