L'Orient Today

06/02/2025

From Akkar to Sour, passing through Koura, the signed decrees involve beachfront and road construction projects. Activists are sounding the alarm.

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06/02/2025

The Saudi kingdom has once again ruled out any normalization with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s position on the establishment of a Palestinian state is firm and unwavering.” That was the Saudi Foreign Ministry’s response to Donald Trump’s remarks, published...

06/02/2025

Hamas' staging of the hostage release sends a message not only to Israel, which had made the group's annihilation its primary goal, but also to the Palestinian Authority, which wants to take control of Gaza Strip.

explains...

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05/02/2025

Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam is expected in Baabda at 6 p.m. today to present President Joseph Aoun with a nearly finalized draft, according to L’Orient-Le Jour's information.

Lebanon is set to announce its new government — the first under President Joseph Aoun’s mandate — imminently, several sources familiar with the negotiations to L'Orient Le-Jour.The...

05/02/2025

Since Dec. 8, several names associated with Syrian tutelage have been removed. While some advocate for extending the measure nationwide, others call for a broader discussion on the issue.

An obelisk in Beirut’s southern suburbs honors Hafez al-Assad, the former Syrian president and father of Bashar al-Assad, in the names of Rafic Hariri and Elias Hrawi. The monument, located on an...

05/02/2025

Politically marginalized for years, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has the opportunity to take his revenge.

The Lebanese Forces (LF) have been in the opposition for five years. After its ministers resigned from Saad Hariri’s (2019) third cabinet, Samir Geagea’s party refused to join the subsequent...

05/02/2025

Hamas responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's statements about the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza to Jordan and Egypt with a "total refusal," according to Russia Today.

These U.S. statements are "racist and do not respect any moral and humanitarian criteria," Hamas' statement continued.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to displace the population of the Gaza Strip "unacceptable."

"Trump's statement on Gaza is unacceptable," the minister said in an interview with Turkey's Anadolu Agency.

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11:16 Beirut Time Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to displace the population of the Gaza Strip...

04/02/2025

Several sources in the banking sector recalled his successful run in the parliamentary Finance Committee in the early days of the financial crisis.

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04/02/2025

On Thursday, Jan. 23, in Baalbek, hundreds of Syrians idly pace back and forth or sit in small groups, chatting on the marble forecourt of Sayyidah Khawla, the mausoleum of Imam Hussein’s daughter.

Beneath its golden minaret and blue arches adorned with Persian-style ceramics, these are not religious pilgrims but refugees — many with vacant, uncertain gazes.

Among them, some may have once taken up arms in the Syrian army or pro-Assad regime militias against the Islamist rebels of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), now in power. Others might have supported Bashar al-Assad’s regime in other ways, politically or financially.

In any case, almost all have likely — whether out of fear or self-interest — denied the countless atrocities committed by Assad’s forces and intelligence services since the 2011 uprising.

Now, following the fall of the regime, they have fled Syria, gripped by a sense of history is unfolding in reverse, fearful of becoming victims after siding with the oppressor.

Emmanuel Haddad writes...

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📷 Emmanuel Haddad

04/02/2025

The cease-fire, initially established on Nov. 27, 2024, marked the end of more than 13 months of war, yet the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the region remains “gradual.”

Among the villages still under Israeli control in the Marjayoun district are Mais al-Jabal, Houla, Blida, Markaba, Kfar Kila, Wazzani and Robb Thalatine.

Here's a map showing the strategic significance of the Marjayoun district for Israel.

Nemtalla Edde writes...

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🗺️ Jaimee Lee Haddad

03/02/2025

A series of crimes across Lebanon in recent weeks has raised concerns over a possible rise in violence.

While official figures show the number of murders has remained relatively stable since 2023, an increasing number of crimes are being reported by the media or widely discussed on social media, amplifying public concern.

03/02/2025

Could Chinese investor Liang Wenfeng's DeepSeek AI models represent a breakthrough in this field, or are they scams like cold fusion and room-temperature superconductivity? And if confirmed, should the United States regard them as a mortal threat or a boon for the world?

Thomas Edison, the self-taught telegraph operator turned entrepreneur, is often considered the greatest inventor of all time, whereas Nikola Tesla, who worked for an Edison company in Paris before...

03/02/2025

The traces of war extend beyond the ruins, remaining visible in two villas still partially standing: the Rashidi and Abbas villas.

Dozens of vandalizing graffiti and messages left by Israeli soldiers, who occupied the area for nearly six weeks, cover the walls of a living room, bathroom and bedroom.

On two villas' walls, three types of messages are prevalent: those of military nature (such as lists of soldiers'), symbols of identity affiliations (such as Stars of David and menorahs), and provocative, menacing messages directed at the population (such as "We will be back").

L'Orient Le-Jour journalists visited two villas and documented many of those messages.

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📷 Lucille Wassermann, Layana Alameddine and Mohammad Yassin

03/02/2025

Hezbollah's Secretary-General Naim Qassem announced the holding of "popular funerals" on Sunday, Feb. 23, for the party's former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed on Sept. 27 by an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

These funerals will also mourn Hachem Safieddine, the former president of the party's executive council and Nasrallah's anticipated successor, whose death was confirmed on Oct. 23 after being targeted by a massive airstrike on the night of Oct. 3-4.

Hezbollah's Secretary-General Naim Qassem announced the holding of "popular funerals" on Sunday, Feb. 23, for the party's former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was...

01/02/2025

The Rafah border crossing, at the southernmost point of the Gaza Strip, has opened for the first time since May 2024, allowing 50 patients to leave, according tp the Gaza Health Ministry.

Dr. Mohamed Zaqout, the ministry’s director-general, stated that around 6,000 people were ready for evacuation, while 12,000 required urgent medical care.

The reopening of the terminal comes as part of the cease-fire agreement, following the fourth prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

Live updates below

13:51 Beirut Time Buses transporting Palestinian prisoners released under the Gaza ceasefire agreement have arrived at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Al...

01/02/2025

“The news was very painful to hear for me,” said Samia*, a remote consultant who works for a U.S. International Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) on projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Beirut-based single mom is now left without a job, with family obligations to attend to.

On Inauguration Day, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders, including one that imposed a 90-day pause for almost all U.S. foreign aid, pending a review from his administration.

Stephanie Bechara writes...

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📷 USAID

01/02/2025

U.S. President Donald Trump wants to conclude a new nuclear deal that includes Tehran's regional activities and ballistic program.

While the Republican administration still aims to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons and altering its regional policy, it now faces a weakened Iran that fears direct...

31/01/2025

A meeting set for Friday between the prime minister-designate and representatives of Amal and Hezbollah is expected to move things forward.

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