For Many Members of the Arab American Diaspora, Mansaf Offers a Taste of Home. [slNYT] We were Arab at home, mostly, and American in public. On weekends, Arabic music and the scents of cumin and sumac spilled through the windows in our otherwise sedate…
Sunbathers of Beirut: the photographs celebrating everyday life in the Middle East
A new collection of photography aims to capture the upbeat, joyous side of life in the Arab world, away from war and suffering. Fouad Elkoury talks us through his projectOn 4 August 2020, Fouad Elkoury was sitting in his home in Beirut when an enormous…
Lebanon hit by electricity outage expected to last several days
Country’s two main power stations stop working due to fuel shortage plunging cities into darknessLebanon’s electricity grid collapsed on Saturday after its two main power plants ran out of fuel, plunging much of the crisis-ridden country into darkness …
Reports of mysterious Mossad operation to find Israeli airman confirmed
Israel prime minster tells Knesset of ‘bold’ mission concerned with fate of missing navigator Lt Col Ron AradThe Israeli spy agency, the Mossad, launched a complex intelligence operation last month to find information on the whereabouts and fate of an …
Afghans reach Europe and buying burqas in Kabul: human rights this fortnight – in pictures
A roundup of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Afghanistan to Greece Continue reading…
At least 20 killed in fuel truck explosion in Lebanon
The Lebanese Red Cross said it had transported 20 bodies and more than seven injured people to hospital following the blast in AkkarAt least 20 people were killed and 79 others injured when a truck carrying fuel exploded in Lebanon’s northern region of…
Belarus repression and the Taliban advance: human rights this fortnight – in pictures
A round-up of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Thailand to Mexico Continue reading…
A bride waving a flag in bombed-out Beirut: Christine Spengler’s best photograph
‘Shortly after arriving, I was kidnapped by a militia group who said I was a spy. A decade later, I went back to show life and beauty returning to the city’I spent my childhood in Madrid and I went to the Prado every week from the age of seven. I would…
‘No sense of safety’: how the Beirut blast created a mental health crisis
A year on from the devastating explosion, people are struggling to sleep and PTSD is widespread – amid economic chaosRayan Khatoun has been dreading 4 August. She has been constantly on edge as the anniversary of the port explosion in Beirut approached…
Shattered and scarred: Beirut’s devastation then and now – in pictures
One year on from the huge explosion in the port of Beirut in Lebanon the devastation from the blast is still visibleAt least 200 people were killed, and more than 6,000 injured in the Beirut blast that devastated the port area on 4 August 2020. The exp…