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Lebanon

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Lebanon. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Capital

Beirut

Head of State

Vacant

Head of Government

Prime Minister Najib Mikati

Bedouin fighters ride a truck in the village of Al-Mazraa, after days of violence in the Sweida. Photo: Reuters

Syria

Bedouin fighters leave Syrian Druze-majority city of Sweida after deadly clashes

Withdrawal follows fighting and a US-brokered agreement, with humanitarian aid now entering the southern province.

21 Jul 2025 - 11:56AM

Middle East

Syrian president warns Israel against attempts to drag it into war

17 Jul 2025 - 4:03PM

Middle East

Israeli military strikes targets at Houthi-controlled ports in Yemen

7 Jul 2025 - 10:54AM

Middle East

Hezbollah will not disarm or surrender under threat from Israel

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said the Lebanese militant group will only disarm after Israel’s aggression stops first.

6 Jul 2025 - 5:52PM

A Hezbollah supporter holds a poster reading ‘We shall not abandon our weapons’ as others listen during a Shiite sermon, in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday. Photo: AP

Israel-Iran conflict

Opinion | Flying into the storm: how Middle East conflict reshapes global air routes

The airline industry has been re-routing routes and avoiding conflict zones in the Middle East while keeping an eye on rising costs.

21 Jun 2025 - 10:00AMvideocam

Hong Kong tourism

Hong Kong issues ‘black’ travel alert for Iran and Israel as conflict escalates

Hongkongers should avoid visiting Iran and Israel because of the ‘highly unpredictable security situation’, Security Bureau says.

20 Jun 2025 - 12:25AMvideocam

Israel-Iran conflict

Iran’s Khamenei is cornered and prone to errors as Israel hits his inner circle

The supreme leader finds himself isolated by the losses of his key security advisers, raising the risk of strategic miscalculations.

17 Jun 2025 - 10:52PMvideocam

Smoke rises from the rubble of an Iranian state media building in Tehran on June 16. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Israel-Iran conflict

Explainer | What are Iran’s options for retaliatory strikes against Israel?

Iran’s steps could include blocking the Strait of Hormuz, quitting a nuclear treaty and launching attacks on Israeli tourists.

17 Jun 2025 - 8:30PMvideocam

Iran

Israel’s attacks risk pushing Iran towards nuclear weapon development

The attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities and the killings of its top military leaders have put Tehran in a strategic bind, analysts say.

13 Jun 2025 - 7:20PMvideocam

Middle East

Israel strikes Beirut’s suburbs, targeting Hezbollah drone production

Beirut strikes spark condemnation from Lebanon, while Israel warns of more attacks if Hezbollah is not disarmed.

6 Jun 2025 - 4:19PM

The rubble of a collapsed building hit by an overnight Israeli air strike in the Qaem neighbourhood of Beirut’s southern suburbs. Photo: AFP

China's military weapons

Israel claims use of laser weapons in real combat. How do China’s compare?

From Israel’s Iron Beam to the Chinese-developed Silent Hunter, directed-energy weapons are part of anti-drone strategies.

2 Jun 2025 - 6:40PMvideocam

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation’s LW-30, also known as Silent Hunter, is a truck-mounted laser defence weapon system that can form a multi-vehicle network via datalink. Photo: Handout

Middle East

Israel hits Houthi targets including last plane at Yemen’s Sanaa airport

The airport, Yemen’s largest, was mainly being used by UN aircraft and the plane destroyed in the latest Israeli strikes.

28 May 2025 - 8:50PMvideocam

Israel-Gaza war

Israel orders evacuation of southern Gaza ahead of major attack

Israel has vowed to seize full control of Gaza and destroy Hamas.

27 May 2025 - 11:02AM

Crime

Man who stabbed Salman Rushdie sentenced to 25 years in prison

Hadi Matar charged on stage and attacked the novelist, partially blinding him, during an event in New York in 2022.

