[Published here August 7, 2020]
Precious wheat spilled out of disembowelled silos, mixing with soot, debris and cement: Beirut’s port blast has gutted Lebanon’s largest grain storage and sparked public panic over bread shortages.
Lebanon
Middle East mythbusters battle virus ‘infodemic’ | AFP
[Produced with my colleague Dylan Collins in Tripoli, Lebanon, and published here on July 21, 2020]
Browse through Arabic-language social media pages and you could walk away thinking COVID-19 is an American hoax, isn’t deadly and can be swiftly cured with a garlic clove.
First-time voters eagerly weigh in on Lebanese election | AFP
[Published here on May 6, 2018]
Beirut (AFP) – Hanin Terjman was among the first outside her Beirut polling station Sunday: like many young Lebanese, she is voting for the first time and wants to see new faces in parliament.
Election fever hits Lebanon, nine years since last legislative vote | AFP
[Published here on April 18, 2018]
As its first parliamentary vote in nearly a decade approaches, Lebanon has been swept into campaign fever: posters on every corner, televised debates, and neighbours bickering over new electoral procedures.
Pressure mounts for ‘detained’ Lebanon PM to return from Riyadh | AFP
[Published here on November 16, 2017]
Hardening his tone, Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun accused Saudi Arabia of “detaining” Hariri, who is to meet in Riyadh on Thursday with France’s chief diplomat.
Speculation has swirled around Hariri’s prolonged stay in the kingdom since he announced in a televised statement on November 4 that he would be stepping down as Lebanon’s prime minister.
Cornered in Raqa, IS breathing ‘last gasps’: coalition commander | AFP
[Published here on September 29, 2017]
US-led coalition compound near Kobane (Syria) (AFP) – Ousting the last Islamic State group fighters from Raqa will be tough, but the jihadists are breathing their “last gasps” in their Syrian bastion, a senior US-led coalition commander told AFP.
US-led strike in Syria blocks IS fighters evacuated from Lebanon | AFP
[Published here on August 30, 2017]
Beirut (AFP) – The US-led coalition carried out two sets of air strikes on Wednesday to block Islamic State group fighters evacuated from Lebanon from reaching eastern Syria, its spokesman told AFP.
Lebanon army in uncharted territory near Syria border | AFP
[Published here August 29, 2017]
Jurud Ras Baalbek (Lebanon) (AFP) – The dust-covered soldiers, armoured vehicles and tents may not look very official, but they mark the first time Lebanese troops have deployed in this sliver of land along the Syrian border.
3 tigers resettled in France after Lebanon rescue |AFP
[Published here on July 11, 2017]
Three Siberian tigers rescued in Lebanon from an attempt to smuggle them into war-ravaged Syria were being resettled to France on Tuesday, an animal rights group said.
Lebanon activists ramp up pressure on reviled rape law | AFP
[Published here on April 22, 2017]
Beirut (AFP) – Lebanese activists ramped up their campaign to scrap a controversial law allowing rapists who marry their victims to go free, with a dramatic installation on Saturday along Beirut’s sunny seaside.
