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Beirut

Exclusive: Lebanon’s foreign minister says his country doesn’t want a war with Israel

Israel-Hamas war

In an exclusive interview in Beirut with The World’s Shirin Jaafari, Lebanon’s foreign minister says his country cannot afford an all-out war with Israel.

museum reopening

Beirut museum damaged by blast reopens

Arts, Culture & Media
A Lebanese policeman stands guard next to a bank window that was broken by depositors to exit the bank after attacking it trying to get their money, in Beirut, Lebanon

‘We are forced to be bank robbers,’ desperate Lebanese citizens say amid financial crisis

Economics
view of the city

Solar power is the ‘only business that’s booming’ amid financial and electricity crises in Lebanon, experts say

Energy
woman near a machine

‘They’re hurting themselves’: In Lebanon, women risk their lives to get an abortion illegally 

Abortion
A migrant domestic worker holds a placard during a march demanding basic labor rights as Lebanese workers in Beirut, May 3, 2015. More than 200,000 workers mostly women from Asia and Africa work as maids in a country of 4 million people, many also come fr

Could a court case in Lebanon shift attitudes toward migrant domestic workers?

Justice

In a rare case, an Ethiopian domestic worker in Lebanon is taking her former employer and the agency that hired her to court over accusations of slavery and slave trading. The woman, identified as M.H., alleges that she was underpaid, locked up and assaulted over several years. Activists are hoping it will help change the worker sponsorship program in Lebanon.

Workers prepare meals at the Matbakh El Kell Community Kitchen in Beirut. The kitchen was set up in response to the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion, and it now serves 2,500 free meals a day to those in need.

‘We need a rescue plan’: Hunger in Lebanon surges amid economic crises

Economics

Food prices have skyrocketed in Lebanon, and the World Food Program says an unprecedented number of people rely on humanitarian assistance to get by. Private charity groups say they are doing all they can but that it’s not enough to meet the demands.

Lawyer and activist Hussein El Achi helped found a group called Minteshreen that wants an end to Lebanon’s sectarian political system.

These activists want to end sectarian politics in Lebanon

Conflict & Justice

Lebanon has 18 recognized religious sects, and sectarianism is built into the country’s political system. But in the wake of the October 2019 protest movement, some are advocating for a different path.

Twenty-four-year-old Abdel Ghani Ali Ghanoum works at a paper factory on the outskirts of Beirut. The economic crisis in Lebanon and the recent Saudi ban on Lebanese imported goods means he faces an uncertain future. He is considering taking a boat to Tur

‘We live paycheck to paycheck’: Workers at a paper factory in Beirut worry about making ends meet in a dire economy

Business, Economics and Jobs

An economy in freefall and political tensions with an important importer of Lebanese goods have workers and managers at a paper factory on the outskirts of Beirut worried about the future.

Diala Attieh Younes, 39, washes dishes under candlelight in her kitchen in Beirut. She said her generator-supplied electricity bill has increased six folds since last year.

Lebanon’s electricity crisis means life under candlelight for some, profits for others

Lebanon is facing a critical electricity shortage. The state’s electric company is only able to provide power to residents for a few hours a day. For the rest, people have no choice but to rely on private generator businesses, which in turn, has created its own set of problems.