17 May 2025 - 2:11AM

Hadi Matar arrives at Chautauqua County Courthouse in Mayville, New York, for his sentencing on Friday. Photo: AFP

Donald Trump

Trump caps Gulf tour with America-first policy for peace in Middle East

Trump’s vision sits well with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, two Gulf nations closest to Washington, but its feasibility remains to be determined, analysts say.

16 May 2025 - 9:00PMvideocam

US President Donald Trump gestures while delivering remarks to US troops during a visit to Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Pakistan

Misinformation warfare intensifies in India and Pakistan as conflict rages on

Fake content on the clash between India and Pakistan may deepen social polarisation and erode trust in reliable sources, analysts warn.

17 May 2025 - 1:06PMvideocam

Religion

Pope Leo offers to mediate between world leaders to end wars

Ending conflicts has been a dominant theme in Pope Leo’s addresses since he became pope last week.

14 May 2025 - 5:03PMvideocam

Israel-Gaza war

Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 15, mostly women and children

More civilians die as Israel’s military continues its offensive against Hamas in war-torn Gaza.

12 May 2025 - 12:29PM

A woman during the funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Middle East

Lebanon votes in first election since Israel-Hezbollah war

Lebanon is supposed to hold municipal elections every six years, but cash-strapped authorities last held a local ballot in 2016.

4 May 2025 - 10:08PM

Israel

Israel’s security chief to step down on June 15, defusing battle with Netanyahu

Netanyahu moved to fire Shin Bet’s Ronen Bar last month over ‘crisis of confidence’ surrounding Hamas’ attacks, sparking uproar in Israel.

29 Apr 2025 - 2:45AM

Israel

Hezbollah says ready to discuss disarming if Israeli troops leave Lebanon

The group said it was open to talks with Lebanon’s president if Israel retreated from from five hilltops and halted its strikes.

9 Apr 2025 - 11:15AMvideocam

Israel

Israel kills Hamas commander in Lebanon, further testing ceasefire

Israel said the targeted militant Hassan Farhat was behind a rocket attack on the city of Safed last year that killed Israeli soldiers.

4 Apr 2025 - 8:42PM

Firefighters try to put out a fire at a building following an Israeli strike, in which the Israeli military said it killed Hamas commander Hassan Farhat, in Sidon, Lebanon on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Middle East

Israeli strike targets Hezbollah official in Beirut, killing at least 3

Strike further tests a shaky four-month ceasefire between Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah.

1 Apr 2025 - 4:40PM

Middle East

Lebanon and Syria agree on ceasefire after deadly cross-border clashes

Mountainous frontier has been a flashpoint in the three months since Islamist rebels toppled Syria’s Assad.

18 Mar 2025 - 4:45PM

Middle East

Thousands attend funeral of Hezbollah’s Nasrallah months after Israel assassination

The assassination in Lebanon, and the death of Nasrallah’s heir in the same strike, was a devastating blow to Iran’s most powerful militant group.

23 Feb 2025 - 6:06PMvideocam

Mourners hold pictures of Lebanon’s former Hezbollah leaders, Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine during their funeral procession in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday. Photo: AP

Israel-Gaza war

‘We’re not clinging to power’: Hamas ready to stop governing Gaza to extend truce

This concession, announced by Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasim, aims to fulfil one of Israel’s demands for a second phase of the truce.

18 Feb 2025 - 12:27AMvideocam

A Palestinian flag flutters among the rubble of buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 4, 2025. Photo: Reuters

Asia housing and property

From ‘Ghost Tower’ to ‘Hotel of Doom’: Asia’s abandoned skyscrapers

These towering structures, once symbols of ambition, now stand as haunting reminders of economic turmoil and halted dreams.

17 Feb 2025 - 2:33PM

Middle East

Hezbollah demands Lebanon reverse ban on Iranian planes

The Iran-backed group also demanded the government ‘take serious measures to prevent the Israeli enemy from imposing its dictates’.

16 Feb 2025 - 5:47PM

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