The Latest Breaking News from Beirut

Beirut’s Sursock Museum reopens three years after port blast

The palatial modern art museum was badly damaged in the explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital.

Al Jazeera · Jun 6, 2023

‘I want to be part of the rebirth’: the artists bringing creation out of Beirut’s chaos

Decades of civil war and economic meltdowns left Lebanon’s people struggling for hope – but the country’s creatives are fighting back

The Guardian - UK · Jun 4, 2023

Saudi freed in Lebanon after kidnapping

Lebanese interior ministry says that nine people had been arrested in connection with Sunday’s kidnapping.

Al Jazeera · May 30, 2023

From ashes and debris, iconic Beirut museum reopens 3 years after massive damage from port blast

Lebanon’s Sursock Museum has reopened to the public, three years after a deadly explosion in the nearby Beirut port reduced many of its treasured paintings and collections to ashes

The Independent UK · May 27, 2023

Lebanon central bank chief faces travel ban after Interpol red notice

Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salameh attended a judicial hearing in Beirut on Wednesday where his Lebanese and French passports were confiscated following an Interpol red notice against him over embezzlement and money-laundering charges.

Reuters · May 24, 2023

Arab League nations welcome back longtime pariah Syria at annual summit

BEIRUT — In March 2013, with almost 100,000 dead in the then two-year Syrian revolution against President Bashar Assad, a Muslim cleric who headed the Syrian opposition was welcomed to take the country's seat at the annual summit of Arab leaders.

Los Angeles Times · May 19, 2023

Lebanon cenbank governor says he will appeal against French arrest warrant

French prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salameh, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, a move the governor said he would challenge through an appeal, calling it a violation of law.

Reuters · May 16, 2023

New US embassy complex in Lebanon sparks controversy

An estimated $1 bn will go towrad the new US embassy compound

The Independent UK · May 15, 2023

Before and after the Nakba: Palestinian literature of resistance and love for a lost homeland

When a society experiences oppression and trauma, literature helps its people by giving them a voice and reinforcing their identity. It gives the trauma those people have suffered a universal resonance. So it is for Palestinians, whose literature – particularly that of resistance – plays this role. Indeed, Palestinian writers…

The Conversation · May 15, 2023

Iran’s FM: Lebanese Presidential Elections Are an Internal Matter, We Support Consensus

From Beirut, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian declared on Friday an agreement to reopen the Iranian and Saudi embassies in Riyadh and Tehran in the coming days.

Asharq Al-Awsat · Apr 29, 2023