New Arab – In the fertile Bekaa Plain, Lebanon’s longest river has become an open garbage dump due to corruption and mismanagement. Animals are dying and people are falling ill. But despite the crisis, the situation is gradually improving.
Read more "Dead fish, garbage, cancer: The Litani River’s seven plagues"
New Arab – As the economic and security situation continues to deteriorate, abductions are on the rise, with vulnerable Syrian refugees being taken hostage by Hezbollah and other allies of the Assad regime.
Read more "‘We don’t dare go out at night’: In crisis-hit Lebanon, Syrian refugees are kidnapped for ransom"
Middle East Eye – A crippling economic crisis, the privatisation of land and fear of their revolutionary potential has put many communal spaces at risk.
Read more "How Beirut’s few communal gardens and spaces are under threat"
Middle East Eye – Syrian refugees feel unsafe in Lebanon amid rising violence and threat of deportation.
Read more "Lebanon: What a stabbing in small town says of rising hostility against Syrian refugees"
Middle East Eye – In the Bekaa valley, the majority of the agricultural workers are female Syrian refugees and their lives are beset by exploitation and violence.
Read more "Syrian women toil in Lebanon’s fields while facing abuse and sexual exploitation"
L’Orient Today – This Ramadan, Lebanon’s northern inhabitants struggled to uphold their traditions because of the economic crisis and impoverishment. Anger against the political class is widespread.
Read more "Ramadan in North Lebanon: Between hunger, anger and joy"
Mouais – La police allemande a fini d’expulser des centaines d’activistes de la plus grande ZAD d’outre-Rhin et a entamé sa démolition. Mais les zadistes continuent de se battre et veulent garder ses idéaux, notamment anarcho-écologistes, vivants : consensus, autonomie, aide mutuelle, militantisme radical, diversité des tactiques. Autant dire que l’idéal concret, vécu et défendu avec passion à Lützerath n’est pas près de disparaître.
Read more "A Lützerath, une utopie concrète se bat pour survivre"
The New Arab – Street art projects are popular among aid workers, yet they are questioned by residents and researchers. These murals tell the story of a whole country’s decay.
Read more "Painting over the facades: Behind Lebanon’s NGO-addiction"
NOW – As the economic crisis hits Lebanese women hard, NOW asked three feminist activists how to fight for their rights.
Read more "A feminism of survival"
NOW – Three weeks ago, hundreds of Syrian refugees returned to their homes in two rounds of “voluntary returns” orchestrated by the Lebanese state. The process has halted since then, but Syrians live in fear of deportation while they remain stuck between two crisis-riddled countries.
Read more "From one hell to another"
NOW & Grainkeepers [Photographic reportage] :
At the start of this year, Lebanon was suffering from spiraling fuel costs, rampant inflation, political instability and the highest refugee population in the world per capita. Then, Vladimir Putin invaded the country which supplies the Middle East with the flour to make its basic food.
NOW – Stuck in the worst economic crisis in its history, Lebanon sees the exploitation of a potential gas field as a way out. But experts warn against corruption and the destruction of coastal areas.
Read more "Lebanon’s Oil & Gas: Pandora’s Box"
Philippe Pernot 